EUVD-2026-21478
GHSA-qm9x-v7cx-7rq4
Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate to OpenClaw system
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DeliveryCraft command wrapped with /usr/bin/time
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ExploitBypass executable allowlist validation
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ExecutionReuse approval state for unregistered inner command
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ImpactExecute restricted executable with elevated privileges
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Incorrectly specified target
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| Exploitation Conditions | Requires authenticated user access to OpenClaw before version 2026.3.22 with system.run approval permissions enabled. Attacker must craft a command using /usr/bin/time wrapper to bypass executable allowlist restrictions and reuse approval state for unregistered inner commands. |
| Impact | High-severity allowlist bypass enabling authenticated users to execute arbitrary commands with full system privileges. CVSS 8.8 reflects network accessibility and high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Authenticated requirement limits initial access but bypass mechanism is trivial (/usr/bin/time wrapper exploitation). Vendor patch available; prioritize deployment in multi-tenant or restricted-execution environments. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | Authenticated attacker crafts command prefixed with unregistered /usr/bin/time wrapper, bypassing system.run approval restrictions. Time wrapper unwrapping failure allows reuse of cached approval state for inner malicious command execution with inherited privileges. No public exploit code identified at time of analysis. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Apr 10, 2026
Allowlist bypass in OpenClaw before 2026.3.22 permits authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands by wrapping disallowed executables with /usr/bin/time. The vulnerability exploits incomplete validation in system.run approvals, which fail to detect time wrapper prefixes, allowing reuse of approval state for inner prohibited commands. Remote exploitation requires low-privilege authentication (PR:L) with network access, enabling full system compromise through command injection. No public exploit identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
Upgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.3.22 or later, which implements recursive wrapper detection in approval validation. Vendor-released patches address the allowlist bypass through commits 630f1479c44f78484dfa21bb407cbe6f171dac87 and 39409b6a6dd4239deea682e626bac9ba547bfb14, adding unwrap logic for time and similar dispatcher utilities. Organizations unable to upgrade immediately should restrict system.run approval grants to fully-qualified paths only, disable /usr/bin/time access in execution sandboxes, and audit existing approval configurations for wrapper-prefixed commands. Official advisory: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-qm9x-v7cx-7rq4. Technical analysis: https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-allowlist-bypass-via-unregistered-time-dispatch-wrapper
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in npm
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
CWE-706 (Use of Incorrectly-Resolved Name or Reference) manifests in approval validation logic that parses command arguments without recursively inspecting wrapper utilities. The /usr/bin/time prefix obscures the true executable from allowlist checks, causing the approval framework to authorize the wrapper while executing the embedded disallowed binary with inherited permissions.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
OpenClaw before 2026.3.22 contains an allowlist bypass vulnerability in system.run approvals that fails to unwrap /usr/bin/time wrappers. Attackers can bypass executable binding restrictions by using an unregistered time wrapper to reuse approval state for inner commands.
Blast Radius
ecosystem impact- 5 npm packages depend on openclaw (5 direct, 0 indirect)
Ecosystem-wide dependent count for version 2026.3.22.
Executive ViewAI
OpenClaw versions before 2026.3.22 contain an allowlist bypass vulnerability that permits authenticated low-privilege users to execute arbitrary system commands by circumventing security approvals through command wrapping techniques. This directly undermines command execution controls and creates a path to full system compromise for any organization relying on OpenClaw's approval mechanisms to restrict dangerous operations.
Vendor-released patch: OpenClaw 2026.3.22. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict low-privilege user access to OpenClaw command execution functions and implement network-based detection for command patterns containing /usr/bin/time prefixes in approval requests.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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