#VU63935 Heap-based buffer overflow in HDF5 - CVE-2018-17433

Vulnerability identifier: #VU63935

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/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-2018-17433

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 remote attacker to perform a denial of service attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error in ReadGifImageDesc() in gifread.c in the HDF HDF5 when converting a GIF file to an HDF file. A remote attacker can trick the victim into opening a 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/vuln8#heap-overflow-in-readgifimagedesc
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1634118

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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.