Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-32015

LPE in Openclaw 2026.1.21 – 2026.2.19

Public PoCLPE
Published
19 March 2026
Modified
25 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 7.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/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 0.0013 3th percentile
Risk Priority 28 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-32015 is a high-severity Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); 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 CM-6 (Configuration Settings) and CM-7 (Least Functionality) — 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-2026-32015 is a path hijacking vulnerability (CWE-426) affecting OpenClaw versions 2026.1.21 prior to 2026.2.19, specifically in the tools.exec.safeBins component. The flaw enables attackers to bypass allowlist checks by manipulating process PATH resolution, allowing execution of trojan binaries masquerading as allowlisted names like jq and circumventing executable validation controls. Published on 2026-03-19, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high impact with local access.

Local attackers with low privileges (PR:L) who can influence the gateway process PATH or launch environment are positioned to exploit this issue. By controlling PATH resolution, they can trick the safeBins mechanism into executing arbitrary malicious binaries under trusted names, leading to high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts without requiring user interaction.

Advisories recommend upgrading to OpenClaw version 2026.2.19 or later to mitigate the vulnerability, as detailed in the GitHub security advisory (GHSA-g75x-8qqm-2vxp) and the associated fix commit (28bac46c92069dc728524fbf383024c1b64e5c23). Additional analysis is available from VulnCheck at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-path-hijacking-bypass-in-tools-exec-safebins-allowlist-validation.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

OpenClaw versions 2026.1.21 prior to 2026.2.19 contain a path hijacking vulnerability in tools.exec.safeBins that allows attackers to bypass allowlist checks by controlling process PATH resolution. Attackers who can influence the gateway process PATH or launch environment can execute trojan binaries…

more

with allowlisted names, such as jq, circumventing executable validation controls.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1034 Path Interception Persistence
**This technique has been deprecated.
T1574 Hijack Execution Flow Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the way operating systems run programs.
T1574.001 DLL Stealth
Adversaries may abuse dynamic-link library files (DLLs) in order to achieve persistence, escalate privileges, and evade defenses.
T1574.008 Path Interception by Search Order Hijacking Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the search order used to load other programs.
T1574.007 Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking environment variables used to load libraries.
T1574.009 Path Interception by Unquoted Path Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking vulnerable file path references.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-53858Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53865Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53819Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53846Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32032Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32009Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53842Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53813Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-28456Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-41373Same product: Openclaw Openclaw

Affected Assets

openclaw
openclaw
2026.1.21 — 2026.2.19

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Secure baseline settings can enforce absolute, organization-controlled paths for critical resources.

Least-functionality configuration can prohibit unapproved directories or executables from being reachable via search paths.

Engineering principles such as trusted paths, complete mediation, and least privilege directly require hard-coded or validated search paths instead of external ones.

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-05 full match
prevents

Preventing execution of unauthorized code directly blocks the malicious binaries that an untrusted search path would load.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices include avoiding or sanitizing externally influenced search paths in application code.

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

Hardened configuration baselines can enforce safe search paths and restrict environment variables that enable the weakness.

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 discover search-path issues but does not itself prevent them in production code.

degrades

Restricting software installation reduces the chance that untrusted binaries or libraries are placed in search paths.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include hard-coded or validated search paths and avoiding reliance on untrusted directories.

prevents

Secure coding standards require absolute paths or integrity-checked search paths, directly mitigating CWE-426.

none

Change-management processes can enforce review of path-handling changes, indirectly lowering risk.

References