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Hdf5Application · Hdfgroup

CVE-2024-32606

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 Library through 1.14.3 may attempt to dereference uninitialized values in h5tools_str_sprint in tools/lib/h5tools_str.c (called from h5tools_dump_simple_data in tools/lib/h5tools_dump.c).

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 confidence

HDF5 Library through version 1.14.3 contains a memory safety vulnerability in the h5tools_str_sprint function in tools/lib/h5tools_str.c where uninitialized values may be dereferenced when processing HDF5 data. This occurs when called from h5tools_dump_simple_data during file dumping operations, potentially leading to undefined behavior or information disclosure when processing specially crafted HDF5 files.

MitigationUpgrade to HDF5 Library version 1.14.4 or later which contains the fix for this uninitialized value dereference issue. As a workaround, avoid using the HDF5 tools (h5dump, etc.) on untrusted HDF5 files until patched.

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. Check HDF5 library version
    Run 'h5dump --version' or check your installed package version (e.g., dpkg -l libhdf5-dev, rpm -qa hdf5, or pip show h5py)
    Affected if Version is earlier than 1.14.4 (e.g., 1.14.3, 1.14.2, 1.14.1, etc.)
  2. Confirm HDF5 tools are installed
    Check for presence of h5dump, h5ls, h5diff, or other HDF5 command-line tools in your PATH (run 'which h5dump' or 'which h5ls')
    Affected if HDF5 tools are installed and available on the system
  3. Verify tools link to vulnerable library
    Run 'ldd $(which h5dump)' or check the shared library version loaded by HDF5 tools (look for libhdf5.so version)
    Affected if The linked libhdf5 library version is < 1.14.4
  4. Identify files processed by HDF5 tools
    Review any automated scripts or workflows that invoke h5dump or similar tools on external or untrusted HDF5 files
    Affected if HDF5 tools are used to dump or inspect files from untrusted sources

You are affected if your installed HDF5 library version is earlier than 1.14.4 AND you use HDF5 command-line tools (h5dump, etc.) to process files, as the vulnerability lies in the tools' code path.

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 to HDF5 Library version 1.14.4 or later which contains the fix for this uninitialized value dereference issue. As a workaround, avoid using the HDF5 tools (h5dump, etc.) on untrusted HDF5 files until patched.

Recommended fix High confidence

HDF5 1.14.4 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current HDF5 version installed in your system (e.g., check via 'h5dump --version' or review build artifacts)
  2. 2. If the version is less than 1.14.4, plan for an upgrade to version 1.14.4 or later
  3. 3. Download HDF5 version 1.14.4 or newer from the official HDF5 release archive (www.hdfgroup.org) or your system's package manager
  4. 4. Compile and install the new version following standard HDF5 build procedures (configure, make, make install)
  5. 5. Rebuild any applications or tools that link against the HDF5 library to ensure they use the updated version
  6. 6. Verify the installation by checking that 'h5dump --version' or equivalent shows version 1.14.4 or later
  7. 7. Test that existing HDF5 files can be read/written correctly with the updated library
Caveat Minor: Verify compatibility with any custom tools or scripts that depend on HDF5 internals, as patch may include other changes between versions

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

Fix this in Hdf5 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
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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-2024-32606 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