sev_issue_cmd_external_user(9)

✨ NAME ✨

sev_issue_cmd_external_user — issue SEV command by other driver with a file handle 💅

That's the whole vibe, bestie. Like, that's genuinely it, and honestly? Iconic of it.

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int sev_issue_cmd_external_user (struct file *filep , unsigned int id ,
void *data , int *error );

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

okay so the source page is so real for this one, it just says the same thing three times and dips 😭

• filep — -- undescribed -- 🙈 no cap, that's literally all it says
• id — -- undescribed -- 💀 the mystery continues
• data — -- undescribed -- 🫶 three for three
• error — SEV command return code ✨ (this one actually got a description, we stan)

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So here's the tea: this function is the plug for other drivers — they can use it to issue a SEV command on behalf of userspace 👑

The one rule, and it's not negotiable: the caller must pass a valid SEV file descriptor, so we know for a fact that it actually has access to the SEV device 🔥 No valid fd, no vibes.

And then, further down, the page lists the trio like this:

• filep — SEV device file pointer
• cmd — command to issue
• data — command buffer

(yes, the synopsis up top calls it id and this line calls it cmd — we're not fixing it, we're just reporting it, iykyk 🙈)

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👑 RETURN 👑

• 0 — if the SEV successfully processed the command ✅ ate, no crumbs
• -ENODEV — if the SEV device is not available 😭
• -ENOTSUPP — if the SEV does not support SEV 🙈
• -ETIMEDOUT — if the SEV command timed out ⏰
• -EIO — if the SEV returned a non-zero return code 💀
• -EINVAL — if the SEV file descriptor is not valid 🚫

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

First up, the kernel file itself:

• ./include/linux/psp-sev.h 📁

And then the whole squad, in order, no skips:

• struct sev_data_init(9)
• struct sev_data_init_ex(9)
• struct sev_data_pek_csr(9)
• struct sev_data_download_firmware(9)
• struct sev_data_get_id(9)
• struct sev_data_pdh_cert_export(9)
• struct sev_data_decommission(9)
• struct sev_data_activate(9)
• struct sev_data_deactivate(9)
• struct sev_data_guest_status(9)
• struct sev_data_launch_start(9)
• struct sev_data_launch_update_data(9)
• struct sev_data_launch_update_vmsa(9)
• struct sev_data_launch_measure(9)
• struct sev_data_launch_secret(9)
• struct sev_data_launch_finish(9)
• struct sev_data_send_start(9)
• struct sev_data_send_finish(9)
• struct sev_data_send_cancel(9)
• struct sev_data_receive_start(9)
• struct sev_data_receive_update_data(9)
• struct sev_data_receive_update_vmsa(9)
• struct sev_data_receive_finish(9)
• struct sev_data_dbg(9)
• struct sev_data_attestation_report(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_download_firmware(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_activate(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_addr(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_launch_start(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_launch_update(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_launch_finish(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_guest_status(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_page_reclaim(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_page_unsmash(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_dbg(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_guest_request(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_init_ex(9)
• struct sev_data_range(9)
• struct sev_data_range_list(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_shutdown_ex(9)
• struct sev_platform_init_args(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_commit(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_feature_info(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_verify_mitigation(9)
• struct sev_data_snp_verify_mitigation_dst(9)
• struct sev_snp_tcb_version_genoa_milan(9)
• struct sev_snp_tcb_version_turin(9)
• sev_module_init(9)
• sev_platform_init(9)
• sev_platform_status(9)
• sev_guest_deactivate(9)
• sev_guest_activate(9)
• sev_guest_df_flush(9)
• sev_guest_decommission(9)
• sev_do_cmd(9)

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okay that's the page!! mwah 💖 huge shoutout to ./include/linux for being the source, October 2026 for the date, and sev_issue_cmd_external_user(9) for being the moment. go read a struct, bestie, you got this 🧚‍♀️