Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/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-2026-41296 is a high-severity Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (CWE-367) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); 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 AC-25 (Reference Monitor) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — 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-2026-41296, published on 2026-04-21, is a time-of-check-to-time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition (CWE-367) in the remote filesystem bridge's readFile function within OpenClaw versions before 2026.3.31. The vulnerability arises from separate path validation and file read operations, allowing attackers to bypass sandbox restrictions and access arbitrary files on the system. It carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.2 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N).
Attackers with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this over the network (AV:N) without user interaction (UI:N), though it requires high attack complexity (AC:H). Successful exploitation changes the scope (S:C) to the broader system, enabling high-impact confidentiality and integrity violations (C:H/I:H), such as reading sensitive files outside the intended sandbox boundaries.
Mitigation details are provided in the GitHub commit at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/121870a08583033ed6a0ed73d9ffea32991252bb, the OpenClaw security advisory at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-9p3r-hh9g-5cmg, and the VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sandbox-escape-via-toctou-race-in-remote-fs-bridge-readfile, which address the race condition in affected versions.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-24000
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw before 2026.3.31 contains a time-of-check-time-of-use race condition in the remote filesystem bridge readFile function that allows sandbox escape. Attackers can exploit the separate path validation and file read operations to bypass sandbox restrictions and read arbitrary files.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V15.4.2V17.2.6
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
A reference monitor that is always invoked and analyzable structurally eliminates the non-atomic check-then-use pattern underlying TOCTOU.
Access enforcement that performs an atomic check-and-use decision directly stops the window in which a TOCTOU race can be exploited.
Process isolation limits the blast radius of a successful TOCTOU exploitation but does not remove the race itself.
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.
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.
Reliable, synchronized time across systems narrows the exploitable window in which a resource state can change between a security check and its use.