CVE-2026-81689
openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9 Weak Pepper Key Derivation
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 8.7 High
- Published
- Aug 27, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 1, 2026
- Reserved
- Aug 27, 2026
Description
openssl_encrypt versions before 1.4.9 derive the remote-pepper wrap key using unsalted HKDF-SHA256 or bare SHA-256 of the password, allowing identical keys across all users and files. Attackers with access to wrapped pepper blobs can precompute a single dictionary table and perform fleet-wide offline password guessing at hardware speed to recover user passwords.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 8.7 High | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N | VulnCheck |
| 3.1 | 7.5 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N | VulnCheck |
Weaknesses
- CWE-916 Use of Password Hash With Insufficient Computational Effort
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
openssl_encryptjahlives |
|
References
- GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-3v63-778v-3mvp)vendor-advisory
- VulnCheck Advisory: openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9 Weak Pepper Key Derivationthird-party-advisory
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