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Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability · CVE-2026-31972

SAMtools is a program for reading, manipulating and writing bioinformatics file formats.

Published Mar 18, 2026 · catalog updated Jun 17, 2026 · SAMtools is a program

Check if you run it

No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2026-31972. EPSS is 0.68%. Act only if a listed version of SAMtools is a program is installed.

Gaps on this record

  • The stored product name is a package slug. The name on this page is taken from the title (SAMtools is a program).
  • No version range is stored. A customer cannot check an installed version against this record.
  • No vendor fix or required action is stored. Compare the linked advisory before you change production.
Severity
Medium6.9
Known exploitation
Not in CISA/VulnCheck KEV
EPSS
0.68%
Remediation
Advisory link
Affected products
cpe samtools/samtools

SAMtools is a program for reading, manipulating and writing bioinformatics file formats. The 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.

Are you affected?

Enter the version you run. The result uses only the ranges stored on this record.

The check returns affected, not affected, or incomplete. It does not guess a version that is missing from the record.

  • cpe samtools/samtoolsversion unspecified

How to fix CVE-2026-31972

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Should you patch?

No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2026-31972. EPSS is 0.68%. Act only if a listed version of SAMtools is a program is installed.

Which versions are affected?

Affected version ranges are not on this record. Compare the installed version with the linked vendor advisory before you change production.

What should an analyst verify?

CWE-416: Use After Free. EPSS 0.68%. There is no CISA KEV listing. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Mar 18, 2026 · NIST NVD

    Detected

    SAMtools is a program for reading, manipulating and writing bioinformatics file formats. The 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 positi

  2. Jun 17, 2026 · NIST NVD

    Updated

    SAMtools is a program for reading, manipulating and writing bioinformatics file formats. The 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 positi

Sources

  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2026-31972

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2026-31972

    30-day exploitation probability 0.7%

    first.org
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2026-31972

    SAMtools is a program for reading, manipulating and writing bioinformatics file formats. The 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 p

    nvd.nist.gov

References

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 18, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.