CVE-2026-16730
Description
A flaw was found in dbus-broker. When the process file-descriptor limit is reached, EMFILE/ENFILE errors during peer setup (notably SO_PEERPIDFD) are handled as fatal failures, causing the broker to exit. A local attacker who can open many connections to the user session bus can trigger this and deny service to the desktop session. Flatpak applications can reach the host session bus through the dbus proxy.
Statement
A Moderate severity flaw in dbus-broker enables a local attacker or a Flatpak application within the same user session to induce a denial of service. This occurs when dbus-broker exhausts its file-descriptor table and exits instead of rejecting new connections, leading to a session bus crash and desktop disruption. Exploitation requires local access or a compromised application in the same user session.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.5 | N/A | 5.5 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Other
Technical Impact: Other
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Josh Simmons for reporting this issue.
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