GHSA-56pc-6hvp-4gv4 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.4) Path Traversal vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw vulnerable to arbitrary file read via $include directive
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- 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 GHSA-56pc-6hvp-4gv4.
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-56pc-6hvp-4gv4 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
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
Vulnerability
Path traversal in config $include resolution allowed arbitrary local file reads outside the config directory boundary (CWE-22).
Attack Vectors
- If an attacker can modify OpenClaw config, they can set
$includeto absolute paths (for example/etc/passwd) and read files accessible to the OpenClaw process. - If an attacker can modify OpenClaw config, they can use traversal paths (for example
../../...) to escape the config directory. - If an attacker can create symlinks inside the config directory, they can point includes to external files unless real-path checks are enforced.
- Impact scope is bounded by the file permissions of the OpenClaw runtime user; this is not an unauthenticated remote-only vector by itself.
Impact
A successful exploit can expose local secrets and credentials readable by the OpenClaw process user, including API keys and private config material.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Vulnerable versions:
<=2026.2.15 - Patched versions:
>=2026.2.17
Fix Commit(s)
d1c00dbb7c64a39e205464dae7f2a068420e91c1
Release Process Note
Patched version is pre-set to 2026.2.17. Once npm release 2026.2.17 is available, this advisory is ready to publish.
OpenClaw thanks @aether-ai-agent for reporting.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.2.17npm install openclaw@2026.2.17 |
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 2026.2.17 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-56pc-6hvp-4gv4 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 GHSA-56pc-6hvp-4gv4 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-56pc-6hvp-4gv4. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-56pc-6hvp-4gv4 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-56pc-6hvp-4gv4 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.