CVE-2026-31973

EUVD-2026-12958

18.03.2026, 21:16

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.

Provider	Type	Base Score	Atk. Vector	Atk. Complexity	Priv. Required	Vector
NIST	Primary	7.5 HIGH	NETWORK	LOW	NONE	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Base Score

CVSS 3.x

EPSS Score

Percentile: 5%

Affected Products (NVD)

Vendor	Product	Version
samtools	samtools	1.17 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 1.21.1
samtools	samtools	1.22 ≤ 𝑥 < 1.22.2
samtools	samtools	1.23

𝑥

= Vulnerable software versions

Debian Releases

Debian Product

Codename

samtools

bookworm	unimportant
bullseye	unimportant
forky	unimportant
sid	unimportant
trixie	unimportant

Ubuntu Releases

Ubuntu Product

Codename

samtools

bionic	needs-triage
focal	needs-triage
jammy	needs-triage
noble	needs-triage
questing	needs-triage
resolute	needs-triage
trusty	needs-triage
xenial	needs-triage

Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-476 - NULL Pointer Dereference
A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit.

References

https://github.com/samtools/samtools/commit/06fc2a219b3d7c94d3f412c09f6d1efd51199f2f

https://github.com/samtools/samtools/security/advisories/GHSA-x86f-q6fj-cm43

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/18/12