CVE-2026-31973
Last modified
CVE-2026-31973 is a high-severity vulnerability rated 7.5/10 on the CVSS scale. 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. EPSS estimates a 0.52% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.
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.
Metrics
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS: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/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Weakness Enumeration
Affected Software
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Samtools | Samtools | >= 1.17, <= 1.21.1 |
| Samtools | Samtools | >= 1.22, < 1.22.2 |
| Samtools | Samtools | 1.23 |
References
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/18/12Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Timeline
- Published
- Last Modified
- Status
- Analyzed
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How Strix Helps
- 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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