CVE-2026-74900
CRITICALDescription
openssl_encrypt versions before 1.4.0 contain a critical vulnerability in pqc.py where KEM decapsulation failures silently fall back to simulation mode, generating a deterministic shared secret from only 16 bytes of the private key and publicly available encapsulated key data. Attackers who obtain 16 bytes of the private key can compute the shared secret and decrypt all ciphertext, as the fallback triggers on any KEM failure without raising an error.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 27% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-391 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2024-52316 | Critical | 9.8 | 6.2% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-12179 | Critical | 9.8 | 4.4% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-12177 | Critical | 9.8 | 4.4% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-12186 | Critical | 9.8 | 4.3% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-12183 | Critical | 9.8 | 4.2% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-12182 | Critical | 9.8 | 4.2% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-74900?
Upgrade openssl encrypt to 1.4.0 or later.
Is CVE-2026-74900 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-74900 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.34% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 27% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-74900?
CVE-2026-74900 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8, rated critical. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2026-74900 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for openssl encrypt (NVD). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-09-01.