#VU12154 Heap-based buffer overflow in HDF5 - CVE-2016-4332

Vulnerability identifier: #VU12154

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 5.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2016-4332

CWE-ID: CWE-122

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
HDF5
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: HDF Group

Description
The vulnerability allows a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the target system.

The weakness exists due to library's failure to check if certain message types support a particular flag and the library can cast the structure to an alternative structure and then assign to fields that aren't supported by the message type and the library can write outside the bounds of the heap buffer. A local attacker can trigger heap-based buffer overflow and execute arbitrary code with root privileges.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may result in system compromise.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

HDF5: 1.8.16

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External links
https://www.talosintelligence.com/reports/TALOS-2016-0178/

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.