He is the fifth new signing since the north-east side narrowly avoided relegation last season under temporary manager Dick Advocaat, who then changed his mind and decided to stay on.
"Yann is a player who is highly regarded by a number of the elite clubs across Europe, playing for his national team of France from a young age," Sunderland's sporting director Lee Congleton told the club's website.
"I'm very happy to be a Sunderland player," M'Vila said. "I had a very good feeling training with the team. Every player welcomed me and the feeling was very good with them so I’m excited for the start of the season.
"I’ve also wanted to play in the Barclays Premier League for a long time."
M'Vila, 25, has 22 French caps. He began his career with Rennes, joining Rubin Kazan in 2013, and spent last season on loan in Italy at Inter Milan.
Sunderland's opening game is away to Leicester on Saturday.
(Reporting by Steve Tongue; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
