Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/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:XSummary
CVE-2026-31996 is a low-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 2.0 (Low).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked at the 4th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) 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-2026-31996, published on 2026-03-19, is an input validation bypass vulnerability (CWE-78) in the tools.exec.safeBins component of OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.19. It enables attackers to execute unintended filesystem operations by abusing sort output flags or recursive grep flags, circumventing restrictions designed to limit operations to stdin only. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.4 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N), indicating moderate impact primarily on confidentiality and integrity.
Attackers require local access and low privileges (PR:L) to exploit this issue through command execution. With such access, they can leverage the sort -o flag for arbitrary file writes or the grep -R flag for recursive file reads, bypassing the intended stdin-only safeguards and enabling unauthorized data access or modification on the affected system.
Mitigation is addressed in the OpenClaw commit at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/2c05cbb43e48ebad03626d3125746fb1b9a8520f. Additional details on the vulnerability and remediation are available in the GitHub security advisory at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-4685-c5cp-vp95 and the VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-safebins-stdin-only-bypass-via-sort-output-and-recursive-grep-flags.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-13031
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.19 tools.exec.safeBins contains an input validation bypass vulnerability that allows attackers to execute unintended filesystem operations through sort output flags or recursive grep flags. Attackers with command execution access can leverage sort -o flag for arbitrary…
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file writes or grep -R flag for recursive file reads, circumventing intended stdin-only restrictions.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.2.5V1.2.8V15.2.5
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing or incorrect command sanitization during development.
Input validation directly neutralizes or rejects special characters that would otherwise alter OS command structure.
Least privilege reduces the permissions available to any process that could be subverted by injected commands.
Least functionality restricts available OS commands and interpreters, limiting the blast radius of injection.
Secure engineering principles require proper neutralization of untrusted input before command construction.
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's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.
Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).
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 and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.