dbcve.org
Hdf5Application · Hdfgroup

CVE-2017-17505

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In HDF5 1.10.1, there is a NULL pointer dereference in the function H5O_pline_decode in the H5Opline.c file in libhdf5.a. For example, h5dump would crash when someone opens a crafted hdf5 file.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in HDF5 1.10.1 in the H5O_pline_decode function within H5Opline.c (libhdf5.a). When a specially crafted HDF5 file is opened, the function attempts to dereference a NULL pointer, causing applications like h5dump to crash. This occurs during the pipeline decoding process when processing maliciously constructed HDF5 files.

MitigationUsers should avoid opening HDF5 files from untrusted sources with vulnerable versions. Update to a patched HDF5 1.10.x release that addresses this NULL pointer dereference. Implement input validation on HDF5 files before processing.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Hdf5Application
Affected:= 1.10.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed HDF5 version
    Run 'h5dump -V' or 'h5cc -V' to display the HDF5 version, or use 'rpm -q hdf5' / 'dpkg -l libhdf5' to query the installed package version
    Affected if The version shown is exactly 1.10.1
  2. Verify libhdf5 library version
    Run 'ldd $(which h5dump)' to find the linked library, then check the library file version with 'strings libhdf5.so | grep 1.10.1' or inspect with 'objdump -p libhdf5.so | grep Version'
    Affected if The library file version is 1.10.1
  3. Confirm pipeline decoding is available
    The vulnerable H5O_pline_decode function in H5Opline.c is part of libhdf5.a; verify this object file exists in the library with 'nm libhdf5.a | grep H5O_pline_decode'
    Affected if The function symbol is present in the HDF5 library

If HDF5 version 1.10.1 is installed and the H5O_pline_decode function is present, the environment is affected when opening untrusted HDF5 files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Users should avoid opening HDF5 files from untrusted sources with vulnerable versions. Update to a patched HDF5 1.10.x release that addresses this NULL pointer dereference. Implement input validation on HDF5 files before processing.

Fix this in Hdf5 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,280
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,648.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-17505 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-17505 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data