CVE-2026-32048
Openclaw ≤ 2026.3.1
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/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:XSummary
CVE-2026-32048 is a high-severity Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource (CWE-732) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 7.7 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Credentials In Files (T1552.001); ranked at the 20th 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 AC-6 (Least Privilege) — 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-2026-32048, published on 2026-03-21, affects OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.3.1. The vulnerability (CWE-732) arises from a failure to enforce sandbox inheritance during cross-agent sessions_spawn operations, which allows sandboxed sessions to create child processes under unsandboxed agents. This flaw enables attackers to spawn child runtimes with sandbox.mode set to off, bypassing runtime confinement restrictions. The issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
An attacker with low privileges (PR:L) who gains access to a sandboxed session can exploit this vulnerability over the network (AV:N), though it requires high attack complexity (AC:H) and no user interaction (UI:N). Exploitation allows the attacker to escape sandbox confinement by spawning unsandboxed child processes and runtimes, achieving high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Advisories recommend upgrading to OpenClaw 2026.3.1 or later to mitigate the issue by enforcing proper sandbox inheritance. Additional details are available in the GitHub security advisory (https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-p7gr-f84w-hqg5) and the VulnCheck advisory (https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sandbox-escape-via-cross-agent-sessions-spawn).
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-13943
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.3.1 fail to enforce sandbox inheritance during cross-agent sessions_spawn operations, allowing sandboxed sessions to create child processes under unsandboxed agents. An attacker with a sandboxed session can exploit this to spawn child runtimes with sandbox.mode set…
more
to off, bypassing runtime confinement restrictions.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 7 hardening rules · 4 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces the access control policy that defines permissions on resources, thereby stopping incorrect assignments from remaining exploitable.
Directly requires assignment of only the minimum necessary permissions, preventing overly broad grants on critical resources.
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.
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.
By requiring owners to determine and document the exact permissions needed for each asset, the control reduces the likelihood that default or overly permissive file and resource permissions will be left in place.
Documented provisioning and revocation procedures reduce the chance that critical resources retain overly permissive default or leftover permissions after personnel changes.
Documented authorization, expiry rules, and audit logging of privileged accounts make it harder for critical resources to retain overly permissive or stale permission assignments.
Requiring explicit configuration of access controls and permissions for files, applications and services counters the assignment of overly permissive default or incorrect file-system rights.
Enforcing differentiated permissions on the source-code repository and program listings stops the assignment of overly broad default or inherited permissions to critical resources.
By defining and enforcing secure permission settings in configuration templates, the control reduces the likelihood that critical resources receive incorrect permission assignments.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248577 OL 8 must enable kernel parameters to enforce Discretionary Access Control (DAC) on symlinks. prevents CWE-732
Windows Server 2016 (2 rules)
- V-224972 Active Directory Group Policy objects must have proper access control permissions. prevents CWE-732
- V-224831 Local volumes must use a format that supports NTFS attributes. prevents CWE-732
Windows Server 2019 (2 rules)
- V-205741 Windows Server 2019 Active Directory Group Policy objects must have proper access control permissions. prevents CWE-732
- V-205663 Windows Server 2019 local volumes must use a format that supports NTFS attributes. prevents CWE-732
Windows Server 2022 (2 rules)
- V-254393 Windows Server 2022 Active Directory Group Policy objects must have proper access control permissions. prevents CWE-732
- V-254250 Windows Server 2022 local volumes must use a format that supports NTFS attributes. prevents CWE-732