# CVE-2026-98745: arm64/fpsimd: signal: Forbid non-streaming SVE payload on SME-only systems

> A local attacker can cause a kernel crash by crafting a specific signal context on ARM64 systems with SME but no SVE support.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 18 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-108620, BELL-CVE-2026-98745, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98745, GHSA-75wv-m6h4-9m7c, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98745

## What is CVE-2026-98745?

CVE-2026-98745 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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:

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.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98745?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98745?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98745 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98745 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98745 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98745 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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-2026-98745 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-98745/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98745/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98745
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98745
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98745

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98745/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
