The AppArmor subsystem in the Linux kernel originally used a recursive routine to delete nested security profiles. When a large hierarchy of profiles is removed, the unchecked recursion can exhaust the kernel stack and cause a panic, resulting in a complete system crash. This vulnerability is a classic resource‑exhaustion flaw associated with CWE‑770.

Any system running a Linux kernel that includes the AppArmor module and has not yet migrated to the iterative profile removal logic is potentially vulnerable. The CVE does not provide a specific version range, so administrators should verify whether their current kernel implements the iterative approach found in recent kernel releases.

The EPSS score is below 1% and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog, indicating a low likelihood of real‑world exploitation. To reach the vulnerable code path an attacker would typically need the ability to create or delete many nested AppArmor profiles, which requires elevated privileges. If exploited, the outcome is a kernel panic and complete denial of service until a reboot.