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CVE-2026-42792· NVD / CVE Program· CNA EEF

epmd permanent DoS via EMFILE on accept(2) in erts

Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions vulnerability in Erlang OTP erts (epmd) allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to permanently terminate the Erlang Port Mapper Daemon (epmd) via connection slot exhaustion. The do_accept function in erts/epmd/src/epmd_srv.c calls epmd_cleanup_exit() when accept(2) returns EMFILE (per-process file descriptor limit reached) or ENFILE (system-wide file descriptor limit reached), rather than treating these as recoverable conditions. An attacker can exhaust epmd's file descriptor slots by holding many TCP connections open while periodically sending a single byte to reset the idle timeout, then causing accept(2) to return EMFILE, which kills the daemon. epmd has no per-source-IP connection cap, making the attack feasible from a single source. On Debian/Ubuntu default packaging the impact is amplified: the systemd unit inherits a low file descriptor soft limit, and repeated daemon deaths trigger systemd's start-rate-limit, permanently failing both epmd.service and epmd.socket and requiring manual operator intervention to recover. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 29.0.4, OTP 28.5.0.4 and OTP 27.3.4.15.

MediumCVSS 6.3 · v4.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jul 27, 2026
Updated
Aug 10, 2026
EPSS
0.4% · 36th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

25

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
25 / 40 · 6.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.4%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · EEF
6.3
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

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Affected systems

VendorProduct
erlangerlang\/otp
erlangerts

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • erlang erlang/otp17.0 and later · before 27.3.4
  • erlang erlang/otp28.0 and later · before 28.5.0.4
  • erlang erlang/otp29.0 and later · before 29.0.4
  • erlang erts6.0 and later · before 15.2.7.11
  • erlang erts16.0 and later · before 16.4.0.4
  • erlang erts17.0 and later · before 17.0.4

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (EEF). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Erlang OTP

    • 6.0 and lateraffected · otpfixed in 17.0.4, 16.4.0.4, 15.2.7.11
    • 17.0 and lateraffected · otpfixed in 29.0.4, 28.5.0.4, 27.3.4.15
    • 07b8f441ca711f9812fad9e9115bab3c3aa92f79 and later · before 865d203e4a6a8f44179eced9e1428f9259e4a3bbaffected · git

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12erlangall versions—
Debian:13erlangbefore 1:27.3.4.1+dfsg-1+deb13u31:27.3.4.1+dfsg-1+deb13u3
Debian:14erlangbefore 1:29.0.4+dfsg-11:29.0.4+dfsg-1
openSUSE:Tumbleweederlangbefore 28.5.0.4-1.128.5.0.4-1.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweederlang27before 27.1.3-3.127.1.3-3.1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1erlang27before 0:27.3.4.15-0.1.hum10:27.3.4.15-0.1.hum1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP7erlangbefore 23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.123.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP7erlang26before 26.2.1-150300.7.28.126.2.1-150300.7.28.1

Same product

erlang: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2025-32433Erlang/OTP SSH Vulnerable to Pre-Authentication RCEKEV
    100Now
  • CVE-2022-37026In Erlang/OTP before 23.3.4.15, 24.x before 24.3.4.2, and 25.x before 25.0.2, there is a Client Authentication Bypass in certain client-cert
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2016-10253An issue was discovered in Erlang/OTP 18.x.
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2026-55953TLS 1.2 and DTLS client accepts unoffered anonymous cipher suite, bypassing server authentication
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2026-49759Stack buffer overflow in SCTP error cause parsing in inet_drv allows remote VM crash
    35Monitor
  • CVE-2026-59251Denial of service via exponential certificate policy tree growth in path validation
    34Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Erlang OTP15.2.7.11Vendor (CNA)
Erlang OTP16.4.0.4Vendor (CNA)
Erlang OTP17.0.4Vendor (CNA)
Erlang OTP27.3.4.15Vendor (CNA)
Erlang OTP28.5.0.4Vendor (CNA)
Erlang OTP29.0.4Vendor (CNA)
Erlang OTP865d203e4a6a8f44179eced9e1428f9259e4a3bbVendor (CNA)
azl3 erlang 26.2.5.21-4 on Azure Linux 3.026.2.5.21-3 · CBL-Mariner ReleasesMicrosoft (MSRC)
debian:erlang1:27.3.4.1+dfsg-1+deb13u3 · Debian:13Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:erlang28.5.0.4-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
opensuse:erlang2727.1.3-3.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:erlang270:27.3.4.15-0.1.hum1 · Red Hat:hummingbird:1Package registry (OSV)
suse:erlang23.3.4.19-150300.3.39.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP7Package registry (OSV)
suse:erlang2626.2.1-150300.7.28.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP7Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-755 · Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records