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.
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 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.
Title openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9 Denial of Service via KDF
Weaknesses CWE-400
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

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

cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Subscriptions

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: VulnCheck

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-27T19:28:47.802Z

Reserved: 2026-08-27T11:13:14.063Z

Link: CVE-2026-81721

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-27T17:21:02.650

Modified: 2026-08-27T17:21:02.650

Link: CVE-2026-81721

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses