Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-27008

Path Traversal in Openclaw ≤ 2026.2.15

Published
20 February 2026
Modified
20 February 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 6.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0017 6th percentile
Risk Priority 23 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-27008 is a medium-severity External Control of File Name or Path (CWE-73) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 6.8 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked at the 6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as Enterprise AI Assistants; in the Supply Chain and Deployment risk domain.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant. Prior to version 2026.2.15, a bug in `download` skill installation allowed `targetDir` values from skill frontmatter to resolve outside the per-skill tools directory if not strictly validated. In the admin-only `skills.install` flow, this could…

more

write files outside the intended install sandbox. Version 2026.2.15 contains a fix for the issue.

CWE(s)

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
Enterprise AI Assistants
Risk Domain
Supply Chain and Deployment
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Matched keywords: ai

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1574.007 Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking environment variables used to load libraries.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-28459Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-42424Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-29611Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-26321Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-26972Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-26322Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-26329Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-26324Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-27488Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-34510Same product: Openclaw Openclaw

Affected Assets

openclaw
openclaw
≤ 2026.2.15

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Input validation directly rejects or sanitizes untrusted path strings before they reach filesystem operations.

Enforces authorization checks on the actual resource accessed, blocking unauthorized files even when a malicious path is supplied.

Least-privilege limits the set of files or directories any subject can affect, shrinking the blast radius of a path-control flaw.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices include input validation and path sanitization that eliminate this weakness.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Least-privilege file authorization directly limits damage from externally controlled paths.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can detect path-traversal issues but does not itself implement preventive controls.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly prevent external file/path manipulation.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against untrusted input influencing file operations.

prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe path construction but do not prescribe concrete file-name controls.

prevents

Secure coding standards require canonicalization, allow-listing, and bounds checks on file paths, directly eliminating CWE-73.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files can be reached, indirectly reducing impact of path manipulation.

References