Medium severity · published Oct 26, 2026
CVE-2026-116742
HTSlib through 1.24 Heap Out-of-Bounds Write via Truncated .gzi Index Count
New
4.4
CVSS
0.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
HTSlib through 1.24 contains a heap out-of-bounds write and read vulnerability in bgzf_index_load_hfile() in bgzf.c that allows attackers to corrupt heap memory by supplying a crafted .gzi index entry count. A count of 0xFFFFFFFF truncates noffs to zero, causing writes past a malloc(0) buffer and an offs[-1] read in bgzf_useek(), resulting in heap corruption or crashes in tools like samtools and bcftools.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.1% · higher than 2% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
HT
htslib · samtools
through 1.24 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-116742
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-116742
github.com
https://github.com/samtools/htslib
github.com
https://github.com/samtools/htslib/blob/1.24/bgzf.c#L2504
github.com
https://github.com/samtools/htslib/commit/18dddf02bb2c0053b32acec427723555a24b2873
github.com
https://github.com/samtools/htslib/issues/2113
github.com
https://github.com/samtools/htslib/pull/2057
hackmd.io
https://hackmd.io/@haindpwn/htslib-bgzf-gzi-int-truncation-oob
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