CVE-2026-39461: select(2) file descriptor set overflow causes stack overflow

Is it exploited?

Not on CISA's list. CISA has not added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as of 29 Oct 2026. If CISA adds it, this page shows it as known exploited.

How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?

0.2%

EPSS score, percentile 6.6 of all scored records. A probability estimated by FIRST, not a report of exploitation.

How severe?

8.8 High

CVSS v3.1 base score, from CISA's enrichment of the record

What should I do?

CISA has set no required action, because the vulnerability is not in KEV.

Advisories and patches (1)

Which versions are affected?

Affected

• from 15.0-RELEASE to before p9
• from 14.4-RELEASE to before p5
• from 14.3-RELEASE to before p14

Versions by product

Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, as of 29 Oct 2026; FIRST EPSS, as of 29 Oct 2026; CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

What to do

Advisories and patches

• security.freebsd.org (Vendor advisory)

This summary is based on the CVE record as of 29 Oct 2026. Check the vendor's advisory before you act: affected versions and fixes can change.

Affected products and versions

As listed in the CVE record.

Versions not listed are: unknown.

Source: CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

About this vulnerability

libcasper(3) communicates with helper processes via UNIX domain sockets, and uses the select(2) system call to wait for data to become available. However, it does not verify that its socket descriptor fits within select(2)'s descriptor set size limit of FD_SETSIZE (1024). An attacker able to cause an application using libcasper(3) to allocate large file descriptors, e.g., by opening many descri…

Summary: CVE record, as of 29 Oct 2026.

• CISA has not added CVE-2026-39461 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, as of 29 Oct 2026.
• The CVE record was published on 21 May 2026.
• The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (High), taken from CISA's enrichment of the record.
• FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.2% (percentile 6.6), as of 29 Oct 2026. EPSS is a statistical estimate, not a report of exploitation.
• CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation none, automatable no, technical impact total.
• The credits in the CVE record name AISLE as finder.

Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, as of 29 Oct 2026; CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026; FIRST EPSS, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

Description

select(2) file descriptor set overflow causes stack overflow

libcasper(3) communicates with helper processes via UNIX domain sockets, and uses the select(2) system call to wait for data to become available. However, it does not verify that its socket descriptor fits within select(2)'s descriptor set size limit of FD_SETSIZE (1024). An attacker able to cause an application using libcasper(3) to allocate large file descriptors, e.g., by opening many descriptors and executing a program which is not careful to close them upon startup, may trigger stack corruption. If the target application runs with setuid root privileges, this could be used to escalate local privileges.

Source: CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

Timeline