Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-53831

Race Condition in Openclaw ≤ 2026.5.18

Public PoCRace Condition
Published
12 June 2026
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 7.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/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-2026-53831 is a high-severity Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (CWE-367) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 7.6 (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.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 contains a policy enforcement vulnerability in system.run safe-bin allowlist validation that allows shell expansion to modify command interpretation on POSIX nodes. Authenticated operators can exploit shell metacharacters in approved commands to read unintended node-local files and expose…

more

sensitive configuration data.

CWE(s)
CWE-367NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1034 Path Interception Persistence
**This technique has been deprecated.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574 Hijack Execution Flow Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the way operating systems run programs.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-32979Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32921Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53806Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-41296Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-44113Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53838Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-43582Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-35648Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-44112Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-62212Same product: Openclaw Openclaw

Affected Assets

openclaw
openclaw
≤ 2026.5.18

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

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

AC-25 Reference Monitor good match

A reference monitor that is always invoked and analyzable structurally eliminates the non-atomic check-then-use pattern underlying TOCTOU.

AC-3 Access Enforcement partial match

Access enforcement that performs an atomic check-and-use decision directly stops the window in which a TOCTOU race can be exploited.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

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.

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.

A.8.17 Clock synchronization none match
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