Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-28482

Path Traversal in Openclaw ≤ 2026.2.12

Public PoCPath Traversal
Published
05 March 2026
Modified
23 March 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 8.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/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 0.0014 3th percentile
Risk Priority 31 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-28482 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 8.4 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 3th 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-2026-28482 is a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.12. The flaw occurs because the software constructs transcript file paths using unsanitized sessionId parameters and sessionFile paths without enforcing directory containment, enabling exploitation via path traversal sequences.

Authenticated attackers with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability locally with low complexity and no user interaction required. By injecting sequences like ../../etc/passwd into sessionId or sessionFile parameters, they can read or write arbitrary files outside the agent sessions directory, achieving high confidentiality and integrity impacts as reflected in the CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).

Mitigation is addressed in OpenClaw patches via GitHub commits 4199f9889f0c307b77096a229b9e085b8d856c26 and cab0abf52ac91e12ea7a0cf04fff315cf0c94d64, detailed in the project's security advisory GHSA-5xfq-5mr7-426q. Affected users should upgrade to version 2026.2.12 or later, with further analysis available in the VulnCheck advisory.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.12 construct transcript file paths using unsanitized sessionId parameters and sessionFile paths without enforcing directory containment. Authenticated attackers can exploit path traversal sequences like ../../etc/passwd in sessionId or sessionFile parameters to read or write arbitrary files…

more

outside the agent sessions directory.

CWE(s)
CWE-22

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-32030Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-35668Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-22171Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32033Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32061Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-28393Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-3689Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-28453Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-28486Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-44996Same product: Openclaw Openclaw

Affected Assets

openclaw
openclaw
≤ 2026.2.12

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

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match

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.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

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 none match
prevents

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

A.8.3 Information access restriction partial match
mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References