diff --git a/doc/source/admin/networking.rst b/doc/source/admin/networking.rst
index 9005232cc371..0d3851115808 100644
--- a/doc/source/admin/networking.rst
+++ b/doc/source/admin/networking.rst
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ A full guide on configuring and using SR-IOV is provided in the
    **Limitations**
 
    * Only VFs are supported and they must be tagged in the Nova Compute
-     configuration in the ``passthrough_whitelist`` option as
+     configuration in the :oslo.config:option:`pci.device_spec` option as
      ``remote_managed: "true"``. There is no auto-discovery of this based
      on vendor and product IDs;
    * Either VF or its respective PF must expose a PCI VPD capability with a
diff --git a/doc/source/admin/pci-passthrough.rst b/doc/source/admin/pci-passthrough.rst
index 5f131b325a0c..d1226d42999b 100644
--- a/doc/source/admin/pci-passthrough.rst
+++ b/doc/source/admin/pci-passthrough.rst
@@ -92,15 +92,15 @@ Configure ``nova-compute``
 
 Once PCI passthrough has been configured for the host, :program:`nova-compute`
 must be configured to allow the PCI device to pass through to VMs. This is done
-using the :oslo.config:option:`pci.passthrough_whitelist` option. For example,
+using the :oslo.config:option:`pci.device_spec` option. For example,
 assuming our sample PCI device has a PCI address of ``41:00.0`` on each host:
 
 .. code-block:: ini
 
    [pci]
-   passthrough_whitelist = { "address": "0000:41:00.0" }
+   device_spec = { "address": "0000:41:00.0" }
 
-Refer to :oslo.config:option:`pci.passthrough_whitelist` for syntax information.
+Refer to :oslo.config:option:`pci.device_spec` for syntax information.
 
 Alternatively, to enable passthrough of all devices with the same product and
 vendor ID:
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ vendor ID:
 .. code-block:: ini
 
    [pci]
-   passthrough_whitelist = { "vendor_id": "8086", "product_id": "154d" }
+   device_spec = { "vendor_id": "8086", "product_id": "154d" }
 
 If using vendor and product IDs, all PCI devices matching the ``vendor_id`` and
 ``product_id`` are added to the pool of PCI devices available for passthrough
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ Once configured, restart the :program:`nova-compute` service.
 Special Tags
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
-When specified in :oslo.config:option:`pci.passthrough_whitelist` some tags
+When specified in :oslo.config:option:`pci.device_spec` some tags
 have special meaning:
 
 ``physical_network``
diff --git a/nova/compute/manager.py b/nova/compute/manager.py
index 9f8479a30e40..ac4bd80cf58a 100644
--- a/nova/compute/manager.py
+++ b/nova/compute/manager.py
@@ -1475,15 +1475,15 @@ class ComputeManager(manager.Manager):
     def init_host(self):
         """Initialization for a standalone compute service."""
 
-        if CONF.pci.passthrough_whitelist:
-            # Simply loading the PCI passthrough whitelist will do a bunch of
+        if CONF.pci.device_spec:
+            # Simply loading the PCI passthrough spec will do a bunch of
             # validation that would otherwise wait until the PciDevTracker is
             # constructed when updating available resources for the compute
             # node(s) in the resource tracker, effectively killing that task.
-            # So load up the whitelist when starting the compute service to
-            # flush any invalid configuration early so we can kill the service
+            # So load up the spec when starting the compute service to
+            # flush any invalid configuration early, so we can kill the service
             # if the configuration is wrong.
-            whitelist.Whitelist(CONF.pci.passthrough_whitelist)
+            whitelist.Whitelist(CONF.pci.device_spec)
 
         nova.conf.neutron.register_dynamic_opts(CONF)
         # Even if only libvirt uses them, make it available for all drivers
diff --git a/nova/conf/pci.py b/nova/conf/pci.py
index de9a2e297b65..f51c3effc47f 100644
--- a/nova/conf/pci.py
+++ b/nova/conf/pci.py
@@ -85,16 +85,18 @@ Possible Values:
       "numa_policy": "required"
     }
 """),
-    cfg.MultiStrOpt('passthrough_whitelist',
+    cfg.MultiStrOpt('device_spec',
         default=[],
-        deprecated_name='pci_passthrough_whitelist',
-        deprecated_group='DEFAULT',
+        deprecated_opts=[
+            cfg.DeprecatedOpt('passthrough_whitelist', group='pci'),
+            cfg.DeprecatedOpt('pci_passthrough_whitelist', group='DEFAULT'),
+        ],
         help="""
-White list of PCI devices available to VMs.
+Specify the PCI devices available to VMs.
 
 Possible values:
 
-* A JSON dictionary which describe a whitelisted PCI device. It should take
+* A JSON dictionary which describe a PCI device. It should take
   the following format::
 
     ["vendor_id": "<id>",] ["product_id": "<id>",]
@@ -146,57 +148,57 @@ Possible values:
 
   Valid examples are::
 
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"devname":"eth0",
-                             "physical_network":"physnet"}
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"address":"*:0a:00.*"}
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"address":":0a:00.",
-                             "physical_network":"physnet1"}
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"vendor_id":"1137",
-                             "product_id":"0071"}
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"vendor_id":"1137",
-                             "product_id":"0071",
-                             "address": "0000:0a:00.1",
-                             "physical_network":"physnet1"}
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"address":{"domain": ".*",
-                                        "bus": "02", "slot": "01",
-                                        "function": "[2-7]"},
-                             "physical_network":"physnet1"}
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"address":{"domain": ".*",
-                                        "bus": "02", "slot": "0[1-2]",
-                                        "function": ".*"},
-                             "physical_network":"physnet1"}
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"devname": "eth0", "physical_network":"physnet1",
-                             "trusted": "true"}
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"vendor_id":"a2d6",
-                             "product_id":"15b3",
-                             "remote_managed": "true"}
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"vendor_id":"a2d6",
-                             "product_id":"15b3",
-                             "address": "0000:82:00.0",
-                             "physical_network":"physnet1",
-                             "remote_managed": "true"}
+    device_spec = {"devname":"eth0",
+                   "physical_network":"physnet"}
+    device_spec = {"address":"*:0a:00.*"}
+    device_spec = {"address":":0a:00.",
+                   "physical_network":"physnet1"}
+    device_spec = {"vendor_id":"1137",
+                   "product_id":"0071"}
+    device_spec = {"vendor_id":"1137",
+                   "product_id":"0071",
+                   "address": "0000:0a:00.1",
+                   "physical_network":"physnet1"}
+    device_spec = {"address":{"domain": ".*",
+                              "bus": "02", "slot": "01",
+                              "function": "[2-7]"},
+                   "physical_network":"physnet1"}
+    device_spec = {"address":{"domain": ".*",
+                              "bus": "02", "slot": "0[1-2]",
+                              "function": ".*"},
+                   "physical_network":"physnet1"}
+    device_spec = {"devname": "eth0", "physical_network":"physnet1",
+                   "trusted": "true"}
+    device_spec = {"vendor_id":"a2d6",
+                   "product_id":"15b3",
+                   "remote_managed": "true"}
+    device_spec = {"vendor_id":"a2d6",
+                   "product_id":"15b3",
+                   "address": "0000:82:00.0",
+                   "physical_network":"physnet1",
+                   "remote_managed": "true"}
 
   The following are invalid, as they specify mutually exclusive options::
 
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"devname":"eth0",
-                             "physical_network":"physnet",
-                             "address":"*:0a:00.*"}
+    device_spec = {"devname":"eth0",
+                   "physical_network":"physnet",
+                   "address":"*:0a:00.*"}
 
   The following example is invalid because it specifies the ``remote_managed``
   tag for a PF - it will result in an error during config validation at the
   Nova Compute service startup::
 
-    passthrough_whitelist = {"address": "0000:82:00.0",
-                             "product_id": "a2d6",
-                             "vendor_id": "15b3",
-                             "physical_network": null,
-                             "remote_managed": "true"}
+    device_spec = {"address": "0000:82:00.0",
+                   "product_id": "a2d6",
+                   "vendor_id": "15b3",
+                   "physical_network": null,
+                   "remote_managed": "true"}
 
 * A JSON list of JSON dictionaries corresponding to the above format. For
   example::
 
-    passthrough_whitelist = [{"product_id":"0001", "vendor_id":"8086"},
-                             {"product_id":"0002", "vendor_id":"8086"}]
+    device_spec = [{"product_id":"0001", "vendor_id":"8086"},
+                   {"product_id":"0002", "vendor_id":"8086"}]
 """)
 ]
 
diff --git a/nova/network/neutron.py b/nova/network/neutron.py
index 5d0006425940..79b8ed089237 100644
--- a/nova/network/neutron.py
+++ b/nova/network/neutron.py
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ class API:
         self.last_neutron_extension_sync = None
         self.extensions = {}
         self.pci_whitelist = pci_whitelist.Whitelist(
-            CONF.pci.passthrough_whitelist)
+            CONF.pci.device_spec)
 
     def _update_port_with_migration_profile(
             self, instance, port_id, port_profile, admin_client):
@@ -1638,7 +1638,7 @@ class API:
                 # through the logs since it is generated per request.
                 LOG.error('Unable to find PCI device using PCI request ID in '
                           'list of claimed instance PCI devices: %s. Is the '
-                          '[pci]/passthrough_whitelist configuration correct?',
+                          '[pci]device_spec configuration correct?',
                           # Convert to a primitive list to stringify it.
                           list(instance.pci_devices), instance=instance)
                 raise exception.PciDeviceNotFound(
diff --git a/nova/pci/devspec.py b/nova/pci/devspec.py
index 1cefaed0cbf4..6a6dec3d3fb6 100644
--- a/nova/pci/devspec.py
+++ b/nova/pci/devspec.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ PCISpecAddressType = ty.Union[ty.Dict[str, str], str]
 class PciAddressSpec(metaclass=abc.ABCMeta):
     """Abstract class for all PCI address spec styles
 
-    This class checks the address fields of the pci.passthrough_whitelist
+    This class checks the address fields of the pci.device_spec
     """
 
     def __init__(self, pci_addr: str) -> None:
@@ -195,19 +195,19 @@ class PciAddressRegexSpec(PciAddressSpec):
 class WhitelistPciAddress(object):
     """Manages the address fields of the whitelist.
 
-    This class checks the address fields of the pci.passthrough_whitelist
+    This class checks the address fields of the pci.device_spec
     configuration option, validating the address fields.
     Example configs:
 
         | [pci]
-        | passthrough_whitelist = {"address":"*:0a:00.*",
-        |                          "physical_network":"physnet1"}
-        | passthrough_whitelist = {"address": {"domain": ".*",
-                                               "bus": "02",
-                                               "slot": "01",
-                                               "function": "[0-2]"},
-                                    "physical_network":"net1"}
-        | passthrough_whitelist = {"vendor_id":"1137","product_id":"0071"}
+        | device_spec = {"address":"*:0a:00.*",
+        |                "physical_network":"physnet1"}
+        | device_spec = {"address": {"domain": ".*",
+                                     "bus": "02",
+                                     "slot": "01",
+                                     "function": "[0-2]"},
+                         "physical_network":"net1"}
+        | device_spec = {"vendor_id":"1137","product_id":"0071"}
 
     """
 
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ class WhitelistPciAddress(object):
         # Try to match on the parent PCI address if the PciDeviceSpec is a
         # PF (sriov is available) and the device to match is a VF.  This
         # makes it possible to specify the PCI address of a PF in the
-        # pci.passthrough_whitelist to match any of its VFs' PCI addresses.
+        # pci.device_spec to match any of its VFs' PCI addresses.
         if self.is_physical_function and pci_phys_addr:
             pci_phys_addr_obj = PhysicalPciAddress(pci_phys_addr)
             if self.pci_address_spec.match(pci_phys_addr_obj):
diff --git a/nova/pci/manager.py b/nova/pci/manager.py
index b2a6157102f8..af88bd7b3a61 100644
--- a/nova/pci/manager.py
+++ b/nova/pci/manager.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class PciDevTracker(object):
         """
         self.stale: ty.Dict[str, objects.PciDevice] = {}
         self.node_id: str = compute_node.id
-        self.dev_filter = whitelist.Whitelist(CONF.pci.passthrough_whitelist)
+        self.dev_filter = whitelist.Whitelist(CONF.pci.device_spec)
         numa_topology = compute_node.numa_topology
         if numa_topology:
             # For legacy reasons, the NUMATopology is stored as a JSON blob.
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ class PciDevTracker(object):
                     LOG.warning("Unable to remove device with status "
                                 "'%(status)s' and ownership %(instance_uuid)s "
                                 "because of %(pci_exception)s. "
-                                "Check your [pci]passthrough_whitelist "
+                                "Check your [pci]device_spec "
                                 "configuration to make sure this allocated "
                                 "device is whitelisted. If you have removed "
                                 "the device from the whitelist intentionally "
diff --git a/nova/pci/stats.py b/nova/pci/stats.py
index 6a53c43c787f..ae15cf29efc0 100644
--- a/nova/pci/stats.py
+++ b/nova/pci/stats.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class PciDeviceStats(object):
         )
         self.pools.sort(key=lambda item: len(item))
         self.dev_filter = dev_filter or whitelist.Whitelist(
-            CONF.pci.passthrough_whitelist)
+            CONF.pci.device_spec)
 
     def _equal_properties(
         self, dev: Pool, entry: Pool, matching_keys: ty.List[str],
diff --git a/nova/pci/whitelist.py b/nova/pci/whitelist.py
index 1e4997123765..5addd38d2d4b 100644
--- a/nova/pci/whitelist.py
+++ b/nova/pci/whitelist.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class Whitelist(object):
 
         :param whitelist_spec: A JSON string for a dictionary or list thereof.
             Each dictionary specifies the pci device properties requirement.
-            See the definition of ``passthrough_whitelist`` in
+            See the definition of ``device_spec`` in
             ``nova.conf.pci`` for details and examples.
         """
         if whitelist_spec:
diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/libvirt/test_pci_sriov_servers.py b/nova/tests/functional/libvirt/test_pci_sriov_servers.py
index 5a2b6347eb57..2ec09b217f7b 100644
--- a/nova/tests/functional/libvirt/test_pci_sriov_servers.py
+++ b/nova/tests/functional/libvirt/test_pci_sriov_servers.py
@@ -47,9 +47,11 @@ class _PCIServersTestBase(base.ServersTestBase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         self.ctxt = context.get_admin_context()
-        self.flags(passthrough_whitelist=self.PCI_PASSTHROUGH_WHITELIST,
-                   alias=self.PCI_ALIAS,
-                   group='pci')
+        self.flags(
+            device_spec=self.PCI_PASSTHROUGH_WHITELIST,
+            alias=self.PCI_ALIAS,
+            group='pci'
+        )
 
         super(_PCIServersTestBase, self).setUp()
 
@@ -1652,9 +1654,11 @@ class PCIServersWithSRIOVAffinityPoliciesTest(_PCIServersTestBase):
             }
         )]
 
-        self.flags(passthrough_whitelist=self.PCI_PASSTHROUGH_WHITELIST,
-                   alias=alias,
-                   group='pci')
+        self.flags(
+            device_spec=self.PCI_PASSTHROUGH_WHITELIST,
+            alias=alias,
+            group='pci'
+        )
 
         self._test_policy(pci_numa_node, status, 'required')
 
@@ -1870,9 +1874,11 @@ class PCIServersWithPortNUMAPoliciesTest(_PCIServersTestBase):
             }
         )]
 
-        self.flags(passthrough_whitelist=self.PCI_PASSTHROUGH_WHITELIST,
-                   alias=alias,
-                   group='pci')
+        self.flags(
+            device_spec=self.PCI_PASSTHROUGH_WHITELIST,
+            alias=alias,
+            group='pci'
+        )
 
         self._test_policy(pci_numa_node, status, 'required')
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/test_servers_resource_request.py b/nova/tests/functional/test_servers_resource_request.py
index 09983e1d35c6..e31ff42f1470 100644
--- a/nova/tests/functional/test_servers_resource_request.py
+++ b/nova/tests/functional/test_servers_resource_request.py
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ class PortResourceRequestBasedSchedulingTestBase(
 
     def _create_sriov_networking_rp_tree(self, hostname, compute_rp_uuid):
         # Create a matching RP tree in placement for the PCI devices added to
-        # the passthrough_whitelist config during setUp() and PCI devices
+        # the device_spec config during setUp() and PCI devices
         # present in the FakeDriverWithPciResources virt driver.
         #
         # * PF1 represents the PCI device 0000:01:00, it will be mapped to
@@ -1362,7 +1362,7 @@ class PortResourceRequestBasedSchedulingTest(
         does not have resource request can be allocated to PF2 or PF3.
 
         For the detailed compute host config see the FakeDriverWithPciResources
-        class. For the necessary passthrough_whitelist config see the setUp of
+        class. For the necessary device_spec config see the setUp of
         the PortResourceRequestBasedSchedulingTestBase class.
         """
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_compute_mgr.py b/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_compute_mgr.py
index 31267d300719..6725d8a27a22 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_compute_mgr.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_compute_mgr.py
@@ -5064,13 +5064,16 @@ class ComputeManagerUnitTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase,
         msg = mock_log.warning.call_args_list[0]
         self.assertIn('appears to not be owned by this host', msg[0][0])
 
-    def test_init_host_pci_passthrough_whitelist_validation_failure(self):
-        # Tests that we fail init_host if there is a pci.passthrough_whitelist
+    def test_init_host_pci_device_spec_validation_failure(self):
+        # Tests that we fail init_host if there is a pci.device_spec
         # configured incorrectly.
-        self.flags(passthrough_whitelist=[
-            # it's invalid to specify both in the same devspec
-            jsonutils.dumps({'address': 'foo', 'devname': 'bar'})],
-            group='pci')
+        self.flags(
+            device_spec=[
+                # it's invalid to specify both in the same devspec
+                jsonutils.dumps({'address': 'foo', 'devname': 'bar'})
+            ],
+            group='pci'
+        )
         self.assertRaises(exception.PciDeviceInvalidDeviceName,
                           self.compute.init_host)
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/network/test_neutron.py b/nova/tests/unit/network/test_neutron.py
index f1dd51598d09..8fed222ae22c 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/network/test_neutron.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/network/test_neutron.py
@@ -8091,13 +8091,21 @@ class TestAPIPortbinding(TestAPIBase):
     )
     @mock.patch.object(pci_manager, 'get_instance_pci_devs')
     def test_pci_parse_whitelist_called_once(
-        self, mock_get_instance_pci_devs):
-        white_list = [
-            '{"address":"0000:0a:00.1","physical_network":"default"}']
-        cfg.CONF.set_override('passthrough_whitelist', white_list, 'pci')
+        self, mock_get_instance_pci_devs
+    ):
+        device_spec = [
+            jsonutils.dumps(
+                {
+                    "address": "0000:0a:00.1",
+                    "physical_network": "default",
+                }
+            )
+        ]
+        cfg.CONF.set_override(
+            'device_spec', device_spec, 'pci')
 
         # NOTE(takashin): neutronapi.API must be initialized
-        # after the 'passthrough_whitelist' is set in this test case.
+        # after the 'device_spec' is set in this test case.
         api = neutronapi.API()
         host_id = 'my_host_id'
         instance = {'host': host_id}
@@ -8110,7 +8118,7 @@ class TestAPIPortbinding(TestAPIBase):
                    'dev_type': obj_fields.PciDeviceType.SRIOV_VF,
                   }
 
-        whitelist = pci_whitelist.Whitelist(CONF.pci.passthrough_whitelist)
+        whitelist = pci_whitelist.Whitelist(CONF.pci.device_spec)
         with mock.patch.object(pci_whitelist.Whitelist,
                 '_parse_white_list_from_config',
                 wraps=whitelist._parse_white_list_from_config
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_manager.py b/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_manager.py
index 6ce248beba25..d6a91a484eaf 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_manager.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_manager.py
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ class PciDevTrackerTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
             self, mock_debug):
         self.flags(
             group='pci',
-            passthrough_whitelist=[
+            device_spec=[
                 '{"product_id":"2032", "vendor_id":"8086"}'])
         # There are systems where 32 bit PCI domain is used. See bug 1897528
         # for example. While nova (and qemu) does not support assigning such
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_stats.py b/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_stats.py
index b6a6ef22a0ee..4678fc4f9612 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_stats.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_stats.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 from unittest import mock
 
 from oslo_config import cfg
+from oslo_serialization import jsonutils
 
 from nova import exception
 from nova import objects
@@ -444,9 +445,9 @@ class PciDeviceStatsTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
     @mock.patch(
         'nova.pci.whitelist.Whitelist._parse_white_list_from_config')
-    def test_white_list_parsing(self, mock_whitelist_parse):
-        white_list = '{"product_id":"0001", "vendor_id":"8086"}'
-        CONF.set_override('passthrough_whitelist', white_list, 'pci')
+    def test_device_spec_parsing(self, mock_whitelist_parse):
+        device_spec = {"product_id": "0001", "vendor_id": "8086"}
+        CONF.set_override('device_spec', jsonutils.dumps(device_spec), 'pci')
         pci_stats = stats.PciDeviceStats(objects.NUMATopology())
         pci_stats.add_device(self.fake_dev_2)
         pci_stats.remove_device(self.fake_dev_2)
@@ -457,16 +458,34 @@ class PciDeviceStatsWithTagsTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         super(PciDeviceStatsWithTagsTestCase, self).setUp()
-        white_list = ['{"vendor_id":"1137","product_id":"0071",'
-                        '"address":"*:0a:00.*","physical_network":"physnet1"}',
-                      '{"vendor_id":"1137","product_id":"0072"}',
-                      '{"vendor_id":"15b3","product_id":"101e", '
-                      '"remote_managed": "true"}',
-                      '{"vendor_id":"15b3","product_id":"101c"}',
-                      '{"vendor_id":"15b3","product_id":"1018", '
-                      '"remote_managed": "false"}']
-        self.flags(passthrough_whitelist=white_list, group='pci')
-        dev_filter = whitelist.Whitelist(white_list)
+        device_spec = [
+            jsonutils.dumps(
+                {
+                    "vendor_id": "1137",
+                    "product_id": "0071",
+                    "address": "*:0a:00.*",
+                    "physical_network": "physnet1",
+                }
+            ),
+            jsonutils.dumps({"vendor_id": "1137", "product_id": "0072"}),
+            jsonutils.dumps(
+                {
+                    "vendor_id": "15b3",
+                    "product_id": "101e",
+                    "remote_managed": "true",
+                }
+            ),
+            jsonutils.dumps({"vendor_id": "15b3", "product_id": "101c"}),
+            jsonutils.dumps(
+                {
+                    "vendor_id": "15b3",
+                    "product_id": "1018",
+                    "remote_managed": "false",
+                }
+            ),
+        ]
+        self.flags(device_spec=device_spec, group="pci")
+        dev_filter = whitelist.Whitelist(device_spec)
         self.pci_stats = stats.PciDeviceStats(
             objects.NUMATopology(),
             dev_filter=dev_filter)
@@ -704,13 +723,25 @@ class PciDeviceVFPFStatsTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         super(PciDeviceVFPFStatsTestCase, self).setUp()
-        white_list = ['{"vendor_id":"8086","product_id":"1528"}',
-                      '{"vendor_id":"8086","product_id":"1515"}',
-                      '{"vendor_id":"15b3","product_id":"a2d6", '
-                      '"remote_managed": "false"}',
-                      '{"vendor_id":"15b3","product_id":"101e", '
-                      '"remote_managed": "true"}']
-        self.flags(passthrough_whitelist=white_list, group='pci')
+        device_spec = [
+            jsonutils.dumps({"vendor_id": "8086", "product_id": "1528"}),
+            jsonutils.dumps({"vendor_id": "8086", "product_id": "1515"}),
+            jsonutils.dumps(
+                {
+                    "vendor_id": "15b3",
+                    "product_id": "a2d6",
+                    "remote_managed": "false",
+                }
+            ),
+            jsonutils.dumps(
+                {
+                    "vendor_id": "15b3",
+                    "product_id": "101e",
+                    "remote_managed": "true",
+                }
+            ),
+        ]
+        self.flags(device_spec=device_spec, group='pci')
         self.pci_stats = stats.PciDeviceStats(objects.NUMATopology())
 
     def _create_pci_devices(self, vf_product_id=1515, pf_product_id=1528):
diff --git a/nova/virt/fake.py b/nova/virt/fake.py
index 02fc1f07bcb6..c2d1fdbf5644 100644
--- a/nova/virt/fake.py
+++ b/nova/virt/fake.py
@@ -936,7 +936,7 @@ class FakeDriverWithPciResources(SmallFakeDriver):
         def setUp(self):
             super(FakeDriverWithPciResources.
                   FakeDriverWithPciResourcesConfigFixture, self).setUp()
-            # Set passthrough_whitelist before the compute node starts to match
+            # Set device_spec before the compute node starts to match
             # with the PCI devices reported by this fake driver.
 
             # NOTE(gibi): 0000:01:00 is tagged to physnet1 and therefore not a
@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ class FakeDriverWithPciResources(SmallFakeDriver):
             # Having two PFs on the same physnet will allow us to test the
             # placement allocation - physical allocation matching based on the
             # bandwidth allocation in the future.
-            CONF.set_override('passthrough_whitelist', override=[
+            CONF.set_override('device_spec', override=[
                 jsonutils.dumps(
                     {
                         "address": {
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-passthrough_whitelist-config-name-0530d502c960d753.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-passthrough_whitelist-config-name-0530d502c960d753.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a0c707def437
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-passthrough_whitelist-config-name-0530d502c960d753.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+deprecations:
+  - |
+    The [pci]passthrough_whitelist config option is renamed to
+    [pci]device_spec. The old name is deprecated and aliased to the new one.
+    The old name will be removed in a future release.