{
    "document": {
        "category": "csaf_base",
        "csaf_version": "2.0",
        "distribution": {
            "tlp": {
                "label": "WHITE"
            }
        },
        "lang": "en",
        "notes": [
            {
                "category": "legal_disclaimer",
                "text": "The Netherlands Cyber Security Center (henceforth: NCSC-NL) maintains this portal to enhance access to its information and vulnerabilities. The use of this information is subject to the following terms and conditions:\n\nThe vulnerabilities disclosed in this portal are gathered by NCSC-NL from a variety of open sources, which the user can retrieve from other platforms. NCSC-NL makes every reasonable effort to ensure that the content of this portal is kept up to date, and that it is accurate and complete. Nevertheless, NCSC-NL cannot entirely rule out the possibility of errors, and therefore cannot give any warranty in respect of its completeness, accuracy or real-time keeping up-to-date. NCSC-NL does not control nor guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information obtained from these external sources. The vulnerabilities disclosed in this portal are intended solely for the convenience of professional parties to take appropriate measures to manage the risks posed to the cybersecurity. No rights can be derived from the information provided therein.\n\nNCSC-NL and the Kingdom of the Netherlands assume no legal liability or responsibility for any damage resulting from either the use or inability of use of the vulnerabilities disclosed in this portal. This includes damage resulting from the inaccuracy of incompleteness of the information contained in it.\nThe information on this page is subject to Dutch law. All disputes related to or arising from the use of this portal regarding the disclosure of vulnerabilities will be submitted to the competent court in The Hague. This choice of means also applies to the court in summary proceedings."
            }
        ],
        "publisher": {
            "category": "coordinator",
            "contact_details": "cert@ncsc.nl",
            "name": "National Cyber Security Centre",
            "namespace": "https://www.ncsc.nl/"
        },
        "title": "CVE-2026-31968",
        "tracking": {
            "current_release_date": "2026-03-22T14:55:16.182365Z",
            "generator": {
                "date": "2026-02-17T15:00:00Z",
                "engine": {
                    "name": "V.E.L.M.A",
                    "version": "1.7"
                }
            },
            "id": "CVE-2026-31968",
            "initial_release_date": "2026-03-18T20:26:25.345695Z",
            "revision_history": [
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-18T20:26:25.345695Z",
                    "number": "1",
                    "summary": "CVE created.| Source created.| CVE status created. (valid)| Description created for source.| CVSS created.| References created (2).| CWES updated (1)."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-18T20:26:27.235864Z",
                    "number": "2",
                    "summary": "NCSC Score created."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-18T20:38:46.506135Z",
                    "number": "3",
                    "summary": "Source created.| CVE status created. (valid)| Description created for source.| CVSS created.| Products connected (3).| References created (2).| CWES updated (1).| Unknown change."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-18T20:38:48.431322Z",
                    "number": "4",
                    "summary": "NCSC Score updated."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-19T00:43:19.949391Z",
                    "number": "5",
                    "summary": "Source created.| CVE status created. (valid)| Products connected (2)."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-19T00:43:27.573543Z",
                    "number": "6",
                    "summary": "NCSC Score updated."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-19T06:43:11.767714Z",
                    "number": "7",
                    "summary": "Description created for source."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-19T21:03:59.499978Z",
                    "number": "8",
                    "summary": "Source created.| CVE status created. (valid)| Description created for source.| CVSS created.| References created (2).| CWES updated (1)."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-20T09:32:03.330051Z",
                    "number": "9",
                    "summary": "Source connected.| CVE status created. (valid)| EPSS created."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-20T09:32:07.330205Z",
                    "number": "10",
                    "summary": "NCSC Score updated."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-20T18:15:42.773997Z",
                    "number": "11",
                    "summary": "CVSS created.| Products connected (3).| Product Identifiers created (3)."
                },
                {
                    "date": "2026-03-20T18:15:50.400643Z",
                    "number": "12",
                    "summary": "NCSC Score updated."
                }
            ],
            "status": "interim",
            "version": "12"
        }
    },
    "product_tree": {
        "branches": [
            {
                "branches": [
                    {
                        "branches": [
                            {
                                "category": "product_version_range",
                                "name": "vers:unknown/1.23",
                                "product": {
                                    "name": "vers:unknown/1.23",
                                    "product_id": "CSAFPID-5859404",
                                    "product_identification_helper": {
                                        "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:htslib:htslib:1.23:*:*:*:*:*:*:*"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            {
                                "category": "product_version_range",
                                "name": "vers:unknown/<1.21.1",
                                "product": {
                                    "name": "vers:unknown/<1.21.1",
                                    "product_id": "CSAFPID-5859402",
                                    "product_identification_helper": {
                                        "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:htslib:htslib:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            {
                                "category": "product_version_range",
                                "name": "vers:unknown/>=1.22|<1.22.2",
                                "product": {
                                    "name": "vers:unknown/>=1.22|<1.22.2",
                                    "product_id": "CSAFPID-5859403",
                                    "product_identification_helper": {
                                        "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:htslib:htslib:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*"
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        ],
                        "category": "product_name",
                        "name": "HTSlib"
                    }
                ],
                "category": "vendor",
                "name": "HTSlib"
            },
            {
                "branches": [
                    {
                        "branches": [
                            {
                                "branches": [
                                    {
                                        "category": "product_version_range",
                                        "name": "vers:deb/unknown",
                                        "product": {
                                            "name": "vers:deb/unknown",
                                            "product_id": "CSAFPID-1396815"
                                        }
                                    }
                                ],
                                "category": "product_name",
                                "name": "htslib"
                            }
                        ],
                        "category": "product_family",
                        "name": "bookworm"
                    },
                    {
                        "branches": [
                            {
                                "branches": [
                                    {
                                        "category": "product_version_range",
                                        "name": "vers:deb/unknown",
                                        "product": {
                                            "name": "vers:deb/unknown",
                                            "product_id": "CSAFPID-1396816"
                                        }
                                    }
                                ],
                                "category": "product_name",
                                "name": "htslib"
                            }
                        ],
                        "category": "product_family",
                        "name": "bullseye"
                    }
                ],
                "category": "vendor",
                "name": "Debian"
            },
            {
                "branches": [
                    {
                        "branches": [
                            {
                                "category": "product_version_range",
                                "name": "vers:unknown/1.23",
                                "product": {
                                    "name": "vers:unknown/1.23",
                                    "product_id": "CSAFPID-5844846"
                                }
                            },
                            {
                                "category": "product_version_range",
                                "name": "vers:unknown/<1.21.1",
                                "product": {
                                    "name": "vers:unknown/<1.21.1",
                                    "product_id": "CSAFPID-5844844"
                                }
                            },
                            {
                                "category": "product_version_range",
                                "name": "vers:unknown/>=1.22|<1.22.2",
                                "product": {
                                    "name": "vers:unknown/>=1.22|<1.22.2",
                                    "product_id": "CSAFPID-5844845"
                                }
                            }
                        ],
                        "category": "product_name",
                        "name": "htslib"
                    }
                ],
                "category": "vendor",
                "name": "samtools"
            }
        ]
    },
    "vulnerabilities": [
        {
            "cve": "CVE-2026-31968",
            "cwe": {
                "id": "CWE-121",
                "name": "Stack-based Buffer Overflow"
            },
            "notes": [
                {
                    "category": "description",
                    "text": "HTSlib is a library for reading and writing bioinformatics file formats. CRAM is a compressed format which stores DNA sequence alignment data using a variety of encodings and compression methods. For the `VARINT` and `CONST` encodings, incomplete validation of the context in which the encodings were used could result in up to eight bytes being written beyond the end of a heap allocation, or up to eight bytes being written to the location of a one byte variable on the stack, possibly causing the values to adjacent variables to change unexpectedly. Depending on the data stream this could result either in a heap buffer overflow or a stack overflow. If a user opens a file crafted to exploit this issue it could lead to the program crashing, overwriting of data structures on the heap or stack in ways not expected by the program, or changing the control flow of the program. It may be possible to use this to obtain arbitrary code execution. Versions 1.23.1, 1.22.2 and 1.21.1 include fixes for this issue. There is no workaround for this issue.",
                    "title": "nvd - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31968"
                },
                {
                    "category": "description",
                    "text": "HTSlib is a library for reading and writing bioinformatics file formats. CRAM is a compressed format which stores DNA sequence alignment data using a variety of encodings and compression methods. For the `VARINT` and `CONST` encodings, incomplete validation of the context in which the encodings were used could result in up to eight bytes being written beyond the end of a heap allocation, or up to eight bytes being written to the location of a one byte variable on the stack, possibly causing the values to adjacent variables to change unexpectedly. Depending on the data stream this could result either in a heap buffer overflow or a stack overflow. If a user opens a file crafted to exploit this issue it could lead to the program crashing, overwriting of data structures on the heap or stack in ways not expected by the program, or changing the control flow of the program. It may be possible to use this to obtain arbitrary code execution. Versions 1.23.1, 1.22.2 and 1.21.1 include fixes for this issue. There is no workaround for this issue.",
                    "title": "cveprojectv5 - https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31968"
                },
                {
                    "category": "description",
                    "text": "HTSlib is a library for reading and writing bioinformatics file formats. CRAM is a compressed format which stores DNA sequence alignment data using a variety of encodings and compression methods. For the `VARINT` and `CONST` encodings, incomplete validation of the context in which the encodings were used could result in up to eight bytes being written beyond the end of a heap allocation, or up to eight bytes being written to the location of a one byte variable on the stack, possibly causing the values to adjacent variables to change unexpectedly. Depending on the data stream this could result either in a heap buffer overflow or a stack overflow. If a user opens a file crafted to exploit this issue it could lead to the program crashing, overwriting of data structures on the heap or stack in ways not expected by the program, or changing the control flow of the program. It may be possible to use this to obtain arbitrary code execution. Versions 1.23.1, 1.22.2 and 1.21.1 include fixes for this issue. There is no workaround for this issue.",
                    "title": "debian - https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-31968"
                },
                {
                    "category": "description",
                    "text": "HTSlib is a library for reading and writing bioinformatics file formats. CRAM is a compressed format which stores DNA sequence alignment data using a variety of encodings and compression methods. For the `VARINT` and `CONST` encodings, incomplete validation of the context in which the encodings were used could result in up to eight bytes being written beyond the end of a heap allocation, or up to eight bytes being written to the location of a one byte variable on the stack, possibly causing the values to adjacent variables to change unexpectedly. Depending on the data stream this could result either in a heap buffer overflow or a stack overflow. If a user opens a file crafted to exploit this issue it could lead to the program crashing, overwriting of data structures on the heap or stack in ways not expected by the program, or changing the control flow of the program. It may be possible to use this to obtain arbitrary code execution. Versions 1.23.1, 1.22.2 and 1.21.1 include fixes for this issue. There is no workaround for this issue.",
                    "title": "nvd - https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?cveId=CVE-2026-31968"
                },
                {
                    "category": "other",
                    "text": "0.00024",
                    "title": "EPSS"
                },
                {
                    "category": "other",
                    "text": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/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",
                    "title": "CVSSV4"
                },
                {
                    "category": "other",
                    "text": "8.8",
                    "title": "CVSSV4 base score"
                },
                {
                    "category": "other",
                    "text": "4.1",
                    "title": "NCSC Score"
                },
                {
                    "category": "other",
                    "text": "The value of the most recent EPSS score",
                    "title": "NCSC Score top decreasing factors"
                }
            ],
            "product_status": {
                "known_affected": [
                    "CSAFPID-5844844",
                    "CSAFPID-5844845",
                    "CSAFPID-5844846",
                    "CSAFPID-1396815",
                    "CSAFPID-1396816",
                    "CSAFPID-5859402",
                    "CSAFPID-5859403",
                    "CSAFPID-5859404"
                ]
            },
            "references": [
                {
                    "category": "external",
                    "summary": "Source - nvd",
                    "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31968"
                },
                {
                    "category": "external",
                    "summary": "Source raw - nvd",
                    "url": "https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?cveId=CVE-2026-31968"
                },
                {
                    "category": "external",
                    "summary": "Source - cveprojectv5",
                    "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31968"
                },
                {
                    "category": "external",
                    "summary": "Source raw - cveprojectv5",
                    "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/main/cves/2026/31xxx/CVE-2026-31968.json"
                },
                {
                    "category": "external",
                    "summary": "Source - debian",
                    "url": "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-31968"
                },
                {
                    "category": "external",
                    "summary": "Source - nvd",
                    "url": "https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?cveId=CVE-2026-31968"
                },
                {
                    "category": "external",
                    "summary": "Source - first",
                    "url": "https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?limit=10000&offset=0"
                },
                {
                    "category": "external",
                    "summary": "Reference - cveprojectv5; nvd",
                    "url": "https://github.com/samtools/htslib/commit/0ec436796eca7b4ce7fcc9b77270c102da29bb2e"
                },
                {
                    "category": "external",
                    "summary": "Reference - cveprojectv5; nvd",
                    "url": "https://github.com/samtools/htslib/security/advisories/GHSA-cgcm-c9r2-p57j"
                }
            ],
            "scores": [
                {
                    "cvss_v3": {
                        "version": "3.1",
                        "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H",
                        "baseScore": 8.1,
                        "baseSeverity": "HIGH"
                    },
                    "products": [
                        "CSAFPID-1396815",
                        "CSAFPID-1396816",
                        "CSAFPID-5844844",
                        "CSAFPID-5844845",
                        "CSAFPID-5844846",
                        "CSAFPID-5859402",
                        "CSAFPID-5859403",
                        "CSAFPID-5859404"
                    ]
                }
            ],
            "title": "CVE-2026-31968"
        }
    ]
}