CVE-2026-98745
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:
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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.
Technical details traces, logs and code from the original report
(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.CVSS
NVD hasn't assigned a CVSS score to this CVE (common since the April 2026 policy change).
Exploitation probability (EPSS)
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
- 0.17 %
- Percentile among all scored CVEs
- 6
- Score date
- 10/20/2026
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
Affected technologies (1)
⚠ AI-inferred from the description — NVD hasn't analyzed this CVE yet, these aren't verified CPEs.
References
Show 4 references
Raw JSON (NVD)
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{
"id": "CVE-2026-98745",
"cveTags": [],
"metrics": {},
"affected": [
{
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"affectedData": [
{
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "7dde62f0687c8856b6c0660066c7ee83a6a6f033",
"lessThan": "f2338929c7663859c0c74dd6fef2c0245066f845",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "7dde62f0687c8856b6c0660066c7ee83a6a6f033",
"lessThan": "2bce6f006cfe0b60e8249fd8d51396d99355cba3",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "7dde62f0687c8856b6c0660066c7ee83a6a6f033",
"lessThan": "88c1c611552b24658eb61244086691c02be2013b",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "7dde62f0687c8856b6c0660066c7ee83a6a6f033",
"lessThan": "e060d9069b49fe55f38057dfe592068014652671",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "05458ee3ff82b31a4564836a84ef20d6c233dfc7",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.1.7",
"lessThan": "6.2",
"versionType": "semver"
}
],
"programFiles": [
"arch/arm64/kernel/signal.c"
],
"defaultStatus": "unaffected"
},
{
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.2"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"lessThan": "6.2",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.12.113",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.56",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2.10",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.3",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
"lessThanOrEqual": "*"
}
],
"programFiles": [
"arch/arm64/kernel/signal.c"
],
"defaultStatus": "affected"
}
]
}
],
"published": "2026-10-18T16:17:28.237",
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2bce6f006cfe0b60e8249fd8d51396d99355cba3",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/88c1c611552b24658eb61244086691c02be2013b",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e060d9069b49fe55f38057dfe592068014652671",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f2338929c7663859c0c74dd6fef2c0245066f845",
"source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}
],
"vulnStatus": "Received",
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\narm64/fpsimd: signal: Forbid non-streaming SVE payload on SME-only systems\n\nWhen system_supports_sme() is true but system_supports_sve() is false,\nrestoring a specifically crafted SVE signal context can result in the\ntask erroneously having non-streaming SVE state. Subsequent attempts to\nmanipulate the task's FPSIMD/SVE/SME state can result in a variety of\nproblems, including fatal EL1 UNDEFs.\n\nIn such configurations, the kernel always creates an SVE signal context\nwhen delivering a signal, and this can only be in one of two states:\n\n(1) SVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is set, and an SVE payload is present containing\n streaming mode SVE state. The recorded VL is the task's live\n streaming VL.\n\n(2) SVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is clear, and an SVE payload is not present. The\n FPSIMD context contains the non-streaming mode FPSIMD state. The\n recorded VL is 0.\n\nCurrently restore_sve_fpsimd_context() correctly rejects cases where\nSVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is set and an SVE payload is not present, but fails to\nreject cases where SVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is clear and an SVE payload is\npresent. Consequently, restore_sve_fpsimd_context() can place the task\nin a state where it has non-streaming SVE state even when this is not\nsupported by HW.\n\nFor example, this can cause a later EL1 UNDEF when the kernel attempts to\nrestore the task's ZCR_EL1 value:\n\n| # ./sme-sigcontext-to-sve\n| Internal error: Oops - Undefined instruction: 0000000002000000 [#1] SMP\n| Modules linked in:\n| CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 131 Comm: sme-sigcontext- Not tainted 7.3.0-rc1 #1 PREEMPT\n| Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT)\n| pstate: 61402009 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)\n| pc : fpsimd_restore_current_state+0x258/0x458\n| lr : exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xb8/0x188\n| sp : ffff80008056be40\n| x29: ffff80008056be40 x28: fff00000c1670000 x27: 0000000000000000\n| x26: 0000000000000000 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 0000000000000000\n| x23: ffff80008056bec0 x22: 0000000000000008 x21: 0000000000000040\n| x20: 0000000000000081 x19: 0000000008800010 x18: 0000000000000000\n| x17: 0000fffffd412570 x16: 0000000000001000 x15: 0000fffffd4123b0\n| x14: 0000fffffd412780 x13: 0000fffffd412be8 x12: 0000000047435300\n| x11: 0000fffffd412570 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : 0000000045585401\n| x8 : fff00000c18a6c44 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000002\n| x5 : 0000000000000002 x4 : ffff800080568000 x3 : 0000000000000001\n| x2 : 0000000008800010 x1 : fff00000c1670000 x0 : 0000000008800000\n| Call trace:\n| fpsimd_restore_current_state+0x258/0x458 (P)\n| exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xb8/0x188\n| el0_svc+0x1cc/0x1d0\n| el0t_64_sync_handler+0xa0/0xe4\n| el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c\n| Code: d5384101 f9400020 53175c03 36b80de0 (d5381202)\n| ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---\n| Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops - Undefined instruction: Fatal exception in interrupt\n| Kernel Offset: 0x291fb1000000 from 0xffff800080000000\n| PHYS_OFFSET: 0x40000000\n| CPU features: 0x0,00000000,0052802f,ffb88f43,3afcf73f\n| Memory Limit: none\n\nRework restore_sve_fpsimd_context() to reject cases where\nSVE_SIG_FLAG_SM is clear and an SVE payload is not present. As\nparse_user_sigframe() rejects SVE signal frames when neither SVE nor SME\nare supported, it isn't necessary for restore_sve_fpsimd_context() to\nhandle the case where neither are supported."
}
],
"lastModified": "2026-10-19T10:19:38.670",
"sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}