ESXi PSOD with "Panic Message: @BlueScreen: VERIFY bora/vmkernel/sched/cpusched.c:11252"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi 8.x hosts experience a Purple Screen of Death (PSOD) with the below backtrace:

Panic Details: Crash at 20XX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX.XXXZ on CPU 62 running world 20xxxxx. VMK Uptime:XXX:XX:XX:XX.XXX
Panic Message: @BlueScreen: VERIFY bora/vmkernel/sched/cpusched.c:11252
Backtrace (top 8 lines):
  XxXXXaXXXXbbXX:[XxXXXXXXXXbbcX]PanicvPanicInt@vmkernel#nover+XxXXc stack: XxXXXaXXXXfXXX, XxXXXXXXXXbbcX, XxX, XxXXXXXXXXXXX1, XxXXXXXXXXbbcX
  XxXXXaXXXXbcXX:[XxXXXXXXXXcXXc]Panic_NoSave@vmkernel#nover+XxXd stack: XxXXXaXXXXbcXX, XxXXXaXXXXbcXX, XxX, XxXXXXXXXXXeaX, XxXbfX
  XxXXXaXXXXbcXX:[XxXXXXXXXXcXXX]Panic_OnAssertAt@vmkernel#nover+0xba stack: XxXbfX00000000, XxXXXXXXXXXeaX, XxXXXXXXXXXdXX, XxXXXXXXXXXfXX, XxXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XxXXXaXXXXbdXX:[XxXXXXXXXaXXeX]Int6_UD2Assert@vmkernel#nover+0xXX0 stack: 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0xXXXXXXXXbXcX, 0x0
  XxXXXaXXXXbdXX:[XxXXXXXXXXbXcX]gate_entry@vmkernel#nover+XxaX stack: 0x0, Xxbfffffff, 0x0, XxXXXffeebXcXXXX, 0x0
  XxXXXaXXXXbdfX:[XxXXXXXXXdXXXf]CpuSchedWait@vmkernel#nover+XxXXb stack: XxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, 0x0, 0x0, XxXXeXXcXXXXXX, XxXXXaXXXXbfXX
  XxXXXaXXXXbfXX:[XxXXXXXXXeXXXa]TcpipDispatchWorld@(tcpip4)#<None>+XxXXX stack: 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0
  XxXXXaXXXXbfeX:[XxXXXXXXXdXXbX]CpuSched_StartWorld@vmkernel#nover+Xxbf stack: 0x0, XxXXXXXXXXXcfX, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

The crash is caused by an incorrect CPU preemption state. This is a per-CPU state monitored by the VMkernel scheduler; when an unexpected state is detected, the kernel triggers an assertion failure.

Resolution

There is currently no resolution.

Engage the hardware vendor to perform exhaustive diagnostics on CPU and memory to rule out underlying physical defects.

If the issue is reproducible, engage Broadcom Support.