CVE-2026-53762Public exploit

Cheaper offline password guessing via HKDF substitution

Published Aug 21, 2026 · Updated Aug 21, 2026

Weak key derivation in VeraCrypt before 1.26.29 allows attackers to perform cheaper offline password guesses against affected volumes. The wolfCrypt derive_key_sha256 and derive_key_sha512 functions discard the supplied iteration count and call HKDF instead of PBKDF2-HMAC. Exposure is limited to SHA-256 or SHA-512 volumes created by non-default WOLFCRYPT=1 builds; official binaries and usual packages are unaffected.

CVSS severity6.2
Medium
EPSS probability0.06%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Weak key derivation in VeraCrypt before 1.26.29 allows attackers to perform cheaper offline password guesses against affected volumes. The wolfCrypt derive_key_sha256 and derive_key_sha512 functions discard the supplied iteration count and call HKDF instead of PBKDF2-HMAC. Exposure is limited to SHA-256 or SHA-512 volumes created by non-default WOLFCRYPT=1 builds; official binaries and usual packages are unaffected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-53762
Published
Aug 21, 2026
Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Vendor
AM Crypto
Product
VeraCrypt
Classifications
CWE-916, T1110.002
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 21, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 21, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 1.26.29

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

AM Crypto · VeraCryptversion=< 1.26.29

Published CVSS scores

6.2GitHub CNACVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-916Use of Password Hash With Insufficient Computational Effort
T1110.002Password Cracking

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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