Track vulnerabilities like this one. Sign up free to get alerted when software you use is affected.

Linux kernel 6.6.157.1-1 may crash on some ARM servers

published 17 days ago
Summary

The Linux kernel version 6.6.157.1-1 used in Azure can mishandle a special type of signal on ARM processors that support one advanced feature (SME) but not another (SVE). This can cause the system to enter an invalid state and potentially crash. Updating to the latest kernel release that includes the fix resolves the issue.

What to do

The CVE record does not list a fixed version. Check the vendor's site or the advisory links below - a fix may already be released.

Affected software
Ecosystem VendorProductAffected versions
Azure Linux:3 azure kernel <= 6.6.157.1-1
Original advisory text
CVE-2026-98745 affecting package kernel 6.6.157.1-1
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

arm64/fpsimd: signal: Forbid non-streaming SVE payload on SME-only systems

When system_supports_sme() is true but system_supports_sve() is false,
restoring a specifically crafted SVE signal context can result in the
task erroneously having non-streaming SVE state. Subsequent attempts to
manipulate the task's FPSIMD/SVE/SME state can result in a variety of
problems, including fatal EL1 UNDEFs.

In such configurations, the kernel always creates an SVE signal context
when delivering a signal, and this can only be in one of two states:

(1) SVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is set, and an SVE payload is present containing
streaming mode SVE state. The recorded VL is the task's live
streaming VL.

(2) SVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is clear, and an SVE payload is not present. The
FPSIMD context contains the non-streaming mode FPSIMD state. The
recorded VL is 0.

Currently restore_sve_fpsimd_context() correctly rejects cases where
SVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is set and an SVE payload is not present, but fails to
reject cases where SVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is clear and an SVE payload is
present. Consequently, restore_sve_fpsimd_context() can place the task
in a state where it has non-streaming SVE state even when this is not
supported by HW.

For example, this can cause a later EL1 UNDEF when the kernel attempts to
restore the task's ZCR_EL1 value:

| # ./sme-sigcontext-to-sve
| Internal error: Oops - Undefined instruction: 0000000002000000 [#1] SMP
| Modules linked in:
| CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 131 Comm: sme-sigcontext- Not tainted 7.3.0-rc1 #1 PREEMPT
| Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT)
| pstate: 61402009 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
| pc : fpsimd_restore_current_state+0x258/0x458
| lr : exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xb8/0x188
| sp : ffff80008056be40
| x29: ffff80008056be40 x28: fff00000c1670000 x27: 0000000000000000
| x26: 0000000000000000 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 0000000000000000
| x23: ffff80008056bec0 x22: 0000000000000008 x21: 0000000000000040
| x20: 0000000000000081 x19: 0000000008800010 x18: 0000000000000000
| x17: 0000fffffd412570 x16: 0000000000001000 x15: 0000fffffd4123b0
| x14: 0000fffffd412780 x13: 0000fffffd412be8 x12: 0000000047435300
| x11: 0000fffffd412570 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : 0000000045585401
| x8 : fff00000c18a6c44 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000002
| x5 : 0000000000000002 x4 : ffff800080568000 x3 : 0000000000000001
| x2 : 0000000008800010 x1 : fff00000c1670000 x0 : 0000000008800000
| Call trace:
| fpsimd_restore_current_state+0x258/0x458 (P)
| exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xb8/0x188
| el0_svc+0x1cc/0x1d0
| el0t_64_sync_handler+0xa0/0xe4
| el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c
| Code: d5384101 f9400020 53175c03 36b80de0 (d5381202)
| ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
| Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops - Undefined instruction: Fatal exception in interrupt
| Kernel Offset: 0x291fb1000000 from 0xffff800080000000
| PHYS_OFFSET: 0x40000000
| CPU features: 0x0,00000000,0052802f,ffb88f43,3afcf73f
| Memory Limit: none

Rework restore_sve_fpsimd_context() to reject cases where
SVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is clear and an SVE payload is not present. As
parse_user_sigframe() rejects SVE signal frames when neither SVE nor SME
are supported, it isn't necessary for restore_sve_fpsimd_context() to
handle the case where neither are supported.
Timeline
Published18 Oct 2026
Updated21 Oct 2026
First seen21 Oct 2026
Sources
AZL-108620 · OSV
Track software like this
Free during beta