mediumVulnerability

GHSA-h3m5-p59h-x88p

### Summary Passwords passed via the `--password` / `-p` CLI argument in `openssl_encrypt/modules/crypt_cli_subparser.py` at **lines 150-154** are visible to any user on the system via `ps aux` or `/proc/[pid]/cmdline`. ### Affected Code ```python subparser.add_argument( "--password", "-p", help="Password (will prompt if not provided, or use CRYPT_PASSWORD environment variable)", ) ``` Similarly, `--keystore-password` exposes the keystore password. ### Impact On multi-user systems, any user can observe the encryption password by listing processes. The `CRYPT_PASSWORD` environment variable alternative is also visible via `/proc/[pid]/environ` (though with slightly restricted access). ### Recommended Fix - Document the security implications prominently - Recommend interactive prompting (already supported) as the secure default - Consider supporting password file descriptors (`--password-fd`) or reading from stdin - Consider marking the argument as deprecated in favor of interactive prompting ### Fix Fixed in commit `e78a366` on branch `releases/1.4.x` — added --password-file and --password-fd arguments; added OPENSSL_ENCRYPT_PASSWORD env var support; --password now emits deprecation warning.

Properties

ghsa_id
GHSA-h3m5-p59h-x88p
severity
medium
summary
openssl-encrypt has visible password in process list via --password CLI argument
cve_id
GHSA-h3m5-p59h-x88p
is_ghsa_only
true
ghsa_published
2026-03-31T23:42:17Z
source_url
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-h3m5-p59h-x88p
ghsa_updated
2026-03-31T23:42:18Z

Related Entities (3)

REPORTED_BY (1)

[Source]GitHub Advisory Database

AFFECTS (1)

[Software]pip/openssl-encrypt

HAS_WEAKNESS (1)

[Weakness]Plaintext Storage of a Password

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