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Hdf5Application · Hdfgroup

CVE-2024-29166

MEDIUM · 5.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.14.4 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges Zero-click

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
HDF5 through 1.14.3 contains a buffer overflow in H5O__linfo_decode, resulting in the corruption of the instruction pointer and causing denial of service or potential code execution.

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 buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the H5O__linfo_decode function of the HDF5 library (versions through 1.14.3). The overflow allows corruption of the instruction pointer, enabling denial of service and potentially remote code execution when processing maliciously crafted HDF5 files.

MitigationUpgrade HDF5 library to version 1.14.4 or later where the buffer overflow in H5O__linfo_decode has been patched. As a defense-in-depth measure, validate and sanitize HDF5 files from untrusted sources 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:< 1.14.4

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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. Identify HDF5 library installation
    Run 'h5dump --version' or 'h5ls --version' to check for HDF5 tools, or use 'pkg-config --modversion hdf5' to query the library version directly.
    Affected if The command returns a version number lower than 1.14.4 or no version information is found.
  2. Locate HDF5 shared library files
    Search for libhdf5 files on the system using 'find /usr -name "libhdf5*" 2>/dev/null' or check common library paths like /usr/lib or /usr/local/lib.
    Affected if HDF5 library files exist on the system and their version is below 1.14.4.
  3. Check applications using HDF5
    Identify processes or applications that link to HDF5 using 'ldd' on suspected binaries or 'lsof | grep hdf5' to see running processes with HDF5 loaded.
    Affected if Applications dynamically link to a vulnerable HDF5 library version.
  4. Inspect HDF5 file processing workflows
    Review any automated or manual workflows that involve opening or decoding HDF5 files, particularly from untrusted sources, as the vulnerability triggers during file decoding.
    Affected if HDF5 files from untrusted sources are processed by a vulnerable library version.

You are affected if any HDF5 library version installed on your system is lower than 1.14.4 and that library processes HDF5 files, particularly from untrusted sources.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.14.4 or later
Fixed in 1.14.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade HDF5 library to version 1.14.4 or later where the buffer overflow in H5O__linfo_decode has been patched. As a defense-in-depth measure, validate and sanitize HDF5 files from untrusted sources before processing.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

1.14.4

  1. 1. Identify all systems and applications using HDF5 library version < 1.14.4
  2. 2. Download HDF5 version 1.14.4 or later from the official source at www.hdfgroup.org
  3. 3. Backup current HDF5 installations and any dependent applications
  4. 4. Install the fixed HDF5 version (1.14.4 or newer) using your system's package manager or compile from source
  5. 5. Rebuild or recompile any applications statically linked against the vulnerable HDF5 library
  6. 6. Restart any services or applications that use HDF5 to load the updated library
  7. 7. Verify the installed version is 1.14.4 or later using 'h5dump --version' or equivalent
  8. 8. Test that dependent applications function correctly with the updated library
Caveat HDF5 minor version upgrades may include API changes; review release notes for any backward compatibility considerations before upgrading production systems

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Hdf5 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2024-29166 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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