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CVE-2026-72459 (GCVE-0-2026-72459)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-15 05:57 – Updated: 2026-08-17 05:44
VLAI
Title
apparmor: aa_label_alloc use aa_label_free on alloc failure
Summary
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.
Severity
7.8 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30 , < b14fbacad77d64594228983ec20d61a224f3f491 (git)
Affected: f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30 , < b5a9da5d36162d34db0f36abb15420e295176793 (git)
Affected: f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30 , < 7cb69e109610bba500e1ecb870f7988a4717208a (git)
Affected: f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30 , < cc2192899d502e3321e60cf1e91421e7309d089c (git)
Affected: f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30 , < bf310b044e85d4de670c94295c5d8e4c5bc5e7bc (git)
Affected: f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30 , < ae02e603c0b39b29f3ce6fe3efe01b286af1a2a4 (git)
Affected: f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30 , < 6d91479174240f39e9edea250d95fa08c678a207 (git)
Affected: f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30 , < 654fe7505dc6889724d4094fa64f89991afabfc3 (git)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Linux Linux Affected: 4.13
Unaffected: 0 , < 4.13 (semver)
Unaffected: 5.10.261 , ≤ 5.10.* (semver)
Unaffected: 5.15.212 , ≤ 5.15.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.1.178 , ≤ 6.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.6.145 , ≤ 6.6.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.12.97 , ≤ 6.12.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18.40 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.1.5 , ≤ 7.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.2 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
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          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\napparmor: aa_label_alloc use aa_label_free on alloc failure\n\naa_label_alloc() allocates a secid before allocating or taking the label\nproxy. If the later proxy step fails, the error path only freed the label\nmemory, leaking any resources initialized by aa_label_init().\n\nUse aa_label_free() on the failure path so partially initialized labels\nrelease their secid and other label resources before the backing memory is\nfreed."
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              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:L - The bug is in AppArmor LSM label allocation reached only through local kernel entry points (open/read/exec, unix socket mediation, change_hat/change_profile procattr) on AppArmor-enabled systems, not via remote network packet handling.\nAC:L - Triggering proxy allocation failure after secid allocation requires memory pressure, but an attacker can reliably induce kmalloc/GFP_ATOMIC exhaustion locally (memfd, large mappings, stress) while driving aa_label_merge through routine file or socket operations.\nPR:L - Any unprivileged local process running under AppArmor (default on Ubuntu, Debian, SUSE, Android) can reach aa_label_merge/aa_label_alloc through normal permitted file access, exec domain transitions, or unix-socket mediation without real-root or CAP_MAC_ADMIN.\nUI:N - Exploitation requires no victim or administrator interaction; the attacker uses only their own credentials and syscalls to create memory pressure and invoke AppArmor label-merge paths.\nS:U - Impact is kernel memory corruption, information disclosure, and denial of service within the host kernel security domain; it does not cross a VM, container, or IOMMU security boundary by itself.\nC:H - The error path called kfree() without aa_free_secid(), leaving the global secid xarray pointing at freed aa_label memory; aa_secid_to_label()/apparmor_secid_to_secctx() then dereference attacker-influenced freed slab for arbitrary kernel memory reads.\nI:H - Orphaned secid entries retain dangling aa_label pointers whose vec/profile fields can be reclaimed and sprayed; UAF traversal of those structures is a standard path to heap control and arbitrary kernel writes or code execution.\nA:H - Dereferencing stale label/profile pointers can cause kernel oops/panic, and each successful trigger permanently leaks a secid slot until reboot, eventually exhausting the global secid table and denying all future AppArmor label creation system-wide."
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If the later proxy step fails, the error path only freed the label\\nmemory, leaking any resources initialized by aa_label_init().\\n\\nUse aa_label_free() on the failure path so partially initialized labels\\nrelease their secid and other label resources before the backing memory is\\nfreed.\"}],\"affected\":[{\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"affectedData\":[{\"vendor\":\"Linux\",\"product\":\"Linux\",\"defaultStatus\":\"unaffected\",\"programFiles\":[\"security/apparmor/label.c\"],\"repo\":\"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git\",\"versions\":[{\"version\":\"f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30\",\"lessThan\":\"b14fbacad77d64594228983ec20d61a224f3f491\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30\",\"lessThan\":\"b5a9da5d36162d34db0f36abb15420e295176793\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30\",\"lessThan\":\"7cb69e109610bba500e1ecb870f7988a4717208a\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30\",\"lessThan\":\"cc2192899d502e3321e60cf1e91421e7309d089c\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30\",\"lessThan\":\"bf310b044e85d4de670c94295c5d8e4c5bc5e7bc\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30\",\"lessThan\":\"ae02e603c0b39b29f3ce6fe3efe01b286af1a2a4\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30\",\"lessThan\":\"6d91479174240f39e9edea250d95fa08c678a207\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"f1bd904175e8190ce14aedee37e207ab51fe3b30\",\"lessThan\":\"654fe7505dc6889724d4094fa64f89991afabfc3\",\"versionType\":\"git\",\"status\":\"affected\"}]},{\"vendor\":\"Linux\",\"product\":\"Linux\",\"defaultStatus\":\"affected\",\"programFiles\":[\"security/apparmor/label.c\"],\"repo\":\"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git\",\"versions\":[{\"version\":\"4.13\",\"status\":\"affected\"},{\"version\":\"0\",\"lessThan\":\"4.13\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"5.10.261\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"5.10.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"5.15.212\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"5.15.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.1.178\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"6.1.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.6.145\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"6.6.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.12.97\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"6.12.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"6.18.40\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"6.18.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"7.1.5\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"7.1.*\",\"versionType\":\"semver\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"},{\"version\":\"7.2\",\"lessThanOrEqual\":\"*\",\"versionType\":\"original_commit_for_fix\",\"status\":\"unaffected\"}]}]}],\"metrics\":{\"cvssMetricV31\":[{\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"type\":\"Secondary\",\"cvssData\":{\"version\":\"3.1\",\"vectorString\":\"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H\",\"baseScore\":7.8,\"baseSeverity\":\"HIGH\",\"attackVector\":\"LOCAL\",\"attackComplexity\":\"LOW\",\"privilegesRequired\":\"LOW\",\"userInteraction\":\"NONE\",\"scope\":\"UNCHANGED\",\"confidentialityImpact\":\"HIGH\",\"integrityImpact\":\"HIGH\",\"availabilityImpact\":\"HIGH\"},\"exploitabilityScore\":1.8,\"impactScore\":5.9}]},\"references\":[{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/654fe7505dc6889724d4094fa64f89991afabfc3\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d91479174240f39e9edea250d95fa08c678a207\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7cb69e109610bba500e1ecb870f7988a4717208a\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ae02e603c0b39b29f3ce6fe3efe01b286af1a2a4\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b14fbacad77d64594228983ec20d61a224f3f491\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b5a9da5d36162d34db0f36abb15420e295176793\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf310b044e85d4de670c94295c5d8e4c5bc5e7bc\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cc2192899d502e3321e60cf1e91421e7309d089c\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"}]}}",
    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-19T06:53:16+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-72459",
      "id": "CVE-2026-72459",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-15T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "274",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: apparmor: aa_label_alloc use aa_label_free on alloc failure",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-72459.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

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Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.