CVE-2026-2261
blocklistd(8) socket leak
Description
Due to a programming error, blocklistd leaks a socket descriptor for each adverse event report it receives. Once a certain number of leaked sockets is reached, blocklistd becomes unable to run the helper script: a child process is forked, but this child dereferences a null pointer and crashes before it is able to exec the helper. At this point, blocklistd still records adverse events but is unable to block new addresses or unblock addresses whose database entries have expired. Once a second, much higher number of leaked sockets is reached, blocklistd becomes unable to receive new adverse event reports. An attacker may take advantage of this by triggering a large number of adverse events from sacrificial IP addresses to effectively disable blocklistd before launching an attack. Even in the absence of attacks or probes by would-be attackers, adverse events will occur regularly in the course of normal operations, and blocklistd will gradually run out file descriptors and become ineffective. The accumulation of open sockets may have knock-on effects on other parts of the system, resulting in a general slowdown until blocklistd is restarted.
INFO
Published Date :
March 9, 2026, 1:15 p.m.
Last Modified :
March 9, 2026, 1:35 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-2261
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
Solution
- Apply vendor patches to fix socket descriptor leaks.
- Monitor system resource usage for file descriptor depletion.
- Restart blocklistd service to clear leaked descriptors.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-2261.
| URL | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:03.blocklistd.asc |
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-2261 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-2261
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-2261 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-2261 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Mar. 09, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description Due to a programming error, blocklistd leaks a socket descriptor for each adverse event report it receives. Once a certain number of leaked sockets is reached, blocklistd becomes unable to run the helper script: a child process is forked, but this child dereferences a null pointer and crashes before it is able to exec the helper. At this point, blocklistd still records adverse events but is unable to block new addresses or unblock addresses whose database entries have expired. Once a second, much higher number of leaked sockets is reached, blocklistd becomes unable to receive new adverse event reports. An attacker may take advantage of this by triggering a large number of adverse events from sacrificial IP addresses to effectively disable blocklistd before launching an attack. Even in the absence of attacks or probes by would-be attackers, adverse events will occur regularly in the course of normal operations, and blocklistd will gradually run out file descriptors and become ineffective. The accumulation of open sockets may have knock-on effects on other parts of the system, resulting in a general slowdown until blocklistd is restarted. Added CWE CWE-772 Added Reference https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:03.blocklistd.asc