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Hdf5Application · Hdfgroup

CVE-2024-32620

HIGH · 7.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.14.4 or later.
See remediation →
79/100
Remediation priority · High
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 contains a heap-based buffer over-read in H5F_addr_decode_len in H5Fint.c, resulting in the corruption of the instruction pointer.

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

Heap-based buffer over-read vulnerability in HDF5 Library's H5F_addr_decode_len function in H5Fint.c allows reading beyond buffer boundaries, corrupting the instruction pointer and potentially enabling arbitrary code execution or denial of service. Affects all versions through 1.14.3.

MitigationUpdate to patched HDF5 version when available; otherwise, implement input validation and bounds checking in H5F_addr_decode_len to prevent over-read conditions before trusted file 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

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

  1. Check HDF5 version via command-line tools
    Run 'h5dump --version' or 'h5ls --version' to display the installed HDF5 library version
    Affected if Version displayed is earlier than 1.14.4 (for example, 1.14.3, 1.14.2, 1.10.x, etc.)
  2. Check HDF5 version via pkg-config
    Run 'pkg-config --modversion hdf5' to query the HDF5 library version from pkg-config
    Affected if Version returned is less than 1.14.4
  3. Check HDF5 version via package manager
    On Debian-based systems run 'dpkg -l | grep hdf5'; on RHEL-based systems run 'rpm -qa | grep hdf5'
    Affected if Installed package version is shown as less than 1.14.4
  4. Check libhdf5 library file version
    Run 'ldd' on an HDF5-linked binary or use 'objdump -p /path/to/libhdf5.so | grep VERSION' to inspect the library's embedded version
    Affected if Library version is earlier than 1.14.4
  5. Verify the vulnerable H5F_addr_decode_len function exists
    Check for the presence of H5Fint.c in source code or use 'nm libhdf5.a | grep H5F_addr_decode_len' on the library binary
    Affected if The function is present in an HDF5 build version earlier than 1.14.4

Your environment is affected if the installed HDF5 library version is any release prior to 1.14.4, as all versions through 1.14.3 contain the heap-based buffer over-read in H5F_addr_decode_len.

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

Update to patched HDF5 version when available; otherwise, implement input validation and bounds checking in H5F_addr_decode_len to prevent over-read conditions before trusted file processing.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.14.4

  1. Identify all systems and applications that use the HDF5 library
  2. Check the current installed version of HDF5 on each affected system
  3. Obtain HDF5 version 1.14.4 or later from the official HDF Group (www.hdfgroup.org) or your distribution's package manager
  4. Replace the vulnerable HDF5 library with version 1.14.4 or later
  5. Rebuild or recompile any applications statically linked against the old HDF5 library to ensure they use the updated version
  6. Verify the fix by confirming the new version is 1.14.4 or higher: `h5dump --version` or check library binary
  7. Test critical application functionality to ensure the update does not break existing workflows

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

Fix this in Hdf5 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,752.

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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-2024-32620 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