CVE-2024-29158 is a critical vulnerability recently discovered in the Hierarchical Data Format 5 (HDF5) library, a popular data management library for high-performance computing. Versions up to and including 1.14.3 are affected by a stack buffer overflow vulnerability, leading to the corruption of the instruction pointer and, consequently, the possibility of denial of service (DoS) attacks or potential code execution. In this post, we will discuss the background of the vulnerability, relevant code snippets, original references, and exploit details.

Background

HDF5 is widely used in various scientific and engineering domains for managing large and complex datasets. The HDF5 library uses a reference-counted memory management model called "Free List Allocator" (FLA) to facilitate efficient memory reuse and reduce memory fragmentation. The vulnerability resides in the H5FL_arr_malloc() function, which is part of the FLA.

Vulnerability Details

The H5FL_arr_malloc() function in the HDF5 library contains a stack buffer overflow vulnerability that can corrupt the instruction pointer, leading to denial of service (DoS) or potential code execution. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious input, which when processed by an application using the affected HDF5 library, results in a stack buffer overflow. This overflow overwrites the saved instruction pointer on the stack, enabling an attacker to take control of the application and potentially execute arbitrary code.

Below is a code snippet from the H5FL.c file containing the vulnerable H5FL_arr_malloc() function

void *
H5FL_arr_malloc(size_t size, size_t count)
{
    void *ret_value = NULL; /*return value*/

    FUNC_ENTER_NOAPI(NULL)

    /* Use the free list factory */
    if(!factory)
        if(NULL == (factory = H5FL_fac_init(size)))
            HGOTO_ERROR(H5E_RESOURCE, H5E_CANTINIT, NULL, "can't initialize H5FL_fac_t factory")

    /* Allocate space for the array */
    if(NULL == (ret_value = H5FL_fac_malloc(factory)))
        HGOTO_ERROR(H5E_RESOURCE, H5E_NOSPACE, NULL, "memory allocation failed")

    /* Set the next pointer in the array */
    ((H5FL_arr_node_t *)ret_value)->next = NULL;

done:
    FUNC_LEAVE_NOAPI(ret_value)
} /* end H5FL_arr_malloc() */

The buffer overflow occurs when the 'size' and 'count' arguments cause an integer overflow, leading to a memory allocation of a smaller buffer than required. Consequently, the memcpy() function call within the H5FL_fac_malloc() function will overflow the buffer, resulting in the corruption of the instruction pointer.

Original References

The vulnerability was initially reported to the HDF Group by security researchers. The following are links to the original advisory and additional references:

1. HDF5 Security Advisory - CVE-2024-29158
2. US-CERT Vulnerability Summary for CVE-2024-29158
3. NVD - CVE-2024-29158 Detail

Exploit Details

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must craft malicious input for a target application using the affected HDF5 library. This input triggers the stack buffer overflow, corrupting the saved instruction pointer and potentially allowing arbitrary code execution.

Mitigation

The HDF Group has released a patch in HDF5 version 1.14.4 to address this vulnerability. Users are advised to update their HDF5 libraries to the latest version or apply the patch provided by the HDF Group.

In conclusion, CVE-2024-29158 exposes a critical vulnerability in the widely used HDF5 library, making it crucial for developers and administrators using the library to promptly update their systems. By doing so, they can prevent the negative consequences stemming from a denial of service attack or potential code execution.

Timeline

Published on: 05/14/2024 15:15:31 UTC
Last modified on: 07/03/2024 01:52:08 UTC