Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4 AppArmor aa_change_profile null pointer dereference

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
8.4	$0-$5k	1.51-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. It has been rated as very critical. This affects the function aa_change_profile of the component AppArmor. Performing a manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-72460. The attack is only possible with local access. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. This affects the function aa_change_profile of the component AppArmor. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

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.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-72460 since 08/09/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Upgrading to version 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a29f06db44b4c94597ded58f639eed3e21781ac3/cfc224866530a6842b6c2d2d30ef6a9b0e64bb9c/31cb109db5e6322ed22304fd5c0dedbaa438d6d3/b7c45c05a396a017c49ac7949de240a0dfc0ac4e/d84bb195d208adbf77f012ca2a96e11163f6def1/d82160132345688a09cbaa648cfdd16bb32e8ea2/ec926b2a351eeeb31e6c9aee02e0c32f94b5588f/a58cafd38b46fb1a2220e2fbbcfe291ea75fa147 is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.260
• 5.15.211
• 6.1.177
• 6.6.144
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
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• 6.12.90
• 6.12.91
• 6.12.92
• 6.12.93
• 6.12.94
• 6.12.95
• 6.12.96
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
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• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.4

VulDB Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Temp Score: 8.4
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.10.261/5.15.212/6.1.178/6.6.145/6.12.97/6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: a29f06db44b4c94597ded58f639eed3e21781ac3/cfc224866530a6842b6c2d2d30ef6a9b0e64bb9c/31cb109db5e6322ed22304fd5c0dedbaa438d6d3/b7c45c05a396a017c49ac7949de240a0dfc0ac4e/d84bb195d208adbf77f012ca2a96e11163f6def1/d82160132345688a09cbaa648cfdd16bb32e8ea2/ec926b2a351eeeb31e6c9aee02e0c32f94b5588f/a58cafd38b46fb1a2220e2fbbcfe291ea75fa147

Timelineinfo

08/09/2026 CVE reserved
08/15/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-72460 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-72460
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-391041

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 17:13
Changes: 08/15/2026 17:13 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion

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