What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-81683: openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9 Plaintext Private Key Storage

• Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2026-08-27 · updated 2026-09-02
• Weakness: CWE-312

Description

openssl_encrypt (pip package openssl-encrypt) versions 1.4.8 and earlier store an mTLS client private key in cleartext within a world-readable (0644) SharedPreferences file via the desktop GUI's Settings screen 'combined certificate and private key' PEM field. A local attacker with file system access can read the exposed private key. Version 1.4.9 writes the PEM to a dedicated 0600 file, keeps only its path in SharedPreferences, and migrates/scrubs existing cleartext values.

Affected products

• jahlives openssl_encrypt: before 1.4.9 — fixed in 1.4.9

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: jahlives openssl_encrypt 1.4.9. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://github.com/jahlives/openssl_encrypt/security/advisories/GHSA-r8gw-6hfj-98jw
• https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openssl-encrypt-before-1.4.9-plaintext-private-key-storage

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