CVE-2026-72461: apparmor: fix refcount leak when updating the sk_ctx

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
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: fix refcount leak when updating the sk_ctx Currently update_sk_ctx() transfers the plabel reference, unfortunately it is also unconditionally put in the caller. Ideally we would make the caller conditionally put the reference based on whether it was transferred but for now just fix the bug by getting a reference.

Affected products

Linux kernel: 6.17 — 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/045dbe89ac31709abd73390d0805d52fece7ef39
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d25e7b47616cb2db43351210929c8f19dc305a3
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8642f1478982a97ca2eb59f70f631a9de42ae11

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