CVE-2026-31973
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.
Does this matter?
Lower severity and a low EPSS score (0.52%). Track it; it rarely justifies an emergency change on its own.
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.
- CVSS 4.0
- 6.9 MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/M
- EPSS
- 0.52% probability · 43th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-476
- Affected
- samtools/samtools
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
References
- https://github.com/samtools/samtools/commit/06fc2a219b3d7c94d3f412c09f6d1efd51199f2fPatch
- https://github.com/samtools/samtools/security/advisories/GHSA-x86f-q6fj-cm43Vendor Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/18/12Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.