Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessGain admitted-requester filesystem access
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DeliveryCraft Unicode-equivalent sibling path
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ExploitBypass workspaceOnly parent-dir validation
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ExecutionResolve to out-of-workspace file
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ImpactRead files beyond workspace boundary
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V5 - File Handling Path canonicalization, traversal prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Discovery, Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires the tools.fs.workspaceOnly filesystem-restriction feature to be in use (the boundary being bypassed) and an attacker who is already an 'admitted requester' with authorized access to OpenClaw's filesystem tools (PR:L). The attacker must additionally craft a Unicode filename whose fallback normalization produces a canonically-equivalent sibling directory that collapses a previously-validated parent path component (AC:H plus AT:P). Limiting factors: no code execution or file modification is possible (read-only confidentiality impact); exploitation is bounded to files readable by the Gateway process outside the workspace; and success depends on discovering a working Unicode-equivalence encoding against the specific normalization logic. Fixed in version 2026.8.1. |
| Impact | This is a moderate-priority, confidentiality-only path traversal. The vendor CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N, base 6.0) tells a consistent story with the description: network-reachable but high complexity (AC:H) because it depends on crafting canonically-equivalent Unicode filenames that survive the workspaceOnly validation, an attack requirement (AT:P), and low privileges (PR:L) since the attacker must already be an 'admitted requester' with filesystem-tool access. Impact is purely confidentiality (VC:H, VI/VA:N) - arbitrary file READ outside the workspace, no write or execution. Exploitation signals are weak: no EPSS score is provided, the CVE is NOT on CISA KEV, and no public exploit code is referenced - so this is neither confirmed exploited nor known-weaponized. The severity is driven by the high confidentiality impact of escaping a security boundary, not by ease or breadth of exploitation. Realistically this is a targeted, prerequisite-heavy issue in a niche open-source agent framework rather than a broad, opportunistically-exploited flaw. No conflicting signals in the data; the CVSS network vector is consistent with the described remote-requester model, and the PR:L honestly reflects the required admission. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who is already an admitted requester to an OpenClaw Gateway (i.e., has authorized access to filesystem tools bounded by tools.fs.workspaceOnly) requests a file using a Unicode-encoded path whose fallback normalization collapses to a validated parent directory component. The canonically-equivalent sibling directory resolves outside the configured workspace, letting the agent read host files the operator intended to keep off-limits. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis, and the high attack complexity means the attacker must know or discover a working Unicode-equivalence encoding. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 26, 2026
Path traversal in OpenClaw's filesystem sandbox allows an admitted requester-an attacker already authorized to use the tools.fs tools (PR:L)-to read files outside the configured workspace boundary, by supplying a Unicode filename whose fallback normalization resolves to a canonically equivalent sibling directory. Only installations that rely on the tools.fs.workspaceOnly restriction for isolation are affected, and exploitation yields read-only confidentiality impact with no code execution or file modification; success requires crafting a working Unicode-equivalence encoding against the specific normalization logic (AC:H, AT:P). Vendor-released patch: 2026.8.1. No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis and the issue is not listed in CISA KEV, so this is a moderate-priority, confidentiality-only path traversal rather than an active exploitation emergency, though the high confidentiality rating (VC:H) means exposure can be significant where the Gateway process can read sensitive files outside the workspace.
RemediationAI
Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.8.1 or later, which is the vendor-released patch and the version in which the normalization flaw is fixed; this is the only complete fix, and it should be prioritized on any host where tools.fs.workspaceOnly is enabled. If an immediate upgrade is not possible, compensate by disabling the tools.fs filesystem tool (or at least the workspace-restricted read operations) for all but fully trusted requesters - the trade-off being loss of legitimate file-access functionality for admitted users - and by reducing the privileges of the Gateway process at the OS level (dedicated low-privilege account, container or filesystem sandbox, no read access to credential stores, SSH keys, or application config outside the workspace), accepting that this limits but does not eliminate the blast radius because the traversal only reaches files the process itself can read. Additional hardening: restrict who can obtain 'admitted requester' status in OpenClaw to a minimal set of identities, and monitor file-access logs for reads of paths outside the workspace. Reference advisories for version details and any updated guidance are https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-5rx7-34fw-64qg and https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-before-2026.8.1-path-traversal-via-unicode-fallback.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The vulnerability is a classic CWE-22 path traversal that arises in the interaction between two layers of the same control: the tools.fs.workspaceOnly path-validation logic that is supposed to confine filesystem access, and the Unicode filename fallback normalization applied when a requested path cannot be resolved directly. On the fallback path, a previously validated parent directory component can itself be re-normalized, so a name that passes validation as one string is later interpreted, after canonical (Unicode) equivalence folding, as a different but equivalent directory - which can be a sibling of the intended workspace root. The assessed vector (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) and the vendor-style CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N) agree that the attack is network-reachable, requires prior authorization as an admitted requester, needs specific attack conditions (AT:P) and non-trivial crafting effort (AC:H), and has confidentiality-only impact with no integrity or availability effect. The CPE entry cpe:2.3:a:openclaw:openclaw:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* describes the affected product line without version scoping, and the EUVD record (EUVD-2026-87517) scopes affected releases to OpenClaw 0 through before 2026.8.1, so all deployed versions prior to 2026.8.1 that enable tools.fs.workspaceOnly should be treated as in scope.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Network-reachable admitted requester (AV:N, PR:L); crafting Unicode-equivalent bypass paths raises AC:H; read-only escape gives C:H with no integrity/availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
OpenClaw versions before 2026.8.1 contain a path traversal vulnerability in the tools.fs.workspaceOnly feature where Unicode filename fallback can normalize validated parent directory components. Admitted requesters can exploit canonically equivalent sibling directories to read files outside the configured workspace boundary.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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
Path traversal exploits occur when applications use user-controlled input to construct file system paths without proper validation.
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EUVD-2026-87517
GHSA-q8w6-x36h-hhv6
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB