Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-32921

Race Condition in Openclaw ≤ 2026.3.8

Public PoCRace Condition
Published
31 March 2026
Modified
25 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/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 0.0020 10th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-32921 is a medium-severity Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (CWE-367) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked at the 10th 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-5 (Access Restrictions for Change) and SI-7 (Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

OpenClaw before 2026.3.8 contains an approval bypass vulnerability in system.run where mutable script operands are not bound across approval and execution phases. Attackers can obtain approval for script execution, modify the approved script file before execution, and execute different content…

more

while maintaining the same approved command shape.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
Why these techniques?

TOCTOU approval bypass in system.run directly enables execution of attacker-modified (unapproved) script content, facilitating T1059 command/script execution.

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-35648Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32979Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-41296Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-62212Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32988Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53829Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-44112Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53838Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-41337Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-43582Same product: Openclaw Openclaw

Affected Assets

openclaw
openclaw
≤ 2026.3.8

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-7 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity
  • CM-5 Access Restrictions for Change
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V15.4.2
  • V17.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Requires cryptographic or hash-based integrity verification of the script between approval and system.run execution, directly blocking the TOCTOU modification of mutable operands.

prevent

Enforces access restrictions so that only authorized entities can alter an approved script file after the approval decision but before execution in system.run.

prevent

Access enforcement can bind the approved script content (e.g., via immutable reference or hash) at approval time so that a different payload cannot be substituted at execution.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly include coding standards and reviews that prevent TOCTOU race conditions.

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.

none

Reliable, synchronized time across systems narrows the exploitable window in which a resource state can change between a security check and its use.

References