How severe is CVE-2018-13844?

CVE-2018-13844 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2018-13844 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (70th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2018-13844?

CVE-2018-13844 affects Htslib. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2018-13844?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2018-13844 published?

CVE-2018-13844 was published on 2018-07-10 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2018-13844

CVE-2018-13844 is a high-severity vulnerability in Htslib with a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-401.

Key facts

Severity: High (CVSS 3.x base score 7.5)
CVSS v2: 5.0
EPSS exploit prediction: 1% (70th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-401
Affected product: Htslib
Published: 2018-07-10
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

An issue has been found in HTSlib 1.8. It is a memory leak in fai_read in faidx.c. NOTE: This has been disputed with the assertion that this vulnerability exists in the test harness and HTSlib users would be aware of the need to destruct this object returned by fai_load() in their own code

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-13844?: An issue has been found in HTSlib 1.8. It is a memory leak in fai_read in faidx.c. NOTE: This has been disputed with the assertion that this vulnerability exists in the test harness and HTSlib users would be aware of the need to destruct this object returned by fai_load() in their own code
How severe is CVE-2018-13844?: CVE-2018-13844 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2018-13844 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (70th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2018-13844?: CVE-2018-13844 affects Htslib. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2018-13844?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2018-13844 published?: CVE-2018-13844 was published on 2018-07-10 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

https://github.com/samtools/htslib/issues/731#issuecomment-403675330

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:a:htslib:htslib:1.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Htslib

CVE-2018-13845 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An issue has been found in HTSlib 1.8. It is a buffer over-read in sam_parse1 in sam.c.
CVE-2017-1000206 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): samtools htslib library version 1.4.0 and earlier is vulnerable to buffer overflow in the CRAM rANS codec resulting in…
CVE-2026-31967 — Critical (CVSS 9.1): HTSlib is a library for reading and writing bioinformatics file formats. CRAM is a compressed format which stores DNA…
CVE-2026-31966 — Critical (CVSS 9.1): HTSlib is a library for reading and writing bioinformatics file formats. CRAM is a compressed format which stores DNA…
CVE-2026-31962 — High (CVSS 8.8): HTSlib is a library for reading and writing bioinformatics file formats. CRAM is a compressed format which stores DNA…
CVE-2020-36403 — High (CVSS 8.8): HTSlib through 1.10.2 allows out-of-bounds write access in vcf_parse_format (called from vcf_parse and vcf_read).

All CVEs affecting Htslib →

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