Managing Excess Connections

[Cory Robin]

I'm having an issue where an application will open multiple
connections to mysql that will remain open.

Eventually, the server will get bogged down with these
connections or reach the max connections and stop allowing
new connections.

I'm working with the application vendor to resolve the
issue on that side, however, is there something I can do to
protect the MySQL server on my side?

MySQL 5.0.xx