This file appears to have been created when the issue started, can I remove it?

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       8 31 dec 19.15 state.db.generation

@olivierlambert thanks
Just to limit the amount of data here is the db init part from xensource.log

Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [debug||0 |Setup DB configuration D:888c979e4a5e|parse_db_conf]
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [debug||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|startup] task [starting up database engine]
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [debug||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|dummytaskhelper] task starting up database engine D:2a59ed50ccb5 created by task D:02d6bb70f07f
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [debug||0 |starting up database engine D:2a59ed50ccb5|xapi] Attempting to populate database from one of these locations: [/var/lib/xcp/state.db]
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [debug||0 |starting up database engine D:2a59ed50ccb5|xapi] Dbconf contains: /var/lib/xcp/state.db (generation 46799956)
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [debug||0 |starting up database engine D:2a59ed50ccb5|xapi] Most recent db is /var/lib/xcp/state.db (generation 46799956)
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [debug||0 |starting up database engine D:2a59ed50ccb5|sql] attempting to restore database from /var/lib/xcp/state.db
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] starting up database engine D:2a59ed50ccb5 failed with exception Xmlm.Error(2:317874, "malformed character stream")
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] Raised Xmlm.Error(2:317874, "malformed character stream")
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 1/15 xapi Raised at file src/xmlm.ml, line 330
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 2/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/database/db_xml.ml, line 201
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 3/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/database/db_xml.ml, line 233
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 4/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 24
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 5/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 39
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 6/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/database/backend_xml.ml, line 43
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 7/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/database/db_cache_impl.ml, line 415
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 8/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/database/db_cache_impl.ml, line 542
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 9/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/xapi.ml, line 85
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 10/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/xapi.ml, line 99
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 11/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 24
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 12/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 39
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 13/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/server_helpers.ml, line 75
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 14/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/server_helpers.ml, line 97
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace] 15/15 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/log/debug.ml, line 250
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|backtrace]
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [ warn||0 |server_init D:02d6bb70f07f|startup] task [starting up database engine] exception: Xmlm.Error(2:317874, "malformed character stream")
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] server_init D:02d6bb70f07f failed with exception Xmlm.Error(2:317874, "malformed character stream")
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] Raised Xmlm.Error(2:317874, "malformed character stream")
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 1/14 xapi Raised at file ocaml/libs/log/debug.ml, line 271
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 2/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 24
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 3/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 39
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 4/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 24
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 5/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 39
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 6/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/startup.ml, line 95
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 7/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/startup.ml, line 103
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 8/14 xapi Called from file list.ml, line 110
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 9/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 24
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 10/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 39
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 11/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/xapi.ml, line 1071
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 12/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/server_helpers.ml, line 75
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 13/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/server_helpers.ml, line 97
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace] 14/14 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/log/debug.ml, line 250
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 |Xapi.watchdog|backtrace]
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [debug||0 |Xapi.watchdog|xapi] xapi top-level caught exception: INTERNAL_ERROR: [ Xmlm.Error(2:317874, "malformed character stream") ]
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] Xapi.watchdog failed with exception Xmlm.Error(2:317874, "malformed character stream")
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] Raised Xmlm.Error(2:317874, "malformed character stream")
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 1/11 xapi Raised at file ocaml/libs/log/debug.ml, line 271
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 2/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 24
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 3/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 39
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 4/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 24
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 5/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/xapi-stdext/lib/xapi-stdext-pervasives/pervasiveext.ml, line 39
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 6/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/xapi.ml, line 1070
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 7/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/xapi.ml, line 1526
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 8/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/xapi.ml, line 1534
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 9/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/xapi.ml, line 1540
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 10/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/xapi/xapi.ml, line 1545
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace] 11/11 xapi Called from file ocaml/libs/log/debug.ml, line 250
Jan  2 15:21:46 expo xapi: [error||0 ||backtrace]

@olivierlambert
from what I can tell I should be up to date and I've run the repair steps in the advisory also but still I see the below error. I was behind on updates but xapi crashed and before a reboot I thought an update was in order.
I've reboot the node several times and latest was just before I ran the below commands

[15:01 expo ~]# xe vm-list
Error: Connection refused (calling connect )
[15:01 expo ~]# rpm -qa | egrep 'xen|xapi'
xapi-xe-25.33.1-2.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xenopsd-25.33.1-2.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xenserver-status-report-2.0.15-1.xcpng8.3.noarch
xenopsd-cli-25.33.1-2.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xapi-tests-25.33.1-2.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
python2-xapi-storage-24.19.2-1.10.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xapi-rrd2csv-25.33.1-2.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xapi-core-25.33.1-2.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xenserver-dracut-10-2.xcpng8.3.noarch
xenopsd-xc-25.33.1-2.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xengt-userspace-4.0.0-1.xcpng8.3.noarch
mellanox-mlnxen-5.9_0.5.5.0-3.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xapi-nbd-25.33.1-2.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xcp-ng-xapi-plugins-1.15.0-1.xcpng8.3.noarch
xenserver-hwdata-20240411-1.xcpng8.3.noarch
xen-hypervisor-4.17.5-23.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xen-tools-4.17.5-23.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xen-dom0-tools-4.17.5-23.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xen-crashdump-analyser-2.6.1-1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xapi-storage-script-25.33.1-2.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xen-libs-4.17.5-23.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64
xen-dom0-libs-4.17.5-23.1.xcpng8.3.x86_64

Hi,
I seem to have hit XSA-474 and trying to figure out how I can patch xapi to get the node up and running again. This appears to be when the issue started but not quite sure which part of the /var/log/xensource.log is relevant
Portion of xensource.log