BREAKING: MAJOR PASSWORD MANAGER VULNERABILITIES EXPOSED — MILLIONS AT RISK!

BY RAVIE LAKSHMANAN | FEBRUARY 16, 2026

In a shocking revelation that’s sending shockwaves through the cybersecurity community, a groundbreaking new study from ETH Zurich and Università della Svizzera italiana has uncovered critical vulnerabilities in some of the world’s most popular password managers—potentially exposing over 60 million users and 125,000 businesses to devastating attacks!

THE ALARMING DISCOVERY

Researchers have identified 25 unique attack vectors across three major password management platforms—Bitwarden, Dashlane, and LastPass—that could allow malicious actors to completely compromise encrypted vaults, steal passwords, and bypass the very security measures these services claim to provide.

“The attacks range in severity from integrity violations to the complete compromise of all vaults in an organization,” the research team warned. “The majority of the attacks allow the recovery of passwords.”

HOW THE ATTACKS WORK

The vulnerabilities exploit fundamental weaknesses in Zero-Knowledge Encryption (ZKE) implementations—the cryptographic backbone that password managers use to guarantee that even they cannot access your data. Here’s what researchers discovered:

🔑 KEY ESCROW EXPLOITS
Both Bitwarden and LastPass have flawed account recovery mechanisms that could allow attackers to bypass encryption entirely and decrypt user vaults.

🔄 ITEM-LEVEL ENCRYPTION FAILURES
Dashlane’s approach of encrypting data items separately, combined with unprotected metadata, creates opportunities for attackers to manipulate vault contents, leak sensitive information, and even downgrade encryption strength.

📤 SHARING FEATURE EXPLOITS
All three platforms have vulnerabilities in their sharing functionalities that could allow unauthorized access to shared vaults and compromise confidentiality.

⬇️ BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY DOWNGRADE ATTACKS
Legacy code support in Bitwarden and Dashlane creates pathways for attackers to force systems to use weaker encryption methods.

THE 1PASSWORD WILD CARD

Even 1Password, often considered the gold standard in password management, wasn’t immune. Researchers found it vulnerable to item-level encryption and sharing attacks. However, 1Password’s security chief Jacob DePriest pushed back, stating their team found “no new attack vectors beyond those already documented” and emphasized their use of Secure Remote Password (SRP) authentication as a protective measure.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

All affected companies have acknowledged the findings and are implementing fixes:

• Dashlane has already patched its cryptography downgrade vulnerability in version 6.2544.1 (November 2025)
• Bitwarden claims 7 of 12 issues are resolved or in active remediation
• LastPass is hardening admin password reset and sharing workflows

WHY THIS MATTERS

These aren’t theoretical vulnerabilities—they represent real, exploitable weaknesses in systems protecting everything from personal banking credentials to corporate secrets. The research exposes a troubling reality: even “zero-knowledge” systems can fail when cryptographic implementations contain fundamental design flaws.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

This revelation raises serious questions about the security claims made by password management companies and highlights the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between security researchers and software developers. As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, even trusted security tools must evolve to meet new challenges.

STAY TUNED as we continue to monitor this developing story and provide updates on how these vulnerabilities might affect you and your organization’s security posture.

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