# CVE-2026-23005: x86/fpu: Clear XSTATE_BV[i] in guest XSAVE state whenever XFD[i]=1

> A guest VM can crash the host kernel by triggering a kernel panic via improper XSAVE state handling in KVM.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-77175, BELL-CVE-2026-23005, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23005, GHSA-326g-5c6q-7782, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23005, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23005

## What is CVE-2026-23005?

CVE-2026-23005 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

x86/fpu: Clear XSTATE_BV[i] in guest XSAVE state whenever XFD[i]=1

When loading guest XSAVE state via KVM_SET_XSAVE, and when updating XFD in
response to a guest WRMSR, clear XFD-disabled features in the saved (or to
be restored) XSTATE_BV to ensure KVM doesn't attempt to load state for
features that are disabled via the guest's XFD.  Because the kernel
executes XRSTOR with the guest's XFD, saving XSTATE_BV[i]=1 with XFD[i]=1
will cause XRSTOR to #NM and panic the kernel.

E.g. if fpu_update_guest_xfd() sets XFD without clearing XSTATE_BV:

  ------------[ cut here ]------------
  WARNING: arch/x86/kernel/traps.c:1524 at exc_device_not_available+0x101/0x110, CPU#29: amx_test/848
  Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass
  CPU: 29 UID: 1000 PID: 848 Comm: amx_test Not tainted 6.19.0-rc2-ffa07f7fd437-x86_amx_nm_xfd_non_init-vm #171 NONE
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
  RIP: 0010:exc_device_not_available+0x101/0x110
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   asm_exc_device_not_available+0x1a/0x20
  RIP: 0010:restore_fpregs_from_fpstate+0x36/0x90
   switch_fpu_return+0x4a/0xb0
   kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x1245/0x1e40 [kvm]
   kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x2c3/0x8f0 [kvm]
   __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8f/0xd0
   do_syscall_64+0x62/0x940
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
   </TASK>
  ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

This can happen if the guest executes WRMSR(MSR_IA32_XFD) to set XFD[18] = 1,
and a host IRQ triggers kernel_fpu_begin() prior to the vmexit handler's
call to fpu_update_guest_xfd().

and if userspace stuffs XSTATE_BV[i]=1 via KVM_SET_XSAVE:

  ------------[ cut here ]------------
  WARNING: arch/x86/kernel/traps.c:1524 at exc_device_not_available+0x101/0x110, CPU#14: amx_test/867
  Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass
  CPU: 14 UID: 1000 PID: 867 Comm: amx_test Not tainted 6.19.0-rc2-2dace9faccd6-x86_amx_nm_xfd_non_init-vm #168 NONE
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
  RIP: 0010:exc_device_not_available+0x101/0x110
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   asm_exc_device_not_available+0x1a/0x20
  RIP: 0010:restore_fpregs_from_fpstate+0x36/0x90
   fpu_swap_kvm_fpstate+0x6b/0x120
   kvm_load_guest_fpu+0x30/0x80 [kvm]
   kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x85/0x1e40 [kvm]
   kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x2c3/0x8f0 [kvm]
   __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8f/0xd0
   do_syscall_64+0x62/0x940
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
   </TASK>
  ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

The new behavior is consistent with the AMX architecture.  Per Intel's SDM,
XSAVE saves XSTATE_BV as '0' for components that are disabled via XFD
(and non-compacted XSAVE saves the initial configuration of the state
component):

  If XSAVE, XSAVEC, XSAVEOPT, or XSAVES is saving the state component i,
  the instruction does not generate #NM when XCR0[i] = IA32_XFD[i] = 1;
  instead, it operates as if XINUSE[i] = 0 (and the state component was
  in its initial state): it saves bit i of XSTATE_BV field of the XSAVE
  header as 0; in addition, XSAVE saves the initial configuration of the
  state component (the other instructions do not save state component i).

Alternatively, KVM could always do XRSTOR with XFD=0, e.g. by using
a constant XFD based on the set of enabled features when XSAVEing for
a struct fpu_guest.  However, having XSTATE_BV[i]=1 for XFD-disabled
features can only happen in the above interrupt case, or in similar
scenarios involving preemption on preemptible kernels, because
fpu_swap_kvm_fpstate()'s call to save_fpregs_to_fpstate() saves the
outgoing FPU state with the current XFD; and that is (on all but the
first WRMSR to XFD) the guest XFD.

Therefore, XFD can only go out of sync with XSTATE_BV in the above
interrupt case, or in similar scenarios involving preemption on
preemptible kernels, and it we can consider it (de facto) part of KVM
ABI that KVM_GET_XSAVE returns XSTATE_BV[i]=0 for XFD-disabled features.

[Move clea
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23005?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23005?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23005 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23005 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- https://github.com/George0Papasotiriou/CVE-2026-23005-Matter-Commissioning-Code-Brute-Force-Without-Rate-Limit (github_poc): https://github.com/George0Papasotiriou/CVE-2026-23005-Matter-Commissioning-Code-Brute-Force-Without-Rate-Limit

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23005 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23005 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23005 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23005/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23005/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23005
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23005
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23005

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23005/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
