Medium 4.6Published Aug 21, 2026

CVE-2026-54073VeraCrypt: Hidden volume quick format weakens plausible deniability

Updated under an hour ago (2026-10-19 08:50 UTC)

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Every CVE for VeraCrypt

Exploited in the last 30 days

VeraCrypt provides disk encryption with strong security based on TrueCrypt. From 1.26.6 until 1.26.29, file-hosted hidden volume creation forces quick format and the FormatNoFs function in src/Common/Format.c and FormatFat function in src/Common/Fat.c use WriteFile to place raw zeroed sectors at predictable 128 MiB intervals. These writes bypass the normal EncryptDataUnits formatting path, leaving deterministic plaintext markers in an area expected to resemble random ciphertext. The markers can weaken plausible deniability during forensic inspection, although they do not disclose hidden-volume content or reduce the strength of VeraCrypt encryption. This issue is fixed in version 1.26.29.

CVSS: 4.6 MEDIUM (v4.0, CNA)CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness (CWE): CWE-693
Known exploited: Not in CISA's KEV catalog
EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days): Not loaded for this CVE
Assigned by: GitHub_M
NVD analysis: Awaiting Analysis
Record last updated: Aug 21, 2026
First seen by InfoSec Signals: Oct 9, 2026

Affected products

Affected products

veracrypt VeraCrypt veracrypt:veracrypt (from the name)	from 1.26.6, < 1.26.29	CNA record

References

https://github.com/veracrypt/VeraCrypt/security/advisories/GHSA-jjcr-75w7-58jpx-refsource-confirm
https://github.com/veracrypt/VeraCrypt/commit/689a59cd584f090ca5f9214d5f2f3a9eac499e53x-refsource-misc
https://github.com/veracrypt/VeraCrypt/releases/tag/VeraCrypt_1.26.29x-refsource-misc

The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry

The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.