---
id: CVE-2026-98637
title: 'KVM: arm64: Do not clear VM-wide SVE feature on vCPU init failure'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  KVM: arm64: Do not clear VM-wide SVE feature on vCPU init failure

  pkvm_vcpu_init_sve() clears KVM_ARM_VCPU_SVE in kvm->arch.vcpu_features
  when it fails, but vcpu_has_s…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 5db1bef933427aa467ad89c7b695a84a6b4afe16 <
    bd46b41f412fb81c50bac1a0929ec31320f3a807
  - >-
    Linux >= 5db1bef933427aa467ad89c7b695a84a6b4afe16 <
    f0cd8ffae092cc1b9d7cfa9188ed5a88a374adcb
  - >-
    Linux >= 5db1bef933427aa467ad89c7b695a84a6b4afe16 <
    a1b3c788ad31837e348075e93dbba3f447492776
  - Linux 6.16
published: '2026-10-18'
updated: '2026-10-18'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-18T15:20:08.157Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98637'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bd46b41f412fb81c50bac1a0929ec31320f3a807'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f0cd8ffae092cc1b9d7cfa9188ed5a88a374adcb'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a1b3c788ad31837e348075e93dbba3f447492776'
tags:
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-10-18T15:45:12.231Z'
---

## Overview

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

KVM: arm64: Do not clear VM-wide SVE feature on vCPU init failure

pkvm_vcpu_init_sve() clears KVM_ARM_VCPU_SVE in kvm->arch.vcpu_features
when it fails, but vcpu_has_sve() tests KVM_ARCH_FLAG_GUEST_HAS_SVE,
which is left set. Later vCPUs on that VM then skip the SVE setup and
register with a NULL sve_state, which the guest's first FP access hands
to sve_load_state().

Return the error without touching vcpu_features.

## Affected

- `Linux >= 5db1bef933427aa467ad89c7b695a84a6b4afe16 < bd46b41f412fb81c50bac1a0929ec31320f3a807`
- `Linux >= 5db1bef933427aa467ad89c7b695a84a6b4afe16 < f0cd8ffae092cc1b9d7cfa9188ed5a88a374adcb`
- `Linux >= 5db1bef933427aa467ad89c7b695a84a6b4afe16 < a1b3c788ad31837e348075e93dbba3f447492776`
- `Linux 6.16`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.