CVE-2017-17509
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 an out of bounds write vulnerability in the function H5G__ent_decode_vec in H5Gcache.c in libhdf5.a. For example, h5dump would crash or possibly have unspecified other impact 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 confidenceAn out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in HDF5 1.10.1 in the H5G__ent_decode_vec function within H5Gcache.c (libhdf5.a). When a specially crafted HDF5 file is opened, the function fails to properly validate bounds when decoding entity vectors, leading to memory corruption that can cause crashes or potentially allow arbitrary code execution.
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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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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Check if HDF5 library is installedRun 'dpkg -l | grep hdf5' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'rpm -qa | grep hdf5' (RHEL/CentOS) or 'find /usr -name "*hdf5*" 2>/dev/null' to locate HDF5 filesAffected if No HDF5 packages or files are found, meaning the product is not installed
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Determine installed HDF5 versionRun 'h5dump --version' or 'hdf5dump --version' if available, or check the library file version with 'strings /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libhdf5.so.* 2>/dev/null | grep "1.10"' or check the package version with 'dpkg -l libhdf5-dev'Affected if The version reported is exactly 1.10.1
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Verify library file version directlyUse 'ls -la' on the libhdf5 shared library (commonly in /usr/lib or /usr/lib64) and check the file version, or run 'ldd <executable> | grep hdf5' on an HDF5-using application to confirm the linked library versionAffected if The linked or installed library version matches 1.10.1 exactly
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Confirm the vulnerable function exists in the libraryRun 'nm -C /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libhdf5.so.* 2>/dev/null | grep H5G__ent_decode_vec' or 'objdump -T /usr/lib/libhdf5.so.* 2>/dev/null | grep H5G__ent_decode_vec' to check if the function is presentAffected if The H5G__ent_decode_vec function symbol is found in the library, indicating the vulnerable code path exists
You are affected if HDF5 version 1.10.1 is installed and any application or user can open untrusted HDF5 files with it.
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 (if available) or avoid opening untrusted HDF5 files with vulnerable versions until a fix is applied. Validate all HDF5 files through security scanning before processing.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-17509 — 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-2017-17509 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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