Openclaw CVE-2026-22180

The CVSS 3.1 score of 5.3 with vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L indicates a medium-severity vulnerability with low attack complexity and local attack vector, requiring low privileges and user interaction. While the CVSS score is moderate, the real-world risk is constrained by the local-only attack vector (AV:L) and requirement for prior authentication (PR:L), limiting the threat surface to authenticated local users with legitimate system access. No EPSS score, KEV tracking status, or public proof-of-concept has been identified in the provided intelligence, suggesting this is not currently an active exploitation target. The technical impact is bounded to confidentiality, integrity, and availability concerns limited to the application scope (S:U), making this a lower-priority vulnerability compared to network-exploitable flaws, though organizations running OpenClaw with untrusted local users should prioritize patching.

An authenticated local user with legitimate access to an OpenClaw instance submits a specially crafted file write request via the browser output handler containing path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../sensitive_location/file.txt). Due to insufficient canonical path validation, the application fails to detect the traversal and writes the attacker-controlled content to a location outside the intended root directory, such as a system configuration directory or application installation directory, potentially overwriting critical files or achieving privilege escalation. Low attack complexity (AC:L) means the traversal technique is straightforward and does not require race conditions or environmental factors.