Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-773

Weakness Allowed

Missing Reference to Active File Descriptor or Handle

Abstraction: Variant · Status: Incomplete

API response cwe.mitre.org

The product does not properly maintain references to a file descriptor or handle, which prevents that file descriptor/handle from being reclaimed.

Mapping guidance

This CWE entry is at the Variant level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.

Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.

Relationships and members
ChildOf: CWE-771 · View CWE-1000
Modes of introduction
Implementation
Detection methods

Automated Static Analysis

Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)

Content history
Submission: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2009-05-13 · CWE 1.4
Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2010-04-05 · CWE 1.8.1

updated Potential_Mitigations

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2011-06-01 · CWE 1.13

updated Common_Consequences

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2012-05-11 · CWE 2.2

updated Relationships

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2012-10-30 · CWE 2.3

updated Potential_Mitigations

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2014-07-30 · CWE 2.8

updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2017-11-08 · CWE 3.0

updated Likelihood_of_Exploit, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2019-01-03 · CWE 3.2

updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Theoretical_Notes

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2020-02-24 · CWE 4.0

updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2022-10-13 · CWE 4.9

updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2023-01-31 · CWE 4.10

updated Description

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2023-04-27 · CWE 4.11

updated Relationships, Time_of_Introduction

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2023-06-29 · CWE 4.12

updated Mapping_Notes

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2025-12-11 · CWE 4.19

updated Applicable_Platforms, Detection_Factors, Weakness_Ordinalities

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2026-10-28 · CWE 5.0

updated Common_Consequences, Description

0 vulnerabilities reference this CWE, most recent first.

No vulnerabilities reference this CWE.

Mitigation MIT-47
Operation Architecture and Design

Strategy: Resource Limitation

  • Use resource-limiting settings provided by the operating system or environment. For example, when managing system resources in POSIX, setrlimit() can be used to set limits for certain types of resources, and getrlimit() can determine how many resources are available. However, these functions are not available on all operating systems.
  • When the current levels get close to the maximum that is defined for the application (see CWE-770), then limit the allocation of further resources to privileged users; alternately, begin releasing resources for less-privileged users. While this mitigation may protect the system from attack, it will not necessarily stop attackers from adversely impacting other users.
  • Ensure that the application performs the appropriate error checks and error handling in case resources become unavailable (CWE-703).

No CAPEC attack patterns related to this CWE.

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