diff --git a/virtualizationservice/aidl/android/system/virtualizationservice/VirtualMachineAppConfig.aidl b/virtualizationservice/aidl/android/system/virtualizationservice/VirtualMachineAppConfig.aidl
index d86f2bf..a6b228d 100644
--- a/virtualizationservice/aidl/android/system/virtualizationservice/VirtualMachineAppConfig.aidl
+++ b/virtualizationservice/aidl/android/system/virtualizationservice/VirtualMachineAppConfig.aidl
@@ -68,11 +68,15 @@
      * Comma-separated list of CPUs or CPU ranges to run vCPUs on (e.g. 0,1-3,5), or
      * colon-separated list of assignments of vCPU to host CPU assignments (e.g. 0=0:1=1:2=2).
      * Default is no mask which means a vCPU can run on any host CPU.
+     *
+     * Note: Using a non-null value requires android.permission.USE_CUSTOM_VIRTUAL_MACHINE.
      */
     @nullable String cpuAffinity;
 
     /**
      * List of task profile names to apply for the VM
+     *
+     * Note: Specifying a value here requires android.permission.USE_CUSTOM_VIRTUAL_MACHINE.
      */
     String[] taskProfiles;
 }
diff --git a/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs b/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs
index 352b4f1..dcc2d48 100644
--- a/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs
+++ b/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs
@@ -596,6 +596,12 @@
     config: &VirtualMachineAppConfig,
     temporary_directory: &Path,
 ) -> Result<VirtualMachineRawConfig> {
+    // Controlling CPUs is reserved for platform apps only, even when using
+    // VirtualMachineAppConfig.
+    if config.cpuAffinity.is_some() || !config.taskProfiles.is_empty() {
+        check_use_custom_virtual_machine()?
+    }
+
     let apk_file = clone_file(config.apk.as_ref().unwrap())?;
     let idsig_file = clone_file(config.idsig.as_ref().unwrap())?;
     let instance_file = clone_file(config.instanceImage.as_ref().unwrap())?;