VulnerabilityAnalyzed

CVE-2026-74888

Attackers can exploit this weakened key derivation to more efficiently crack passwords protecting legacy encrypted files compared to standard PBKDF2 implementations.

HIGH 8.7EPSS 0.17%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.17%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

openssl_encrypt versions before 1.4.0 use a non-standard PBKDF2 key derivation construction with iterations=1 per call in an outer loop, creating a KDF whose security properties have not been formally analyzed. Attackers can exploit this weakened key derivation to more efficiently crack passwords protecting legacy encrypted files compared to standard PBKDF2 implementations.

CVSS 4.0: 8.7 HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/M
EPSS: 0.17% probability · 6th percentile
CISA KEV: Not listed
Weakness: CWE-327
Affected: jahlives/openssl encrypt
Source: disclosure@vulncheck.com

References

https://github.com/jahlives/openssl_encrypt/security/advisories/GHSA-743f-89fg-x288Vendor Advisory
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openssl-encrypt-before-non-standard-pbkdf2-key-derivationThird Party Advisory

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.