CVE-2026-81721

High

Description

openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9 fails to validate KDF cost parameters in encrypted file metadata and keystore headers, allowing attackers to trigger unbounded memory allocation. Attackers can craft malicious encrypted files declaring arbitrarily large Argon2, scrypt, or balloon KDF parameters to exhaust system memory and crash the process without authentication.

SeverityHigh

CVSS7.5

Exploit probability—

ProductJahlives Openssl Encrypt

PublishedAug 27, 2026

First seenAug 27, 2026

Weakness typeCWE-400Uncontrolled resource consumption

How to fix

Update

jahlives openssl_encrypt1.4.9 or later
openssl-encrypt1.4.9 or later

Vendor advisories

github.com/jahlives/openssl_encrypt/security/advisories/GHSA-7894-5gw8-69hr

Affected products

Product	Affected versions	Fixed in
jahlives openssl_encrypt	v < 1.4.9	1.4.9
openssl-encryptPyPI	v < 1.4.9	1.4.9

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