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GHSA-f8r2-vg7x-gh8m CVE-2026-32973

OpenClaw: Exec approval allowlist patterns overmatched on POSIX paths

Critical npm
Severity
0.0 / 10
Critical · CVSS 4.0
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.41%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 35.65% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-178 Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity
CWE-625 Permissive Regular Expression
Fix
2026.3.11
Upgrade openclaw to this version or later

Description

Summary

matchesExecAllowlistPattern normalized patterns and targets with lowercasing and compiled glob matching too broadly on POSIX. In addition, the ? wildcard could match /, which allowed matches to cross path segments.

Impact

These matching rules could overmatch allowlist entries and permit commands or executable paths that an operator did not intend to approve.

Affected versions

openclaw <= 2026.3.8

Patch

Fixed in openclaw 2026.3.11 and included in later releases such as 2026.3.12. Exec allowlist matching now respects the intended path semantics, and regression tests cover the POSIX case-folding and slash-crossing cases.

Affected versions

npm

PackageVulnerableFixed in
openclaw
< 2026.3.11
2026.3.11

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

openclaw npm → 2026.3.11

npm
npm install openclaw@2026.3.11
yarn
yarn add openclaw@2026.3.11
pnpm
pnpm add openclaw@2026.3.11

Severity breakdown

CVSS 4.0 0.0

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
None
Integrity (vulnerable system)
Low
Availability (vulnerable system)
None
Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
None
Integrity (subsequent systems)
None
Availability (subsequent systems)
None

CVSS 3.1 9.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Weakness

CWE-178: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity

The product does not properly account for differences in case sensitivity when accessing or determining the properties of a resource, leading to inconsistent results.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design: Avoid making decisions based on names of resources (e.g. files) if those resources can have alternate names.
  • Implementation: Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does. When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, "boat" may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as "red" or "blue." Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code's environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
  • Implementation: Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.

CWE-625: Permissive Regular Expression

The product uses a regular expression that does not sufficiently restrict the set of allowed values.

How to prevent it
  • Implementation: When applicable, ensure that the regular expression marks beginning and ending string patterns, such as "/^string$/" for Perl.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
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