ESXi 8.x PSOD with #PF Exception 14 in Port_TryAcqNonexclWithVersion

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms

An ESXi 8.x host experiences a Purple Diagnostic Screen (PSOD) with the following characteristics:

• Panic Message: @BlueScreen: #PF Exception 14 in world <World_ID>:<Process> IP 0x<Address> addr 0x<Address>
• Backtrace: The crash occurs within the Port_TryAcqNonexclWithVersion function.

Port_TryAcqNonexclWithVersion@vmkernel#nover+0x62
Net_VMMHasPendingWork@vmkernel#nover+0x2bc
CpuSchedVcpuHaltWork@vmkernel#nover+0x6c
VMMVMKCall_Call@vmkernel#nover+0x103
VMKVMM_ArchEnterVMKernel@vmkernel#nover+0x21

• The PSOD may occur multiple times, often tied to the same Physical CPU (PCPU) core.

Environment

vSphere ESXi 8.0

Cause

This issue is caused by a faulty physical CPU core miscalculating internal register indices during high-frequency kernel operations.

Technical analysis of the Port_TryAcqNonexclWithVersion function shows that the hypervisor attempts to derive an index from the portsetArray. In affected cases, the processor returns logically incorrect data (e.g., a register value like 0xbe300003 when the expected value is 3), leading to a page fault exception. Because the CPU is electrically functional but returning incorrect computational results, standard hardware sensors often fail to detect the defect Host PSOD with PF Exception 14.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, the faulty hardware component must be replaced:

1. Review the /var/run/log/vmkernel.log or /var/run/log/LogEFI.log to determine if the crashes are consistently occurring on the same PCPU.
2. Engage your hardware vendor to replace the physical processor package containing the identified PCPU.
3. Request the vendor perform a targeted CPU instruction stress test. Standard "Quick Tests" may not surface this specific instruction-level miscalculation ESXi.
4. Ensure the System BIOS and all component firmware (XCC, iDRAC, Chipset) are updated to the latest versions supported for your ESXi build to ensure stable hypervisor-to-processor communication Host crashes with PSOD (purple screen of death) - PF Exception 14.