CVE-2026-32971 — openclaw
CVE-2026-32971 is a CWE-451 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw < 2026.3.11 - Node-Host Approval UI Mismatch Allows Execution of Unintended Commands
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-32971.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
openclawnpmDescription
Summary
In affected versions of openclaw, node-host system.run approvals could display only an extracted shell payload such as jq --version while execution still ran a different outer wrapper argv such as ./env sh -c 'jq --version'.
Impact
This is an approval-integrity bug. An attacker who could place or select a local wrapper binary and induce a wrapper-shaped command could get local code executed after the operator approved misleading command text.
Affected Packages and Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected versions:
<= 2026.3.8 - Fixed in:
2026.3.11
Technical Details
Wrapper resolution normalized executables by basename and extracted inner shell payload text for approval display, while execution still preserved the full wrapper argv. Approval storage and UI therefore showed text that did not match the exact command OpenClaw would execute.
Fix
OpenClaw now binds approvals to the exact executed argv and keeps extracted shell payload text only as secondary preview data. The fix shipped in [email protected].
Workarounds
Upgrade to 2026.3.11 or later.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.3.11npm install openclaw@2026.3.11 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for openclaw, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update openclaw to 2026.3.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-32971 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2026-32971 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2026-32971. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-32971 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2026-32971 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.