CVE-2026-4158
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedKeePassXC OpenSSL Configuration Uncontrolled Search Path Element Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of KeePassXC. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the configuration of OpenSSL. The product loads configuration from an unsecured location. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of KeePassXC when run by a target user on the system. Was ZDI-CAN-29156.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceKeePassXC loads its OpenSSL configuration from an unsecured location, allowing a local attacker who already has low-privileged code execution to manipulate the OpenSSL config file and escalate privileges to execute arbitrary code in the context of the user running KeePassXC.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify KeePassXC installation and versionRun 'keepassxc --version' or check your package manager for the installed KeePassXC versionAffected if The installed version is any version that loads OpenSSL config from an unsecured path (check vendor advisories for specific affected versions)
-
Locate the OpenSSL configuration file used by KeePassXCRun 'openssl version -d' to see the default OpenSSL directory, then examine KeePassXC behavior or documentation to determine which config file it references; check environment variables like OPENSSL_CONFAffected if The OpenSSL config path is located in a directory writable by non-privileged users (e.g., user home directory, world-writable paths)
-
Verify file permissions on the OpenSSL configRun 'ls -la <openssl_config_file>' to check ownership and permissions; the file should not be world-writable or writable by the attacking user's groupAffected if The OpenSSL config file is writable by any user other than the KeePassXC owner or root
-
Check if the config directory allows write accessRun 'ls -ld <openssl_config_directory>' to check directory permissions; a directory writable by low-privileged users allows config injectionAffected if The directory containing the OpenSSL config has write permissions for non-privileged users or group
-
Verify KeePassXC process user contextRun 'ps aux | grep keepassxc' to confirm which user runs KeePassXC; check if that user has write access to the identified config pathAffected if KeePassXC runs under a user that shares group or world-writable access to the OpenSSL config location
You are affected if KeePassXC loads its OpenSSL configuration from a path that low-privileged local users can modify, allowing injection of malicious OpenSSL directives.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataSecure the OpenSSL configuration path by ensuring KeePassXC loads only from a controlled, non-writable location; verify config file permissions and consider explicitly specifying a secure config path or environment variable.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,168.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-4158 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-4158 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data