Vulnerability · Published Aug 17, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck

CVE-2026-74874openssl_encrypt before 1.4.0 Weak PRNG Steganography Pixel Selection

High 7.5

In plain English

A high-severity security flaw in openssl_encrypt from jahlives. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.4% (higher than 38% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)7.5High

Exploit odds (30 days)0.4%top 61.9% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

openssl_encrypt versions before 1.4.0 use Python's non-cryptographic random module for steganographic pixel selection in the generate_pseudorandom_sequence function. Attackers who know the password can recover the Mersenne Twister state from approximately 624 outputs and predict pixel locations containing hidden data for extraction.

Affected packages & fixed versions

Ecosystem	Package	Fixed in	Advisory
PyPI	openssl-encrypt	1.4.0	GHSA-vfgx-5q85-58q3
PyPI	openssl-encrypt	1.4.0	PYSEC-2026-3754

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
jahlives	openssl_encrypt	0 – before 1.4.0

Weakness: CWE-338 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

References

GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-vfgx-5q85-58q3) vendor-advisory
VulnCheck Advisory: openssl_encrypt before 1.4.0 Weak PRNG Steganography Pixel Selection third-party-advisory