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.
History

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 19:00:00 +0000

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'}


Thu, 19 Mar 2026 17:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

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


Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Samtools
Samtools samtools
Vendors & Products Samtools
Samtools samtools

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 21:00:00 +0000

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'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-03-19T16:14:59.386Z

Reserved: 2026-03-10T15:40:10.486Z

Link: CVE-2026-31973

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-03-18T23:08:20.721Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-03-18T21:16:26.250

Modified: 2026-03-19T18:48:10.830

Link: CVE-2026-31973

cve-icon Redhat

No data.