CVE-2026-32846
Published: 26 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-32846 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 47.9th 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 are NIST 800-53 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-32846 is a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) affecting OpenClaw through version 2026.3.23, specifically in the media parsing component. The flaw arises from incomplete path validation in the isLikelyLocalPath() and isValidMedia() functions, which can be bypassed using the allowBareFilename option. This allows attackers to reference files outside the application's intended sandbox, leading to arbitrary file read access. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).
Any remote attacker without privileges can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. By crafting malicious media inputs that evade the path checks, attackers can disclose sensitive information, including system files, environment variables, and SSH keys.
Mitigation is available via the fix in commit 4797bbc5b96e2cca5532e43b58915c051746fe37, as detailed in the OpenClaw GitHub security advisory GHSA-f6pf-4gjx-c94r and related pull requests #54642. Security practitioners should update to a version incorporating this commit and review media parsing inputs for similar bypasses, per advisories from VulnCheck.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-16248
Vulnerability details
OpenClaw before 2026.3.28 contains a path traversal vulnerability in media parsing that allows attackers to read arbitrary files by bypassing path validation in the isLikelyLocalPath() and isValidMedia() functions. Attackers can exploit incomplete validation and the allowBareFilename bypass to reference files…
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outside the intended application sandbox, resulting in disclosure of sensitive information including system files, environment files, and SSH keys.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Remote path traversal in public-facing media parser directly enables T1190 exploitation for unauthenticated arbitrary file read, which maps to T1005 for accessing local system files/credentials.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires validation of media path inputs to reject traversal sequences that bypass isLikelyLocalPath() and isValidMedia().
Enforces that file-access decisions are limited to the intended sandbox, blocking unauthorized reads of system files and SSH keys.
Controls information flows so that media-parsing operations cannot exfiltrate content from outside the designated application paths.