Strengthening Safety, Security, and Privacy in the HDF5 Ecosystem

An Award of the U.S. National Science Foundation Safe-OSE Program

The HDF Group has been selected as one of eight inaugural recipients of the National Science Foundation’s Safety, Security, and Privacy of Open-Source Ecosystems (Safe-OSE) program.

Our Mission

This project focuses on addressing critical safety, security, and privacy vulnerabilities in HDF5, strengthening the resilience of an ecosystem that serves thousands of organizations worldwide in fields ranging from scientific research to national security.

Duration	October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2027 (Estimated)
Sponsor	National Science Foundation
Program Name	Safety, Security, and Privacy of Open-Source Ecosystems (Safe-OSE)
Award Number	2534078
Project Title	NSF-Safe-OSE: Strengthening HDF5 for Science, Industry, and National Security Applications
Short Title	HDF5 SHINES
Project Goals	Identify and address vulnerabilities in HDF5 core libraries Strengthen CI/CD infrastructure to prevent security issues before deployment Build community capacity to maintain safety, security, and privacy improvements long-term Create security best practices documentation for HDF5 developers and users
Principal Investigator	Gerd Heber, Executive Director, The HDF Group

Get Involved

• Let us know your concerns and priorities
  • Take our survey
  • Submit your ideas, get monthly update highlights, and learn about upcoming events on the Community Forum
• Quarterly Community Calls will be scheduled starting in early 2026
• Special Interest Group: We’re assembling a SIG to guide our priorities. If you represent a major HDF5 stakeholder organization and would like to participate, please contact us.

The HDF5 SHINES Roadmap: Latest Updates & Milestones

📺 Webinars & Recordings

• Securing the HDF5 Ecosystem: A Comprehensive Review of CVE Findings – Call the Doctor with Neil Fortner (Jan 20, 2026)
• SAFE-OSE: Hardening the HDF5 Ecosystem Together – Call the Doctor with Gerd Heber (Dec 2, 2025)

✍️ Technical Deep Dives & Blogs

• Safety, Security, and Privacy in HDF5: A Shared Vocabulary – Setting the stage for our security-first culture.
• The HDF Group Receives U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Safe‑OSE Award to Strengthen HDF5 Security for Science, Industry, and National Security – Press Release

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Federal Award No. 2534078. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.