GHSA-7xhj-55q9-pc3m is a medium-severity (CVSS 6) Path Traversal vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw's hook transform module path allows traversal and arbitrary JavaScript module loading
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 GHSA-7xhj-55q9-pc3m.
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-7xhj-55q9-pc3m 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
Summary
OpenClaw hook mapping transforms could be loaded via absolute paths or .. traversal, allowing arbitrary JavaScript module loading/execution in the gateway process when an attacker can modify hooks configuration.
Affected Versions
- Affected: >= 2.0.0-beta3 and <= 2026.2.13
- Fixed: 2026.2.14
Details
hooks.mappings[].transform.module is dynamically imported and executed during webhook processing. Path resolution previously accepted absolute paths and did not enforce containment for relative paths, so a config-controlled transform could resolve outside the intended transforms directory.
Impact
If an attacker can write the OpenClaw config (or otherwise update hooks config through authenticated configuration mechanisms), they could point a hook mapping transform at an arbitrary module on disk and execute code with the gateway process privileges.
Reproduction (config-controlled module load)
- Configure a hook mapping that points to a transform path that escapes the transforms directory (for example via
..traversal). - Place a malicious ESM module at the resolved location that executes arbitrary code in the gateway process.
- Trigger the hook endpoint with the correct hook token.
Fix
Transform loading is now constrained to the OpenClaw transforms root directory:
- Root:
~/.openclaw/hooks/transforms hooks.transformsDirmust be within that directorytransform.modulemust be within the selected transforms directory
Attempts to escape the root (absolute paths outside, .. traversal) are rejected.
Fix commit(s):
- a0361b8ba959e8506dc79d638b6e6a00d12887e4
- 18e8bd68c5015a894f999c6d5e6e32468965bfb5
Credits
OpenClaw thanks @akhmittra for reporting.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | ≥ 2.0.0-beta3&&< 2026.2.14 | 2026.2.14npm install openclaw@2026.2.14 |
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 2026.2.14 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-7xhj-55q9-pc3m 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-7xhj-55q9-pc3m can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-7xhj-55q9-pc3m. 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-7xhj-55q9-pc3m in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-7xhj-55q9-pc3m across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.