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Hdf5Application · Hdfgroup

CVE-2024-33875

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 has a heap-based buffer overflow in H5O__layout_encode in H5Olayout.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 · moderate confidence

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the H5O__layout_encode function in H5Olayout.c of the HDF5 Library through version 1.14.3. The overflow occurs during layout encoding operations and results in corruption of the instruction pointer, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution. This is a memory safety flaw in the encoding logic that lacks proper bounds checking when writing to heap-allocated buffers.

MitigationUpdate to a patched version of HDF5 when available. Until then, validate all HDF5 files and data structures before processing, and consider running affected code in sandboxed environments to limit the impact of potential exploitation.

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 installed HDF5 library version
    Run 'h5dump -V' or 'h5cc -V' to display the HDF5 version, or check the library file version in /usr/lib64/libhdf5.so.* on Linux. On Windows, check hdf5.dll version properties.
    Affected if The version is below 1.14.4 (e.g., 1.14.3, 1.14.2, 1.10.x, etc.)
  2. Locate H5Olayout.c in use
    Search for H5Olayout.c in the HDF5 source code if compiled from source, or verify the HDF5 shared library contains the layout encoding symbols using 'nm libhdf5.so | grep layout' or 'dumpbin /EXPORTS hdf5.dll' on Windows.
    Affected if The vulnerable function H5O__layout_encode is present in the library version in use
  3. Check for processes using layout encoding
    Monitor process execution for applications that call H5Dlayout (dataset layout) operations. Applications that create, write, or modify HDF5 dataset layouts (contiguous, chunked, compact) perform encoding.
    Affected if The environment runs applications that create or modify HDF5 datasets with layout settings
  4. Identify HDF5 file processing workflows
    Review application logs or audit processes that open, create, or modify .h5 or .hdf5 files. Use 'lsof | grep -i hdf' to list processes with open HDF5 files.
    Affected if Untrusted or external HDF5 files are processed by applications linked against the affected HDF5 library version

You are affected if the installed HDF5 library version is below 1.14.4 and the environment processes HDF5 files using layout encoding operations.

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 a patched version of HDF5 when available. Until then, validate all HDF5 files and data structures before processing, and consider running affected code in sandboxed environments to limit the impact of potential exploitation.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.14.4

  1. Identify the current HDF5 version installed (e.g., check with 'h5dump --version' or review build files)
  2. Download HDF5 version 1.14.4 from the official HDF Group website (www.hdfgroup.org)
  3. Extract the source tarball and navigate to the build directory
  4. Configure the build with appropriate options: './configure --prefix=/path/to/install'
  5. Compile the library: 'make'
  6. Install the upgraded library: 'make install'
  7. Update any application build configurations to link against the new version
  8. Recompile all applications that depend on HDF5 against the new libraries
Caveat Minor version upgrade should be compatible, but thoroughly test all HDF5-dependent applications after upgrading

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
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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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-2024-33875 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