oxidecomputer / oxidecomputer/propolis

nvme errorneously reports success if guests tries to disable volatile write cache

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storage
Dominant language
Rust
Stars
270
Forks
42
Avg merge
4d 5h
Merged PRs (30d)
6

Description

We always return success if the guest tries to update the Volatile Write Cache feature:
https://github.com/oxidecomputer/propolis/blob/803cb36d9cc1ca64cb38665173a7be5c06887580/lib/propolis/src/hw/nvme/admin.rs#L276-L283

This can potentially cause data loss as the guest will assume that write will be committed on completion.

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Research direction

Start in lib/propolis/src/hw/nvme/admin.rs at lines 276-283, where updates to the Volatile Write Cache feature are handled. Trace the completion status returned when a guest attempts to disable the cache, then verify that the guest no longer receives success for this unsupported update and that the behavior is covered by an appropriate test.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
58/100

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