Memory leaks refer to a type of computer program or software bug that causes a program to continue to allocate memory without freeing it or releasing it, leading to the exhaustion of available memory and causing the program to crash or perform poorly. Fixing memory leaks is a specialized skill that requires a thorough understanding of programming languages, memory management, and debugging techniques. It is important for software developers and programmers to address memory leaks to ensure that their programs run efficiently and do not negatively impact system resources.