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Medium · 6.9 CVE-2026-120757 EUVD-2026-116012GHSA-2qgq-73w8-3hrx

Heap Buffer Over-read via Non-Terminated Link Data in H5L__extern_traverse

Published Nov 3, 2026 · Updated Nov 3, 2026 · Assigned by HDFG

Description

HDF5 through 2.2.0 contains a heap buffer over-read vulnerability in H5L__extern_traverse() in src/H5Lexternal.c, the default traversal callback for external links. The callback locates the target file name and object path within the link’s user data using strlen() without validating the buffer against its stored size (udata_size, which was marked unused). A crafted HDF5 file containing an external link whose data is not NULL-terminated, or is too short to hold both strings, causes strlen() to read past the end of the udata heap buffer, and the derived object path pointer may also point outside the buffer. The overrun is unbounded and continues until a zero byte is found. The flaw is triggered when the malicious link is traversed, for example when opening an object through it. An attacker who can get a user or application to access a crafted file can cause a denial of service, and adjacent heap contents may be incorporated into the external file name or object path the library attempts to open.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
The HDF Group HDF5 < 2.3.0 —

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 hdf5 No fix yet —
Debian 13 hdf5 No fix yet —
Debian 12 hdf5 No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.10 hdf5 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS hdf5 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS hdf5 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS hdf5 No fix yet —
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS hdf5 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS hdf5 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS hdf5 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS hdf5 No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Red Hat Hardened Images 1 hdf5 +9 2.2.0-0.1.5.hum1 RHSA-2026:94898

Azure Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Azure Linux 3 hdf5 No fix yet —

Advisories 1

References