CVE-2026-17574: NULL Pointer Dereference in HDF5 via Invalid Variable-Length Datatype Type Tag
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2026-17574 is a medium (CVSS 5.5) NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in hdfgroup hdf5. EPSS estimates a 0.15% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 4% of scored vulnerabilities.
Not severe (CVSS 5.2, local access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources
Source freshness unavailable
How is this decided?Timeline
- 27-07-2026PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 27-07-2026Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
HDF5 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability. Processing a crafted HDF5 file containing an attribute with an invalid variable-length datatype type field may cause the application to crash when the attribute is read.
CVSS metrics
6 scores · 4 sources · 2 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated6.7MediumCVSS: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:PDiffers
- NVDNIST5.2MediumCVSS: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: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
- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated5.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated5.5MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS trend
Probability
0.15%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
4%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
No change 0.00 pp
From 0.15% on 04-10-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogs
CISA KEVNot in the CISA KEV catalog.
ENISA CNWNot in the ENISA CNW catalog.
CIRCLNot in the CIRCL catalog.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root cause- CWE-476NULL Pointer DereferenceThe product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
- CWE-617Reachable AssertionThe product contains an assert() or similar statement that can be triggered by an attacker, which leads to an application exit or other behavior that is more severe than necessary.
Affected systems
Known conditions: local access, no authentication, user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Debian1 product
- hdf5All versions (No fix recorded) | < 2.2.0+repack-1
Hdfgroup1 product
- hdf5< 2.1.1
The hdf group1 product
- hdf5≤ 2.1.1
Ubuntu1 product
- hdf5All versions (No fix recorded)
4 vendors · 4 products
