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.
Published: 2026-08-27
Score: 8.7 High
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

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Remediation

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Tracking

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Advisories

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History

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
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.
Title openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9 Weak Pepper Key Derivation
Weaknesses CWE-916
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N'}

cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.7, 'vector': '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'}

Subscriptions

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: VulnCheck

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-27T14:50:54.590Z

Reserved: 2026-08-27T11:12:00.889Z

Link: CVE-2026-81689

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-27T17:20:58.697

Modified: 2026-08-27T17:20:58.697

Link: CVE-2026-81689

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses