CVE-2026-42792
MEDIUMDescription
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.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 37% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-755 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2017-5638 | Critical | 9.8 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | Fix |
| CVE-2020-7247 | Critical | 9.8 | 99% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2023-36933 | High | 7.5 | 72% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-14287 | High | 8.8 | 64% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2018-0934 | High | 7.5 | 61% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-12815 | Critical | 9.8 | 58% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-42792?
Published advisories record a fix for 3 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2026-42792 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-42792 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.44% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 37% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-42792?
CVE-2026-42792 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5, rated moderate. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2026-42792 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for erlang (Debian), erlang27 (Red Hat / RHEL), erlang27 (Rocky). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-08-10.