What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-81699: openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9 Denial of Service via unbounded KDF cost

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.5 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2026-08-27 · updated 2026-09-03
• Weakness: CWE-770

Description

openssl_encrypt versions before 1.4.9 fail to properly validate key derivation function costs in crafted files, allowing attackers to trigger unbounded memory and CPU exhaustion during pre-authentication processing. Attackers can supply malicious files with excessive KDF parameters to exhaust system resources and crash or wedge the process before password verification occurs.

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-phmr-p567-q5g6
• https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openssl-encrypt-before-1.4.9-denial-of-service-via-unbounded-kdf-cost

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