[xen master] docs/guest-guide: Discuss when not use a hypercall page

[patchbot@xxxxxxx]

commit d95703eb8315a956090394db0b5ac95a4d232e1a
Author:     Andrew Cooper <andrew.cooper3@xxxxxxxxxx>
AuthorDate: Fri Nov 22 16:00:37 2024 +0000
Commit:     Andrew Cooper <andrew.cooper3@xxxxxxxxxx>
CommitDate: Tue Dec 17 12:21:22 2024 +0000

    docs/guest-guide: Discuss when not use a hypercall page
    
    The Linux rethunk and safe-ret speculative safety techniques involve
    transforming `ret` to `jmp __x86_return_thunk` at compile time.  Placing 
naked
    `ret`s back in executable .text breaks these mitigations.
    
    CET-IBT requires ENDBR instructions, and while we could in principle fix 
that,
    the need to select between ENDBR32 or ENDBR64 means that the contents of the
    hypercall page would need to become more mode-specific than it currently
    is (HVM hypercall pages are currently 32bit and 64bit compatbile).  However,
    there's no feasible way to make a hypercall page compatible with fine-grain
    CFI schemes such as FineIBT.
    
    OSes which care about either of these things are better off avoiding the
    hypercall page.
    
    This is part of XSA-466.
    
    Signed-off-by: Andrew Cooper <andrew.cooper3@xxxxxxxxxx>
    Reviewed-by: Jan Beulich <jbeulich@xxxxxxxx>
---
 docs/guest-guide/x86/hypercall-abi.rst | 7 +++++++
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)

diff --git a/docs/guest-guide/x86/hypercall-abi.rst 
b/docs/guest-guide/x86/hypercall-abi.rst
index 8004122ca4..745fbbb64a 100644
--- a/docs/guest-guide/x86/hypercall-abi.rst
+++ b/docs/guest-guide/x86/hypercall-abi.rst
@@ -82,6 +82,13 @@ The hypercall page is a page of guest RAM into which Xen 
will write suitable
 transfer stubs.  It is intended as a convenience for guests, but use of the
 hypercall page is not mandatory for making hypercalls to Xen.
 
+.. note::
+
+   There are cases where a hypercall page should not be used.  It contains
+   ``ret`` instructions which are not compatible with certain speculative
+   security techniques, and it does not contain ``endbr`` instructions which
+   are necessary for certain Control-flow Integrity schemes.
+
 Creating a hypercall page is an isolated operation from Xen's point of view.
 It is the guests responsibility to ensure that the hypercall page, once
 written by Xen, is mapped with executable permissions so it may be used.
--
generated by git-patchbot for /home/xen/git/xen.git#master