"FastSlabAllocSlow", ESXi 7.0 host fails with a PSOD "NMI IPI: Panic requested by another PCPU. RIPOFF(base):RBP:CS"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• ESXi 7.0 fails with PSOD "NMI IPI: Panic requested by another PCPU. RIPOFF(base):RBP:CS"

Sample PSOD screenshot:

• PSOD backtrace will show functions FastSlabAllocSlow, Pkt_AllocHandleWithSize & vmk_PktAlloc

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.3
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.2

Cause

This issue is caused by a heartbeat timeout during a FastSlab allocation when there is high memory fragmentation.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 3g, available at ESXi 7.0 update 3g - Broadcom Support Portal

Additional Information

Please refer to KB Applying individual product updates to VMware Cloud Foundation environments using Async Patch Tool (AP Tool) to apply the ESXi 7.0 U3g patch in VCF (VMware Cloud Foundation) environments.