CVE-2026-31973

7.5 HIGH
Published: March 18, 2026 Modified: March 19, 2026
View on NVD

Description

SAMtools is a program for reading, manipulating and writing bioinformatics file formats. Starting in version 1.17, in the cram-size command, used to write information about how well CRAM files are compressed, a check to see if the `cram_decode_compression_header()` was missing. If the function returned an error, this could lead to a NULL pointer dereference. Exploiting this bug causes a NULL pointer dereference. Typically this will cause the program to crash. Versions 1.23.1, 1.22.2 and 1.21.1 include fixes for this issue. There is no workaround for this issue.

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CVSS v3.x Details

0.0 Low Medium High Critical 10.0
Vector String
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

Patch Vendor Advisory Exploit Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/samtools/samtools/security/advisories/GHSA-x86f-q6fj-cm43
Source: security-advisories@github.com
Vendor Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/18/12
Source: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
Mailing List Third Party Advisory

3 reference(s) from NVD

Quick Stats

CVSS v3 Score
7.5 / 10.0
EPSS (Exploit Probability)
0.0%
2th percentile
Exploitation Status
Not in CISA KEV

Weaknesses (CWE)

Affected Vendors

samtools