CVE-2026-81701

CRITICALPre-NVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2026-08-27. a secondary CVSS source baseline 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, secondary
Trending — 4 sources updated this week
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

openssl_encrypt versions before 1.4.9 use a denylist to identify trusted built-in plugins, allowing unsigned plugins in top-level plugins/ directories and unknown subdirectories to bypass signature verification. Attackers can place malicious unsigned plugins following documented installation paths to achieve arbitrary code execution in the CLI process with access to passwords and cryptographic keys.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(high)
EG Risk
59(Track)
EG Risk 59/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation0% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
0%
EPSS %ILE
23%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 27, 2026

Last Modified

August 28, 2026

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated Aug 28, 2026
Patch available. Sources: github.
generic

openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9 Arbitrary Code Execution via unsigned plugin | Advisories | VulnCheck

https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openssl-encrypt-before-1.4.9-arbitrary-code-execution-via-unsigned-plugin
github Patch Available

Built-in plugin trust shortcut covers top-level plugins/ and unknown dirs, executing unsigned plugins · Advisory · jahlives/openssl_encrypt · GitHub

https://github.com/jahlives/openssl_encrypt/security/advisories/GHSA-wxx9-p55f-wm34

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-81701(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 27× in last 7d / 27× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-08-30 05:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-08-30 01:42 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-08-30 01:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-08-30 01:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-08-29 22:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-08-29 18:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-08-29 14:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-08-29 11:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-08-29 07:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-08-29 03:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-08-28 23:54 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-08-28 23:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-08-28 21:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-08-28 19:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-08-28 18:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-08-28 14:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-08-28 11:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-08-28 07:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-08-28 03:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-08-28 00:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-08-27 20:27 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-08-27 20:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-08-27 20:17 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-08-27 20:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-08-27 17:25 UTCEG score recompute
Show 2 more
  1. 2026-08-27 16:47 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-08-27 16:43 UTCMITRE cvelistV5first tracked

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-81701?
CVE-2026-81701 is a critical vulnerability published on August 27, 2026. openssl_encrypt versions before 1.4.9 use a denylist to identify trusted built-in plugins, allowing unsigned plugins in top-level plugins/ directories and unknown subdirectories to bypass signature verification. Attackers can place malicious unsigned plugins following documented installation paths…
When was CVE-2026-81701 disclosed?
CVE-2026-81701 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 27, 2026, with the most recent update on August 28, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-81701 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-81701 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 77.0% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-81701?
CVE-2026-81701 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-81701?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-81701, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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