CVE-2026-31972

SAMtools is a program for reading, manipulating and writing bioinformatics file formats. The `mpileup` command outputs DNA sequences that have been aligned against a known reference. On each output line it writes the reference position, optionally the reference DNA base at that position (obtained from a separate file) and all of the DNA bases that aligned to that position. As the output is ordered by position, reference data that is no longer needed is discarded once it has been printed out. Under certain conditions the data could be discarded too early, leading to an attempt to read from a pointer to freed memory. This bug may allow information about program state to be leaked. It may also cause a program crash through an attempt to access invalid memory. This bug is fixed in versions 1.21.1 and 1.22. There is no workaround for this issue.

• CWE-416

• https://github.com/samtools/samtools/commit/3036eb9af945fcef359427a2d359855553da4adfPatch
• https://github.com/samtools/samtools/security/advisories/GHSA-72c8-4jf3-f27pVendor Advisory
• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/18/11Mailing List, Third Party Advisory

Published

Mar 18, 2026

Last Modified

Jun 17, 2026

Status

Analyzed

• How Strix found a critical auth bypass in etcdStrix autonomously discovered a critical authentication bypass in etcd, later designated CVE-2026-33413.
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