EUVD-2026-32039
GHSA-wphc-7cm7-8mf7
Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain low-priv file-submission access
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DeliveryCraft NetCDF with oversized geometry attribute
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ExploitGDAL netCDF driver parses file
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ExecutionOverflow stack buffer in scanForGeometryContainers
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PersistHijack control flow, execute code
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ImpactRun in GDAL process context
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Stack buffer bounds checking
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires the target to process an attacker-crafted NetCDF file with GDAL's netCDF driver enabled (the vulnerable scanForGeometryContainers path in frmts/netcdf/netcdfsg.cpp); the specific trigger is an oversized geometry container attribute embedded in that file. Limiting factors: the affected GDAL version must be 3.1.0-3.13.0, the netCDF driver must be active, and the attacker must have a channel to submit the malicious file to the GDAL process - per the CVSS PR:L the attacker needs at least low-privileged access to reach the ingestion path, and per AV:L the attack is local/file-based rather than a direct remote network service. If NetCDF parsing is disabled or untrusted files cannot reach GDAL, the vulnerable code is not exercised. |
| Impact | This is a genuine code-execution defect (SSVC technical impact 'total', C:H/I:H/A:H) but the deployed risk is moderate rather than emergency. The CVSS 7.8 vector is AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N, so exploitation is modeled as local, low-complexity, requiring low privileges and no user interaction; EPSS is near-zero (0.01%, 3rd percentile), SSVC marks it Automatable:no, and there is no KEV listing - signals that align on low likelihood of mass exploitation. The strongest opposing signal is a public PoC, which raises the value for targeted use. Note a consistency caveat: the description frames the payload as a 'crafted NetCDF file' processed by 'the server running GDAL,' which is a classic file-parsing pattern usually scored AV:L with UI:R or PR:N; the assigned PR:L/UI:N implies the attacker already has a low-privileged means to submit files that are auto-ingested. Verify the actual exposure (who can supply NetCDF files to the GDAL process) with the vendor/issue tracker before finalizing prioritization. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker crafts a NetCDF file embedding an oversized geometry container attribute and delivers it to a system that automatically processes geospatial uploads with an affected GDAL build (e.g., a data-ingestion or map-tile service). When GDAL's netCDF driver parses the file, scanForGeometryContainers overflows the stack buffer and executes attacker-supplied code in the service context. A public proof of concept exists, and the low attack complexity makes reliable triggering plausible against a vulnerable, netCDF-enabled deployment. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv2 – Jul 23, 2026
Arbitrary code execution in GDAL 3.1.0 through 3.13.0 arises from a stack-based buffer overflow in the netCDF driver's scanForGeometryContainers routine (frmts/netcdf/netcdfsg.cpp), which reads a geometry attribute into a fixed-size stack buffer without validating its length. An attacker who can get a GDAL-based service to parse a crafted NetCDF file containing an oversized geometry attribute can overflow the buffer and run code in the context of the process. Publicly available exploit code exists per the SSVC 'poc' status, but EPSS is very low (0.01%, 3rd percentile) and it is not on the CISA KEV list, so no active exploitation is confirmed.
Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
Arbitrary code execution in GDAL 3.1.0 through 3.13.0 is reachable through the netCDF driver, where scanForGeometryContainers (frmts/netcdf/netcdfsg.cpp) copies a CF-convention geometry attribute into a fixed-size stack buffer without checking its length. Any service or workflow that feeds attacker-supplied NetCDF files to GDAL can be coerced into overflowing the stack and running attacker code in the process context. No public exploit is identified at time of analysis and EPSS is just 0.01% (3rd percentile), yet the issue carries a CVSS of 7.4 because the outcome is full remote code execution on the host.
RemediationAI
Patch available per vendor advisory: upgrade to a fixed GDAL release above 3.13.0 once published by OSGeo - track the fix via the upstream issue https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/issues/14594 and confirm the exact patched version there before deploying, as no tagged fix version is present in the supplied data (do not rely on an assumed version number). If patching cannot be done immediately, the most effective compensating control is to stop GDAL from parsing untrusted NetCDF input: disable or unregister the netCDF driver (for example by building/configuring GDAL without netCDF support or restricting GDAL_SKIP/allowed drivers), which removes the vulnerable code path at the cost of losing NetCDF read capability. Additionally, restrict which principals can submit NetCDF files to any GDAL-backed ingestion endpoint and validate/quarantine uploaded geospatial files, sandbox the GDAL process (least-privilege service account, seccomp/container isolation), so a successful overflow cannot execute code with broad rights. Cross-reference the vuldb advisory (https://vuldb.com/vuln/365851) for tracking.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in pypi
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library) is a foundational open-source raster/vector translation library maintained by OSGeo (CPE cpe:2.3:a:osgeo:gdal) and embedded in a large share of GIS, mapping, and geospatial processing stacks (QGIS, PostGIS, MapServer, Python/R geospatial toolchains, cloud imagery pipelines). The flaw lives in the netCDF driver, which parses NetCDF scientific-data files, specifically the simple-geometries (netcdfsg) code that scans geometry container attributes. The root cause is CWE-121 (stack-based buffer overflow): scanForGeometryContainers copies an attacker-controlled geometry attribute into a fixed-length stack array without bounds-checking the attribute length, so an oversized value overwrites adjacent stack memory including saved registers/return data, enabling control-flow hijack.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
File-parsing overflow triggered by an attacker-supplied NetCDF file: AV:L and AC:L for reliable local triggering, PR:L since a low-priv channel must submit the file, full C/I/A from code execution.
AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionNVD
In GDAL 3.1.0 through 3.13.0, scanForGeometryContainers in the netCDF driver allows code execution via a stack-based buffer overflow. It reads a geometry attribute into a fixed-size stack buffer without validating the attribute length. The attacker embeds the exploit as an oversized geometry attribute in a crafted NetCDF file. This achieves arbitrary code execution on the server running GDAL. This is in frmts/netcdf/netcdfsg.cpp.
Executive ViewAI
GDAL, a widely-deployed geospatial data processing library, contains an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in versions 3.1.0 through 3.13.0 triggered by processing malicious NetCDF files, potentially enabling complete infrastructure compromise. Organizations running GDAL-backed services for mapping, satellite imagery ingestion, or geographic data analysis-particularly those processing data from external sources-face significant breach and operational disruption risk. Public exploit code exists, making this a near-term security priority despite low current exploitation prevalence.
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Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
A stack-based buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a buffer located on the stack than it was allocated to hold.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
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