NULL Pointer Dereference in H5HL_unprotect via Corrupted File

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-120758
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerHDFG
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-11-03 16:17:23 UTC
Updated2026-11-03 16:30:17 UTC
DescriptionHDF5 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.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 5.4 MEDIUM from 0253b833-3e77-4dfe-9d57-17db1a2f0a74

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Problem Types: CWE-476 | CWE-476 CWE-476 NULL pointer dereference

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.00253b833-3e77-4dfe-9d57-17db1a2f0a74Secondary5.4MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/C...
4.0CNACVSS5.4MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Passive
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA The HDF Group HDF5 affected < 2.3.0 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/HDFGroup/hdf5/pull/6377 0253b833-3e77-4dfe-9d57-17db1a2f0a74 github.com
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