An issue was discovered in the HDF HDF5 1.8.20 library.
Priority MEDIUM 42CWE-125Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
An issue was discovered in the HDF HDF5 1.8.20 library. There is an out of bounds read in H5L_extern_query at H5Lexternal.c.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.01766 78th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:hdfgroup:hdf5:1.8.20:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 1.8.20 | Vulnerable | The HDF Group |
- cpe:2.3:a:hdfgroup:hdf5:1.8.20:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.8.20 Vulnerable ·The HDF Group
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 10 (Newton) | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 12 (Pike) | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 13 (Queens) | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 14 (Rocky) | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 8 (Liberty) | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 9 (Mitaka) | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2018-16438
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-9xmm-cpf8-rgmx
References
More The HDF Group Hdf5 vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-28698 hdf5 v1.14.6 was discovered to contain a heap buffer overflow via the H5Z__filter_scaleoffset function. CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2025-28697 hdf5 v1.14.6 was discovered to contain a heap buffer overflow via the H5VM_memcpyvv function. CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2020-13412 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in function H5S_close in H5S.c in HDF5 1.10.4 allows remote… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2021-15413 Buffer Overflow vulnerability in HDFGroup hdf5-h5dump 1.12.0 through 1.13.0 allows… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-26978 HDF5: H5T__conv_struct Use After Free CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
- TI-2022-09532 Heap-based buffer overflow in HDF Group libhdf5 CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
Sources
- CVE-2018-16438 · CVE Program
- CVE-2018-16438 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-9xmm-cpf8-rgmx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2018-16438 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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