Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/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-2026-35668 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 31th 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 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-2026-35668, published on 2026-04-10, is a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in OpenClaw versions before 2026.3.24. The flaw exists in the sandbox enforcement mechanism, where sandboxed agents can read arbitrary files from other agents' workspaces through unnormalized mediaUrl or fileUrl parameter keys. This results from incomplete parameter validation in the normalizeSandboxMediaParams function and missing mediaLocalRoots context, enabling access to sensitive files like API keys and configuration data outside designated sandbox roots. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.7 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N).
Attackers with low privileges (PR:L), such as authenticated sandboxed agents, can exploit this over the network with low complexity and no user interaction. By supplying specially crafted unnormalized parameters, they bypass sandbox restrictions in a scoped manner, achieving high confidentiality impact through unauthorized reads of files from other agents' workspaces.
Advisories from GitHub (GHSA-hr5v-j9h9-xjhg) and VulnCheck detail the issue and recommend upgrading to OpenClaw 2026.3.24 or later to address the incomplete validation and context missing in sandbox media handling.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-21482
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw before 2026.3.24 contains a path traversal vulnerability in sandbox enforcement allowing sandboxed agents to read arbitrary files from other agents' workspaces via unnormalized mediaUrl or fileUrl parameter keys. Attackers can exploit incomplete parameter validation in normalizeSandboxMediaParams and missing mediaLocalRoots…
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context to access sensitive files including API keys and configuration data outside designated sandbox roots.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.
Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.
Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.
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.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.
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 in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.