Description
SAMtools is a program for reading, manipulating and writing bioinformatics file formats. The `mpileup` 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.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| samtools | samtools | < 1.21.1 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | samtools | 1.22.1-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | samtools | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | samtools | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | samtools | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | samtools | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | samtools | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | samtools | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | samtools | No fix yet | — |
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | samtools | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | samtools | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | samtools | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | samtools | No fix yet | — |