#VU63934 NULL pointer dereference in HDF5 - CVE-2018-17432

Vulnerability identifier: #VU63934

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 4.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-17432

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

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

Vendor: HDF Group

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error in H5O_sdspace_encode() in H5Osdspace.c in the HDF HDF5. A remote attacker can trick the victim into opening specially crafted HDF5 file and perform a denial of service attack.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

HDF5: 1.0.0 - 1.0.1, 1.2.0 - 1.2.2, 1.3.0 - 1.3.1, 1.4.0 - 1.4.5, 1.6.0 - 1.6.10, 1.8.0 - 1.8.21, 1.10.0 - 1.10.3

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External links
https://github.com/SegfaultMasters/covering360/tree/master/HDF5/vuln6#null-pointer-dereference-in-h5o_sdspace_encode
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1634115

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

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