What is CVE-2019-5603?

CVE-2019-5603 is a high-severity vulnerability in FreeBSD, classified under Improper Resource Shutdown or Release. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2019-07-26.

How severe is CVE-2019-5603?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2019-5603 known to be exploited?

1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Vulnerability in FreeBSD

CVE-2019-5603

In FreeBSD 12.0-STABLE before r350261, 12.0-RELEASE before 12.0-RELEASE-p8, 11.3-STABLE before r350263, 11.3-RELEASE before 11.3-RELEASE-p1, and 11.2-RELEASE before 11.2-RELEASE-p12, system calls operating on file descriptors as part of mqueuefs did not properly release the reference allowing a malicious user to overflow the counter allowing access to files, directories, and sockets opened by processes owned by other users.

Published 2019-07-26 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.006 (48.1th percentile), scored 2026-10-04.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 48th percentile — 48.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.006 · newest: 0.006 · change: 0.000

Affected products

FreeBSD — versions 11.3, and before 11.2-RELEASE-p12, 11.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-404 — Improper Resource Shutdown or Release

Public proof-of-concept exploits

raymontag/CVE-2019-5603

References

security.FreeBSD.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-19:15.mqueuefs.asc (vendor-advisory, Vendor Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/153752/FreeBSD-Security-Advisory-FreeBSD-SA-19-15… (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190814-0003/ (Third Party Advisory)
security.FreeBSD.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-19:24.mqueuefs.asc (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Aug/35 (mailing-list, Broken Link)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/154172/FreeBSD-Security-Advisory-FreeBSD-SA-19-24… (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-5603?: CVE-2019-5603 is a high-severity vulnerability in FreeBSD, classified under Improper Resource Shutdown or Release. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2019-07-26.
How severe is CVE-2019-5603?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2019-5603 known to be exploited?: 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.