CWE-774: Allocation of File Descriptors or Handles Without Limits or Throttling
Description
The product allocates file descriptors or handles on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on how many descriptors can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor.
This can cause the product to consume all available file descriptors or handles, which can prevent other processes from performing critical file processing operations.
- Abstraction
- VariantA weakness tied to a specific language, technology or resource.
- Likelihood of exploit
- Low
- Status
- Incomplete
Common consequences
- Availability
DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)
When allocating resources without limits, an attacker could prevent all other processes from accessing the same type of resource.
Potential mitigations
- OperationArchitecture and DesignResource Limitation
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...
Related weaknesses
Parent weaknesses
CAPEC attack patterns that exploit it
CWE 4.20 links no CAPEC attack pattern to this weakness.