diff -Nurp xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/attr.h xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/attr.h
--- xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/attr.h	2005-10-05 19:15:33.000000000 +0200
+++ xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/attr.h	2009-10-20 13:08:45.000000000 +0200
@@ -61,12 +61,13 @@
 #define A_DISABLED         43
 #define A_MDNS             44
 #define A_LIBWRAP          45
+#define A_RLIMIT_FILES     46
 
 /*
  * SERVICE_ATTRIBUTES is the number of service attributes and also
  * the number from which defaults-only attributes start.
  */
-#define SERVICE_ATTRIBUTES      ( A_MDNS + 1 )
+#define SERVICE_ATTRIBUTES      ( A_MDNS + 2 )
 
 /*
  * Mask of attributes that must be specified.
diff -Nurp xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/child.c xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/child.c
--- xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/child.c	2009-10-20 13:07:34.000000000 +0200
+++ xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/child.c	2009-10-20 13:10:16.000000000 +0200
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ void exec_server( const struct server *s
 
 
 #ifdef RLIMIT_NOFILE
+   if ( SC_RLIM_FILES( scp ))
+   {
+      ps.ros.max_descriptors = SC_RLIM_FILES( scp );
+   }
    rl.rlim_max = rl.rlim_cur = ps.ros.max_descriptors ;
    (void) setrlimit( RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rl ) ;
 #endif
diff -Nurp xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/parse.c xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/parse.c
--- xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/parse.c	2005-10-05 19:15:33.000000000 +0200
+++ xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/parse.c	2009-10-20 13:08:45.000000000 +0200
@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@ static const struct attribute service_at
 #ifdef RLIMIT_DATA
    { "rlimit_data",    A_RLIMIT_DATA,    1,  rlim_data_parser       },
 #endif
+#ifdef RLIMIT_NOFILE
+   { "rlimit_files",   A_RLIMIT_FILES,   1,  rlim_files_parser      },
+#endif
 #ifdef RLIMIT_RSS
    { "rlimit_rss",     A_RLIMIT_RSS,     1,  rlim_rss_parser        },
 #endif
diff -Nurp xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/parsers.c xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/parsers.c
--- xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/parsers.c	2005-10-05 23:45:41.000000000 +0200
+++ xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/parsers.c	2009-10-20 13:08:45.000000000 +0200
@@ -1415,6 +1415,29 @@ status_e rlim_data_parser( pset_h values
 }
 #endif
 
+#ifdef RLIMIT_NOFILE
+status_e rlim_files_parser( pset_h values, 
+                         struct service_config *scp, 
+                         enum assign_op op )
+{
+   char *mem = (char *) pset_pointer( values, 0 ) ;
+   const char *func = "rlim_files_parser" ;
+
+   if ( EQ( mem, "UNLIMITED" ) )
+      SC_RLIM_FILES(scp) = (rlim_t)RLIM_INFINITY ;
+   else
+   {
+      if ( get_limit ( mem, &SC_RLIM_FILES(scp)) )
+      {
+         parsemsg( LOG_ERR, func,
+            "Max files limit is invalid: %s", mem ) ;
+         return( FAILED ) ;
+      }
+   }
+   return( OK ) ;
+}
+#endif
+
 #ifdef RLIMIT_RSS
 status_e rlim_rss_parser( pset_h values, 
                           struct service_config *scp, 
diff -Nurp xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/parsers.h xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/parsers.h
--- xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/parsers.h	2005-10-05 19:15:33.000000000 +0200
+++ xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/parsers.h	2009-10-20 13:08:45.000000000 +0200
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ status_e rlim_cpu_parser(pset_h, struct 
 #ifdef RLIMIT_DATA
 status_e rlim_data_parser(pset_h, struct service_config *, enum assign_op) ;
 #endif
+#ifdef RLIMIT_NOFILE
+status_e rlim_files_parser(pset_h, struct service_config *, enum assign_op) ;
+#endif
 #ifdef RLIMIT_RSS
 status_e rlim_rss_parser(pset_h, struct service_config *, enum assign_op) ;
 #endif
diff -Nurp xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/sconf.h xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/sconf.h
--- xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/sconf.h	2009-10-20 13:07:34.000000000 +0200
+++ xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/sconf.h	2009-10-20 13:08:45.000000000 +0200
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ struct service_config
    rlim_t               sc_rlim_as;
    rlim_t               sc_rlim_cpu;
    rlim_t               sc_rlim_data;
+   rlim_t               sc_rlim_files;
    rlim_t               sc_rlim_rss;
    rlim_t               sc_rlim_stack;
    mode_t               sc_umask;
@@ -191,6 +192,7 @@ struct service_config
 #define SC_RLIM_AS( scp )        (scp)->sc_rlim_as
 #define SC_RLIM_CPU( scp )       (scp)->sc_rlim_cpu
 #define SC_RLIM_DATA( scp )      (scp)->sc_rlim_data
+#define SC_RLIM_FILES( scp )     (scp)->sc_rlim_files
 #define SC_RLIM_RSS( scp )       (scp)->sc_rlim_rss
 #define SC_RLIM_STACK( scp )     (scp)->sc_rlim_stack
 #define SC_TYPE( scp )           (scp)->sc_type
diff -Nurp xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/xinetd.conf.man xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/xinetd.conf.man
--- xinetd-2.3.14-orig/xinetd/xinetd.conf.man	2009-10-20 13:07:34.000000000 +0200
+++ xinetd-2.3.14-files/xinetd/xinetd.conf.man	2009-10-20 13:08:45.000000000 +0200
@@ -569,6 +569,12 @@ is implemented, it is more useful to set
 rlimit_rss and rlimit_stack. This resource limit is only implemented on
 Linux systems.
 .TP
+.B rlimit_files
+Sets the maximum number of open files that the service may use.
+One parameter is required, which is a positive integer representing
+the number of open file descriptors. Practical limit of this number
+is around 1024000.
+.TP
 .B rlimit_cpu
 Sets the maximum number of CPU seconds that the service may use.
 One parameter is required, which is either a positive integer representing