CVE-2017-17508
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 · uneditedIn HDF5 1.10.1, there is a divide-by-zero vulnerability in the function H5T_set_loc in the H5T.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 · high confidenceA divide-by-zero vulnerability exists in HDF5 1.10.1 within the H5T_set_loc function in H5T.c. When h5dump or other HDF5 tools process a specially crafted HDF5 file with a zero value used as a divisor in this function, it causes a crash. The flaw is in libhdf5.a and affects any application that parses untrusted HDF5 files.
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= 1.10.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed HDF5 versionRun 'h5dump --version' or check the library version in libhdf5.a using 'strings libhdf5.a | grep "HDF5 library version"' or check package metadata with 'dpkg -l libhdf5-dev' or 'rpm -qi hdf5-devel'Affected if The version reported is exactly 1.10.1
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Locate the vulnerable library fileSearch for libhdf5.a in standard library directories such as /usr/lib/, /usr/local/lib/, or the HDF5 installation prefix using 'find /usr -name "libhdf5.a" 2>/dev/null'Affected if libhdf5.a exists on the system and was built from HDF5 1.10.1 source code
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Check for HDF5 tools that process filesVerify presence of h5dump or other HDF5 utilities by running 'which h5dump' or listing HDF5 binaries in the installation bin directoryAffected if h5dump or any HDF5-based application that parses HDF5 files is installed on the system
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Confirm the H5T.c component is presentVerify the HDF5 library source or object files contain H5T.c or H5T.c compiled objects; check library contents with 'ar -t libhdf5.a | grep -i H5T'Affected if The H5T.c component (containing the vulnerable H5T_set_loc function) is part of the installed libhdf5.a
A system is affected if HDF5 version 1.10.1 is installed and the system or its applications process untrusted HDF5 files using the vulnerable libhdf5.a library.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate to a patched version of HDF5 that includes proper validation in H5T_set_loc to prevent division by zero. Until then, avoid opening untrusted HDF5 files with h5dump or any HDF5-based application.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-17508 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-17508 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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