CVE-2026-31973

NULL pointer dereference in samtools cram-size

Published Mar 18, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 6.9 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
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.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

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History
Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:samtools:samtools:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:samtools:samtools:1.23:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Samtools
Samtools samtools
Vendors & Products Samtools
Samtools samtools
Type Values Removed Values Added
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.
Title NULL pointer dereference in samtools cram-size
Weaknesses CWE-476
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 6.9, 'vector': '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'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
Mar 19, 2026, 4:14 PM
Reserved
Mar 10, 2026, 3:40 PM
Status
Analyzed
Published
Mar 18, 2026, 9:16 PM
Modified
Jun 17, 2026, 10:34 AM