Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/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:XCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-27523 is a medium-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 6.9 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 17th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-27523 is a sandbox bind validation vulnerability (CWE-22) in OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.24. It enables attackers to bypass allowed-root and blocked-path checks by using symlinked parent directories with non-existent leaf paths. Attackers can craft bind source paths that initially appear to reside within allowed roots but resolve outside sandbox boundaries once the missing leaf components are created, thereby weakening bind-source isolation enforcement. The issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.1 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L) and was published on 2026-03-18.
Local attackers with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability due to its low attack complexity and lack of required user interaction. By manipulating symlinks and creating missing path components post-validation, they can perform bind operations that escape sandbox boundaries, achieving high integrity impact through unauthorized file access or modification outside the isolated environment, alongside low availability impact.
Mitigation requires updating to OpenClaw version 2026.2.24 or later, where the issue is addressed via the fix in GitHub commit b5787e4abba0dcc6baf09051099f6773c1679ec1. Additional details are available in the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-m8v2-6wwh-r4gc and the VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sandbox-bind-validation-bypass-via-symlink-parent-missing-leaf-paths.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-12734
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.24 contain a sandbox bind validation vulnerability allowing attackers to bypass allowed-root and blocked-path checks via symlinked parent directories with non-existent leaf paths. Attackers can craft bind source paths that appear within allowed roots but resolve…
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outside sandbox boundaries once missing leaf components are created, weakening bind-source isolation enforcement.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.
Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.
Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.
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.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.
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.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.