CVE-2026-81705

openssl-encrypt before 1.4.9 fails to redact the file password in its --debug argv dump when the password is supplied via bundled short-option spellings (e.g. -apHunter2) or abbreviated long-option spellings (e.g. --passw). The sanitizer only recognized exact option names, --option=value forms, and tokens starting with -p, so these spellings bypass the redaction chokepoint and the cleartext password is written to stderr. Anyone with access to that output (terminal scrollback, merged 2>&1 output, CI job logs, or the GUI's persistent debug log) can recover the password.

  • Published Aug 27, 2026
  • CVSS 8.7 high
  • 0.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS)
  • A fix is available

Affected software

CVE-2026-81705 at the National Vulnerability Database