CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2026-45251 — A file descriptor can be closed while a thread is blocked in a poll(2) or select(2) call waiting for that descriptor

High CVSS 7.8

A file descriptor can be closed while a thread is blocked in a poll(2) or select(2) call waiting for that descriptor. Because the blocked thread does not hold a reference to the underlying object, this closure may result in the object being freed while the thread remains blocked. In this situation, the kernel must remove the blocked thread from the per-object wait queue prior to freeing the object. In the case of some file descriptor types, the kernel failed to unlink blocked threads from the object before freeing it. When the blocked thread is subsequently woken, it accesses memory that has already been freed resulting in a use-after-free vulnerability. The use-after-free vulnerability may be triggered by an unprivileged local user and can be exploited to obtain superuser privileges.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2026-05-21
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-416

Affected products

  • freebsd / freebsd / 14.3

Showing 1 representative product identities from 29 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Use-after-free, double free, and expired resource use

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace ownership, references, callbacks, asynchronous tasks, and teardown paths around the affected object or resource.
  • Identify reachable inputs and timing or state transitions that can release the object while references remain.
  • Confirm affected builds, allocators, feature flags, architectures, and process privileges.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained ownership or lifetime fix and rebuild all artifacts containing the affected native code.
  • Use explicit ownership, safe reference management, cancellation and join semantics, and idempotent teardown.
  • Add deterministic lifetime tests plus isolated sanitizer and concurrency coverage for shutdown and error paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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