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CVE-2026-81701 — Vulnerability in openssl-encrypt — CVE Details

CRITICAL

Published August 27, 2026Updated September 2, 2026Source: osv

Summary

openssl_encrypt versions before 1.4.9 use a denylist to identify trusted built-in plugins, allowing unsigned plugins in top-level plugins/ directories and unknown subdirectories to bypass signature verification. Attackers can place malicious unsigned plugins following documented installation paths to achieve arbitrary code execution in the CLI process with access to passwords and cryptographic keys.

Advisory Timeline

  • First published August 27, 2026 (46 days ago).
  • Last revised September 2, 2026 — 6 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

pip
Update openssl-encrypt to 1.4.9 or later
pip install "openssl-encrypt>=1.4.9"

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (1)

Affects 1 ecosystem: pypi (1).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
openssl-encrypt
pypi
0.2.2, 0.2.3, 0.2.4, 0.2.5 (+49 more)1.4.9

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.8 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
X
Confidentiality
—
Integrity
—
Availability
—

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/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/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-81701?
This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.8/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2026-81701?
CVE-2026-81701 affects openssl-encrypt. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2026-81701 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
9.8

Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.

Also Known As

PYSEC-2026-3778
GHSA-wxx9-p55f-wm34

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