openssl_encrypt versions before 1.4.0 contain a plugin sandbox bypass vulnerability where the PluginImportGuard blocks a different set of modules than the AST analyzer's DANGEROUS_MODULES set. Attackers can bypass AST analysis through string obfuscation or encoding to import unblocked dangerous modules like sys, shutil, multiprocessing, importlib, and pickle for arbitrary code execution.
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openssl-encrypt-before-plugin-import-guard-bypass
https://github.com/jahlives/openssl_encrypt/security/advisories/GHSA-9pgj-v69p-q586
Published: 2026-08-17
Updated: 2026-08-17
Base Score: 10
Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Severity: Critical
Base Score: 9.8
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Severity: Critical
Base Score: 9.3
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Severity: Critical
EPSS: 0.00396