The flaw allows the last stage of a sequential XOR key derivation function to cancel out, effectively bypassing the intended memory-hard KDF. Attackers can then recover passwords at the speed of a single SHA‑256 hash instead of the configured KDF cost, reducing the security of encrypted data. This is a CWE‑916 weakness – erroneous handling of cryptographic keys.

The vulnerability impacts the openssl_encrypt library from the jahlives project in all releases earlier than version 1.4.6. No other vendors or products are listed.

With a CVSS score of 6.9 the flaw is considered moderate severity. The EPSS score is not available, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. Exploitation requires that the environment uses a single KDF without an initial hashing stage, which is a configuration that can be detected by an attacker with knowledge of the encryption setup. Once the bypass is recognized, the attacker can perform password cracking offline at standard hash speeds, posing a risk to confidentiality of protected data.