diff --git a/guest/trusty/security_vm/launcher/Android.bp b/guest/trusty/security_vm/launcher/Android.bp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff628fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/guest/trusty/security_vm/launcher/Android.bp
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+rust_binary {
+    name: "trusty_security_vm_launcher",
+    crate_name: "trusty_security_vm_launcher",
+    srcs: ["src/main.rs"],
+    edition: "2021",
+    prefer_rlib: true,
+    rustlibs: [
+        "android.system.virtualizationservice-rust",
+        "libanyhow",
+        "libclap",
+        "libvmclient",
+    ],
+    bootstrap: true,
+    apex_available: ["//apex_available:platform"],
+    system_ext_specific: true,
+    enabled: select(release_flag("RELEASE_AVF_ENABLE_EARLY_VM"), {
+        true: true,
+        false: false,
+    }),
+}
diff --git a/guest/trusty/security_vm/launcher/src/main.rs b/guest/trusty/security_vm/launcher/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5cc6b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/guest/trusty/security_vm/launcher/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+// Copyright 2024, The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+//! A client for trusty security VMs during early boot.
+
+use android_system_virtualizationservice::aidl::android::system::virtualizationservice::{
+    IVirtualizationService::IVirtualizationService, VirtualMachineConfig::VirtualMachineConfig,
+    VirtualMachineRawConfig::VirtualMachineRawConfig,
+};
+use android_system_virtualizationservice::binder::{ParcelFileDescriptor, Strong};
+use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use clap::Parser;
+use std::fs::File;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+use vmclient::VmInstance;
+
+#[derive(Parser)]
+struct Args {
+    /// Path to the trusty kernel image.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    kernel: PathBuf,
+
+    /// Whether the VM is protected or not.
+    #[arg(long)]
+    protected: bool,
+}
+
+fn get_service() -> Result<Strong<dyn IVirtualizationService>> {
+    let virtmgr = vmclient::VirtualizationService::new_early()
+        .context("Failed to spawn VirtualizationService")?;
+    virtmgr.connect().context("Failed to connect to VirtualizationService")
+}
+
+fn main() -> Result<()> {
+    let args = Args::parse();
+
+    let service = get_service()?;
+
+    let kernel =
+        File::open(&args.kernel).with_context(|| format!("Failed to open {:?}", &args.kernel))?;
+
+    let vm_config = VirtualMachineConfig::RawConfig(VirtualMachineRawConfig {
+        name: "trusty_security_vm_launcher".to_owned(),
+        kernel: Some(ParcelFileDescriptor::new(kernel)),
+        protectedVm: args.protected,
+        memoryMib: 128,
+        platformVersion: "~1.0".to_owned(),
+        // TODO: add instanceId
+        ..Default::default()
+    });
+
+    println!("creating VM");
+    let vm = VmInstance::create(
+        service.as_ref(),
+        &vm_config,
+        // console_in, console_out, and log will be redirected to the kernel log by virtmgr
+        None, // console_in
+        None, // console_out
+        None, // log
+        None, // dump_dt
+        None, // callback
+    )
+    .context("Failed to create VM")?;
+    vm.start().context("Failed to start VM")?;
+
+    println!("started trusty_security_vm_launcher VM");
+    let death_reason = vm.wait_for_death();
+    eprintln!("trusty_security_vm_launcher ended: {:?}", death_reason);
+
+    // TODO(b/331320802): we may want to use android logger instead of stdio_to_kmsg?
+
+    Ok(())
+}