CVE-2026-41364
Openclaw ≤ 2026.3.31
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/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-2026-41364 is a high-severity Link Following (CWE-59) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked at the 42th 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-2026-41364 is a symlink following vulnerability (CWE-59) affecting OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.3.31. The issue resides in the SSH sandbox tar upload functionality, where the software fails to properly handle symlinks within uploaded tar archives. This allows remote attackers to craft malicious archives that escape the intended sandbox boundaries and overwrite arbitrary files on the remote host. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant integrity and availability impacts.
Attackers require low privileges, such as those granted to a legitimate SSH user, to exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no user interaction. By uploading a specially crafted tar archive containing symlinks, an attacker can direct the extraction process to follow those links outside the sandbox, enabling arbitrary file writes on the host system. Successful exploitation could lead to overwriting critical configuration files, binaries, or data, potentially resulting in denial of service, privilege escalation, or persistence mechanisms.
Mitigation is addressed in the OpenClaw GitHub repository via commit 3d5af14984ac1976c747a8e11581d697bd0829dc, which resolves the issue in version 2026.3.31 and later. Security advisories from GitHub (GHSA-fv94-qvg8-xqpw) and Vulncheck detail the vulnerability and recommend upgrading to the patched version, along with general best practices such as restricting upload capabilities and validating tar contents for symlinks in sandboxed environments.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-25944
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw before 2026.3.31 contains a symlink following vulnerability in SSH sandbox tar upload that allows remote attackers to write arbitrary files. Attackers can exploit this by uploading tar archives containing symlinks to escape the sandbox and overwrite files on the…
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remote host.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V15.4.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Proper enforcement of access authorizations on the resolved target resource stops a link from reaching an unintended object.
Least-privilege limits the damage an attacker can cause after following an unintended link.
Validating file-name inputs can reject or canonicalize names that resolve to links before access occurs.
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 require code to validate paths and avoid unsafe link following.
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 can detect link-following flaws before release.
Secure SDLC practices can mandate link-resolution checks and canonicalization before file access.
Application security requirements can explicitly require safe handling of symbolic links and path traversal.
Secure architecture principles include input validation and safe file-access design patterns.
Secure coding standards directly address canonicalization and symlink attacks during implementation.
Access-control rules can limit which files are reachable, reducing exposure to malicious links.