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OpenAdvisories
Medium · 5.4 CVE-2026-120758 EUVD-2026-116017GHSA-49fv-ggjg-jcjc

NULL Pointer Dereference in H5HL_unprotect via Corrupted File

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

Description

HDF5 through 2.2.0 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in H5HL_unprotect() in src/H5HL.c. H5HL_protect() pins a single metadata cache entry for a local heap, either the heap prefix or the separate data block, and H5HL_unprotect() unpins it on the final unprotect. When the metadata cache destroys a corrupted local heap entry, H5HL__prfx_dest() unlinks it from the heap by setting heap->prfx or heap->dblk to NULL. A crafted HDF5 file can therefore reach H5HL_unprotect() with no cached object to unpin, and the function passes the NULL pointer to H5AC_unpin_entry(). This causes an assertion failure in debug builds and a NULL pointer dereference and crash in release builds. An attacker who can get a user or application to open and traverse a malicious file can cause a denial of service.

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