The first update of 2025 for the open source encryption software VeraCrypt is now available. VeraCrypt 1.26.18 is a security update that is also introducing a number of fixes and other changes, including dropped support for 32-bit versions of Windows.

The details:

• VeraCrypt 1.26.18 fixes two security issues affecting the Linux and Mac versions of the software.
• On Windows, 32-bit support has been dropped.
• The minimum Windows version is now Windows 10 version 1809.

What is VeryCrypt? VeraCrypt is an encryption software that you may use to encrypt entire systems, drives, partitions, or protected containers on storage devices.

Tips:

• Fix the VeraCrypt "Automatic Repair" issue on Windows
• How to change the PIM of a VeraCrypt volume
• Installing VeraCrypt in GNU/Linux

Downloading and installing the VeraCrypt update

VeraCrypt comes without built-in updating support. This means that you need to download and install the new release manually. First thing you may want to do is check the current version.

Tip: you can check the current version by selecting Help > About VeraCrypt in the interface.

While you may visit the official downloads page, you may notice that it does not link to the latest version just yet. Check the project's SourceForge repository instead. There you find the latest downloads. Note that the installation requires a reboot.

The security fixes

VeraCrypt 1.26.18 fixes two security issues that affect the Linux and Mac versions of the encryption software. They are:

• CVE-2024-54187: Added absolute paths when executing system binaries to prevent path hijacking
• CVE-2025-23021: Prevent mounting volumes on system directories and PATH

Additional details have not been published at the time of writing.

The non-security changes

All operating systems got support for AES hardware on ARM64 platform and "SHA-256 x86 intrinsic to enhance the performance of PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256".

Windows users need a 64-bit version of the operating system and at least Windows 10 version 1809 to run the latest VeraCrypt release. Users on older versions of Windows need to keep using the outdated versions of VeraCrypt to keep on using it (or upgrade Windows).

The release makes a few noteworthy changes next to that:

• Reduces driver deadlock issues under low-memory scenarios.
• Fixed an issue affecting the creation of Traveler Disks.
• Changed generators to modern ones to improve security.
• Updated libraries.

There are also non-security changes for Linux and mac OS. On macOS, screen capturing is now disabled by default. The --allow-screencapture enables it again for those who require it. There is also a fix for both systems that ensures that a volume exists before the mounting operation is started.

You can check out the full changelog here if you are interested.

Do you use encryption software? If so which and why that one? Feel free to leave a comment down below.