A kernel panic is a safety measure taken by an operating system's kernel upon detecting an internal fatal error in which either it is unable to safely recover or continuing to run the system would have a higher risk of major data loss. The term is largely specific to Unix and Unix-like systems.

What happens during a kernel panic?

In basic terms, it is a situation when the kernel can't load properly and therefore the system fails to boot. During the boot process, the kernel doesn't load directly. Instead, initramfs loads in RAM, then it points to the kernel ( vmlinuz ), and then the operating system boots.

Is kernel panic bad?

Yes, sometimes a kernel panic can indicate bad/damaged or incompatible hardware.