Virtual machine exit processing accelerator

1. A method, comprising:

reading, by a processing device, from a first memory location, a first virtual machine (VM) exit handler address referencing a hypervisor;

storing, in a second memory location, the first VM exit handler address;

storing, in the first memory location, a second VM exit handler address referencing a VM exit processing accelerator;

receiving, by the VM exit processing accelerator, a VM exit associated with a virtual machine;

responsive to determining that an identifier of a reason of the VM exit satisfies a first condition, processing the VM exit by the VM exit processing accelerator; and

resuming execution of the virtual machine.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hypervisor is provided by a thin hypervisor providing an interface between the virtual machine and a virtualization application being executed in a non-privileged execution mode.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first memory location is represented by a first field of a virtual machine control structure (VMCS) associated with the virtual machine.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the identifier of the reason of the VM exit satisfies the first condition further comprises reading the identifier from a second field of a virtual machine control structure (VMCS) associated with the virtual machine.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to determining that the identifier of the reason of the VM exit satisfies a second condition, transferring control to the first VM exit handler address saved in the second memory location.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the VM exit processing accelerator is executed in a privileged execution mode of the processing device.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing, in a third memory location, the second VM exit handler address; and

storing, in the first memory location, a third VM exit handler address referencing a second VM exit processing accelerator.

8. A system, comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device coupled to the memory, the processing device configured to:

read, from a first memory location, a first virtual machine (VM) exit handler address referencing a hypervisor;

store in a second memory location, the first VM exit handler address;

store, in the first memory location, a second VM exit handler address referencing a VM exit processing accelerator;

receive, by the VM exit processing accelerator, a VM exit associated with a virtual machine;

responsive to determining that an identifier of a reason of the VM exit satisfies a first condition, process the VM exit by the VM exit processing accelerator; and

resume execution of the virtual machine.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the hypervisor is provided by a thin hypervisor providing an interface between the virtual machine and a virtualization application being executed in a non-privileged execution mode.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first memory location is represented by a first field of a virtual machine control structure (VMCS) associated with the virtual machine.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining that the identifier of the reason of the VM exit satisfies the first condition further comprises reading the identifier from a second field of a virtual machine control structure (VMCS) associated with the virtual machine.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:

responsive to determining that the identifier of the reason of the VM exit satisfies a second condition, transfer control to the first VM exit handler address saved in the second memory location.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the VM exit processing accelerator is executed in a privileged execution mode of the processing device.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:

store, in a third memory location, the second VM exit handler address; and

store, in the first memory location, a third VM exit handler address referencing a second VM exit processing accelerator.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:

read, from a first memory location, a first virtual machine (VM) exit handler address referencing a hypervisor;

store, in a second memory location, the first VM exit handler address;

store, in the first memory location, a second VM exit handler address referencing a VM exit processing accelerator;

receive, by the VM exit processing accelerator, a VM exit associated with a virtual machine;

responsive to determining that an identifier of a reason of the VM exit satisfies a first condition, process the VM exit by the VM exit processing accelerator; and

resume execution of the virtual machine.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the hypervisor is provided by a thin hypervisor providing an interface between the virtual machine and a virtualization application being executed in a non-privileged execution mode.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the first memory location is represented by a first field of a virtual machine control structure (VMCS) associated with the virtual machine.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein determining that the identifier of the reason of the VM exit satisfies the first condition further comprises reading the identifier from a second field of a virtual machine control structure (VMCS) associated with the virtual machine.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising executable instructions causing the processing device to:

responsive to determining that the identifier of the reason of the VM exit satisfies a second condition, transfer control to the first VM exit handler address saved in the second memory location.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the VM exit processing accelerator is executed in a privileged execution mode of the processing device.