CVE-2026-12480 | Arbitrary HDF5 File Read via Virtual Dataset Bypass in keras-team/keras

Keras versions up to and including 3.13.2 are vulnerable to an arbitrary HDF5 file read due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2026-1669. The vulnerability resides in the `H5IOStore._verify_dataset()` and `file_editor.py` methods, which fail to check the `dataset.is_virtual` property of HDF5 datasets. This allows an attacker to craft a malicious `.keras` model archive or `.h5` weights file containing a Virtual Dataset (VDS) that references external HDF5 files on the victim's filesystem. When the victim loads the model using `keras.models.load_model()` or `keras.saving.load_model()`, the external file is transparently read, leading to potential information disclosure. Fixed in versions 3.12.2 and 3.14.1.

Published: 2026-07-01 Last update: 2026-07-02 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Awaiting Analysis，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-12480 is rated Low Risk (23/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.13%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-12480

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-07-02 — 0.13% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-12480

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-12480

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-12480

GHSA-26c4-7vv6-867j · Severity: medium — Keras versions up to and including 3.13.2 are vulnerable to an arbitrary HDF5 file read due to an...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-12480

vendor priority summary link
debian end-of-life CVE-2026-12480 end-of-life priority: Debian including 1 source packages (keras), 1 status rows across 1 suites (bullseye): open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-12480
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12480
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-12480 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (keras), 7 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, upstream): DNE 4, needs-triage 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-12480

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-12480

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-12480

cvelogic Threat Intelligence