# CVE-2026-17572: HDF5 SOHM List Index Heap Buffer Overflow

> Attackers can cause a denial of service via a crafted HDF5 file triggering a heap buffer overflow in the SOHM list-index deserialization code.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:L/SA:H/E:U`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 27 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-94016, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-17572, ECHO-94c1-7eed-d5a9, GHSA-9mx5-fj64-m52r, JLSEC-2026-1384, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-17572

## What is CVE-2026-17572?

CVE-2026-17572 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Hdfgroup Hdf5, published on 27 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Heap-based buffer overflow in the SOHM list-index deserialization code in HDF5 through 2.1.1 on all platforms allows attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted HDF5 file whose shared-message list index declares a num_messages count exceeding list_max, triggering out-of-bounds heap reads and writes in H5SM__cache_list_deserialize and H5SM__cache_list_verify_chksum.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-17572?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Hdfgroup Hdf5.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-17572?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-17572 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-17572 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Hdfgroup Hdf5

- [CVE-2024-32608](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-32608/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-29157](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-29157/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-29159](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-29159/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-29164](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-29164/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-32611](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-32611/): Other in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-17572 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-17572 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Hdfgroup Hdf5, published on 27 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-17572 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Hdfgroup Hdf5. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-17572/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-17572/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-17572
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-17572
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-17572

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-17572/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.