CVE-2026-72456: apparmor: release exe file resources on path failure

Severity: unknown
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-08-15 · updated 2026-08-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: apparmor: release exe file resources on path failure get_current_exe_path() takes both an exe_file reference and a path reference before resolving the path name. If aa_path_name() failed, it returned immediately and leaked both references. Route the failure through the common cleanup path so fput() and path_put() always run after the references are acquired.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 7.0 — fixed in 7.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 7.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/393809a05cfb60309ad63ee09138db8296d6b97e
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7306c41672487a6c28430714be063bc6942c28f2

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