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LOW severity

OpenClaw's Control UI Static File Handler Follows Symlinks and Allows Out-of-Root File ReadGHSA-5ghc-98wh-gwwf

LOWFix: openclaw/openclaw@7c500ff

GHSA-5ghc-98wh-gwwf is a low-severity (CVSS 3.3) CWE-59 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Also known asCVE-2026-32020
Published
Updated
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Nov 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

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-5ghc-98wh-gwwf.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
0.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk+0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs3th percentile — riskier than 3% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.00%0.22%0.44%0.67%0.0%0.1%May 26Sep 26Nov 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

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.

133other npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream
openclawnpm
2.5Mdownloads / week

Description

Summary

The Control UI static file handler previously validated asset paths lexically and then served files with APIs that follow symbolic links. A symlink placed under the Control UI root could cause out-of-root file reads.

Affected Packages / Versions

  • Package: openclaw (npm)
  • Latest published version observed: 2026.2.21-2
  • Affected versions: <=2026.2.21-2
  • Planned fixed release version: 2026.2.22

Technical Details

The vulnerable flow was in src/gateway/control-ui.ts, where path.join(...) + string-prefix checks were followed by file reads that resolved symlinks. This allowed directory-confinement bypasses when symlinks existed inside the Control UI root.

The fix now enforces realpath containment and verifies file identity before serving Control UI assets and SPA fallback index.html.

Impact

  • Vulnerability type: path traversal / external file exposure via symlink following.
  • Primary impact: confidentiality (out-of-root file read).
  • Severity guidance: low in supported trusted-operator deployments; can be higher in unsupported shared-writable setups.

Fix Commit(s)

  • 7c500ff6236fa087ec1ec88696ca9f6881e90dc5

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to the planned next release (2026.2.22). After npm release is available, publish the advisory.

OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
📦npmopenclawall versions2026.2.22npm install openclaw@2026.2.22

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations
Application
openclawopenclaw
< 2026.2.22
range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    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.

  2. Fix

    Update openclaw to 2026.2.22 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-5ghc-98wh-gwwf is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Summary The Control UI static file handler previously validated asset paths lexically and then served files with APIs that follow symbolic links. A symlink placed under the Control UI root could cause out-of-root file reads. ### Affected Packages / Versions - Package: `openclaw` (npm) - Latest published version observed: `2026.2.21-2` - Affected versions: `<=2026.2.21-2` - Planned fixed release version: `2026.2.22` ### Technical Details The vulnerable flow was in `src/gateway/control-ui.ts`, where `path.join(...)` + string-prefix checks were followed by file reads that resolved symlinks.
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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OpenClaw's Control UI Static File Handler Follows…