CVE-2026-72459

Received Received - Intake

AppArmor Label Allocation Failure in Linux Kernel

Publication date: 2026-08-15

Last updated on: 2026-08-17

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: apparmor: aa_label_alloc use aa_label_free on alloc failure aa_label_alloc() allocates a secid before allocating or taking the label proxy. If the later proxy step fails, the error path only freed the label memory, leaking any resources initialized by aa_label_init(). Use aa_label_free() on the failure path so partially initialized labels release their secid and other label resources before the backing memory is freed.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-08-15

Last Modified

2026-08-17

Generated

2026-09-04

AI Q&A

2026-08-15

EPSS Evaluated

2026-09-03

NVD

CVE-2026-72459

EUVD

EUVD-2026-59358

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
apparmor	apparmor	*

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This is a memory leak vulnerability in the Linux kernel's AppArmor module. When aa_label_alloc() fails to allocate a label proxy, it only frees the label memory without releasing resources like secid, causing a leak of partially initialized label resources.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability is specific to the Linux kernel's AppArmor module and does not have a direct network detection method. To check if your system is affected, verify the kernel version and AppArmor status using commands like 'uname -r' and 'aa-status'. If your kernel version is older than the patched version, the system may be vulnerable.

Impact Analysis

This could lead to resource exhaustion on systems using AppArmor, potentially causing performance degradation or system instability due to leaked memory and secid resources.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability does not directly affect compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, or similar standards as it is a memory management issue in the Linux kernel's AppArmor module. It involves a failure to properly free resources during allocation, which could lead to resource leaks but does not inherently impact data protection or privacy compliance requirements.

Mitigation Strategies

Update the Linux kernel to the latest patched version to resolve the issue. If updating is not immediately possible, consider disabling AppArmor temporarily as a workaround, though this may reduce security. Monitor vendor advisories for kernel updates addressing this CVE.

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