Password Exposure in OpenSSL Encrypt Command Line Tool

CVE-2026-74873

What is CVE-2026-74873?

The OpenSSL Encrypt tool versions earlier than 1.4.0 are susceptible to a vulnerability that allows the exposure of passwords provided through the --password CLI argument. This occurs as the passwords are visible in the process listings, which can be accessed by any user on the system. Attackers can exploit this flaw by examining the output of commands such as 'ps aux' or by accessing the process command line via the /proc/[pid]/cmdline interface. This vulnerability underscores the importance of safeguarding sensitive information within command line executions to prevent unauthorized access.

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