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GdalApplication · Osgeo

CVE-2026-49014

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.13.0 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
In GDAL 3.1.0 through 3.13.0, scanForGeometryContainers in the netCDF driver allows code execution via a stack-based buffer overflow. It reads a geometry attribute into a fixed-size stack buffer without validating the attribute length. The attacker embeds the exploit as an oversized geometry attribute in a crafted NetCDF file. This achieves arbitrary code execution on the server running GDAL. This is in frmts/netcdf/netcdfsg.cpp.

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

GDAL's netCDF driver contains a stack-based buffer overflow in the scanForGeometryContainers function (netcdfsg.cpp). The function reads geometry attributes from NetCDF files into a fixed-size stack buffer without validating the attribute size first, allowing an attacker to overwrite stack memory and achieve arbitrary code execution by supplying a crafted NetCDF file with an oversized geometry attribute.

MitigationUpgrade GDAL to version 3.13.1 or later, or apply a patch to add bounds checking on geometry attribute length before copying into the fixed-size buffer in scanForGeometryContainers. Sanitize or restrict untrusted NetCDF input sources.

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
GdalApplication
Affected:>= 3.1.0, <= 3.13.0

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 installed GDAL version
    Run 'gdalinfo --version' or 'ogrinfo --version' from command line, or use 'gdal-config --version' if available. Also check package manager listings (dpkg -l | grep gdal, rpm -qa | grep gdal, or conda list gdal)
    Affected if The version is between 3.1.0 and 3.13.0 inclusive
  2. Verify netCDF driver is available
    Run 'gdalinfo --formats' and look for 'netCDF' in the output, or use Python: from osgeo import gdal; print(gdal.GetDriverByName('netCDF'))
    Affected if The netCDF driver is listed as available (vulnerability only applies when this driver can process files)
  3. Confirm netCDF file processing capability
    Check if GDAL is configured to open NetCDF files: run 'gdalinfo your_netcdf_file.nc' on any sample NetCDF file, or inspect GDAL_DRIVER_PATH environment variable and /usr/lib/gdalplugins directory for netCDF driver presence
    Affected if GDAL can read NetCDF files - the driver must be loaded for the vulnerability to be reachable

You are affected if GDAL version is between 3.1.0 and 3.13.0 AND the netCDF driver is available and capable of processing NetCDF files in your environment.

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 a release after 3.13.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GDAL to version 3.13.1 or later, or apply a patch to add bounds checking on geometry attribute length before copying into the fixed-size buffer in scanForGeometryContainers. Sanitize or restrict untrusted NetCDF input sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

GDAL 3.13.1 or latest stable 3.x release

  1. 1. Identify the current GDAL version by running 'gdalinfo --version' or checking your project's dependency manifest
  2. 2. Download or update to GDAL version 3.13.1 or later (preferably the latest stable 3.x release)
  3. 3. If building from source, ensure you obtain the patched netcdfsg.cpp file in the netCDF driver (the fix adds proper attribute length validation before reading into the fixed-size stack buffer)
  4. 4. Rebuild and redeploy the GDAL library with the updated netCDF driver
  5. 5. Verify the fix by testing with the vulnerable code path or confirming the new GDAL version is running: 'gdalinfo --version'
Caveat Minor - point releases typically contain only bug fixes; if upgrading to 3.14.x major release, review the GDAL release notes for potential API/behavior changes

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

Fix this in Gdal 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-2026-49014 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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