CVE-2026-72460 apparmor: check label build before no_new_privs test
A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel AppArmor module can cause a system crash when profile changes fail.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-72460?
CVE-2026-72460 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
apparmor: check label build before no_new_privs test
aa_change_profile() builds a replacement label with fn_label_build_in_scope() before the no_new_privs subset check. The build helper can fail and return NULL or an ERR_PTR, but the result was passed to aa_label_is_unconfined_subset() before the existing IS_ERR_OR_NULL() check.
Reuse the existing target-label build failure handling immediately after the build. This preserves the current audit handling while preventing the subset helper from dereferencing an invalid label.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72460?
How do I fix CVE-2026-72460?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-72460 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72460 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-72460, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72460, GHSA-h42q-rf58-cw35, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72460.