diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/sev.c b/arch/x86/kernel/sev.c
index 1f428f401bed..651b81cd648e 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/sev.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/sev.c
@@ -315,31 +315,44 @@ static enum es_result vc_write_mem(struct es_em_ctxt *ctxt,
 	u16 d2;
 	u8  d1;
 
-	/* If instruction ran in kernel mode and the I/O buffer is in kernel space */
-	if (!user_mode(ctxt->regs) && !access_ok(target, size)) {
-		memcpy(dst, buf, size);
-		return ES_OK;
-	}
-
+	/*
+	 * This function uses __put_user() independent of whether kernel or user
+	 * memory is accessed. This works fine because __put_user() does no
+	 * sanity checks of the pointer being accessed. All that it does is
+	 * to report when the access failed.
+	 *
+	 * Also, this function runs in atomic context, so __put_user() is not
+	 * allowed to sleep. The page-fault handler detects that it is running
+	 * in atomic context and will not try to take mmap_sem and handle the
+	 * fault, so additional pagefault_enable()/disable() calls are not
+	 * needed.
+	 *
+	 * The access can't be done via copy_to_user() here because
+	 * vc_write_mem() must not use string instructions to access unsafe
+	 * memory. The reason is that MOVS is emulated by the #VC handler by
+	 * splitting the move up into a read and a write and taking a nested #VC
+	 * exception on whatever of them is the MMIO access. Using string
+	 * instructions here would cause infinite nesting.
+	 */
 	switch (size) {
 	case 1:
 		memcpy(&d1, buf, 1);
-		if (put_user(d1, target))
+		if (__put_user(d1, target))
 			goto fault;
 		break;
 	case 2:
 		memcpy(&d2, buf, 2);
-		if (put_user(d2, target))
+		if (__put_user(d2, target))
 			goto fault;
 		break;
 	case 4:
 		memcpy(&d4, buf, 4);
-		if (put_user(d4, target))
+		if (__put_user(d4, target))
 			goto fault;
 		break;
 	case 8:
 		memcpy(&d8, buf, 8);
-		if (put_user(d8, target))
+		if (__put_user(d8, target))
 			goto fault;
 		break;
 	default:
@@ -370,30 +383,43 @@ static enum es_result vc_read_mem(struct es_em_ctxt *ctxt,
 	u16 d2;
 	u8  d1;
 
-	/* If instruction ran in kernel mode and the I/O buffer is in kernel space */
-	if (!user_mode(ctxt->regs) && !access_ok(s, size)) {
-		memcpy(buf, src, size);
-		return ES_OK;
-	}
-
+	/*
+	 * This function uses __get_user() independent of whether kernel or user
+	 * memory is accessed. This works fine because __get_user() does no
+	 * sanity checks of the pointer being accessed. All that it does is
+	 * to report when the access failed.
+	 *
+	 * Also, this function runs in atomic context, so __get_user() is not
+	 * allowed to sleep. The page-fault handler detects that it is running
+	 * in atomic context and will not try to take mmap_sem and handle the
+	 * fault, so additional pagefault_enable()/disable() calls are not
+	 * needed.
+	 *
+	 * The access can't be done via copy_from_user() here because
+	 * vc_read_mem() must not use string instructions to access unsafe
+	 * memory. The reason is that MOVS is emulated by the #VC handler by
+	 * splitting the move up into a read and a write and taking a nested #VC
+	 * exception on whatever of them is the MMIO access. Using string
+	 * instructions here would cause infinite nesting.
+	 */
 	switch (size) {
 	case 1:
-		if (get_user(d1, s))
+		if (__get_user(d1, s))
 			goto fault;
 		memcpy(buf, &d1, 1);
 		break;
 	case 2:
-		if (get_user(d2, s))
+		if (__get_user(d2, s))
 			goto fault;
 		memcpy(buf, &d2, 2);
 		break;
 	case 4:
-		if (get_user(d4, s))
+		if (__get_user(d4, s))
 			goto fault;
 		memcpy(buf, &d4, 4);
 		break;
 	case 8:
-		if (get_user(d8, s))
+		if (__get_user(d8, s))
 			goto fault;
 		memcpy(buf, &d8, 8);
 		break;