CWE-775
Missing Release of File Descriptor or Handle after Effective Lifetime
Extended description
When a file descriptor or handle is not released after use (typically by explicitly closing it), attackers can cause a denial of service by consuming all available file descriptors/handles, or otherwise preventing other system processes from obtaining their own file descriptors/handles.
Common consequences1
- AvailabilityDoS: Resource Consumption (Other)
An attacker that can influence the allocation of resources that are not properly released could deplete the available resource pool and prevent all other processes from accessing the same type of resource.
Potential mitigations1
- OperationArchitecture and Design
Use resource-limiting settings provided by the operating system or environment. For example, when managing system resources in POSIX, setrlimit() can be used to set limits for certain types of resources, and getrlimit() can determine how many resources are available. However, these functions are not available on all operating systems. When the current levels get close to the maximum that is defined for the application (see CWE-770), then limit the allocation of further resources to privileged users; alternately, begin releasing resources for less-privileged users. While this mitigation may protect the system from attack, it will not necessarily stop attackers from adversely impacting other users. Ensure that the application performs the appropriate error checks and error handling in case resources become unavailable (CWE-703).
CVEs referencing this CWE7
| CVE | Description | Severity | EPSS | Flags | Modified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2017-8452 | Kibana versions prior to 5.2.1 configured for SSL client access, file descriptors will fail to be cleaned up after certain requests and will accumulate over time until the process crashes. | NONE | 1.38%p69 | 2026-05-13 | |
| CVE-2024-24444 | Improper file descriptor handling for closed connections in OpenAirInterface CN5G AMF (oai-cn5g-amf) up to v2.0.0 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by repeatedly establishing SCTP connections with the N2 interface. | HIGH7.5 | 0.40%p32 | 2026-04-15 | |
| CVE-2016-8819 | All versions of NVIDIA Windows GPU Display Driver contain a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys) handler for DxgkDdiEscape where a handle to a kernel object may be returned to the user, leading to possible denial of service or escalation of privileges. | NONE | 0.37%p28 | 2026-05-06 | |
| CVE-2025-53476 | A denial of service vulnerability exists in the ModbusTCP server functionality of OpenPLC _v3 a931181e8b81e36fadf7b74d5cba99b73c3f6d58. A specially crafted series of network connections can lead to the server not processing subsequent Modbus requests. An attacker can open a series of TCP connections to trigger this vulnerability. | MEDIUM5.3 | 0.34%p25 | 2026-04-15 | |
| CVE-2026-45287 | OpenTelemetry-Go is the Go implementation of OpenTelemetry. Prior to version 0.0.17, `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/schema/v1.0` and `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/schema/v1.1` leaks one file descriptor on each successful `ParseFile` call. `ParseFile` opens the schema file and passes it to `Parse` without closing it; repeated parsing in a long-running process can exhaust the process file descriptor limit and cause denial of service. Exploitation depends on a consuming application exposing repeated schema parsing to an attacker-controlled path. Version 0.0.17 contains a patch for the issue. | NONE | 0.18%p8 | 2026-06-09 | |
| CVE-2019-25557 | TwistedBrush Pro Studio 24.06 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows local attackers to crash the application by importing a malformed .srp script file. Attackers can create a .srp file containing an excessively large buffer and import it through the Script Player interface to trigger an application crash. | MEDIUM5.5 | 0.18%p7 | 2026-03-24 | |
| CVE-2025-13751 | Interactive service agent in OpenVPN version 2.5.0 through 2.6.16 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7_rc2 on Windows allows a local authenticated user to connect to the service and trigger an error causing a local denial of service. | MEDIUM5.5 | 0.15%p5 | 2026-01-30 |