GHSA-jqpq-mgvm-f9r6 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-427 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw: Command hijacking via unsafe PATH handling (bootstrapping + node-host PATH overrides)
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-jqpq-mgvm-f9r6.
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-jqpq-mgvm-f9r6 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 377,166 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
Command hijacking via PATH handling
Discovered: 2026-02-04 Reporter: @akhmittra
Summary
OpenClaw previously accepted untrusted PATH sources in limited situations. In affected versions, this could cause OpenClaw to resolve and execute an unintended binary ("command hijacking") when running host commands.
This issue primarily matters when OpenClaw is relying on allowlist/safe-bin protections and expects PATH to be trustworthy.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected:
< 2026.2.14 - Patched:
>= 2026.2.14(planned next release)
What Is Required To Trigger This
A) Node Host PATH override (remote command hijack)
An attacker needs all of the following:
- Authenticated/authorized access to an execution surface that can invoke node-host execution (for example, a compromised gateway or a caller that can issue
system.run). - A node host connected and exposing
system.run. - A configuration where allowlist/safe-bins are expected to restrict execution (this is not meaningful if full arbitrary exec is already allowed).
- The ability to pass request-scoped environment overrides (specifically
PATH) intosystem.run. - A way to place an attacker-controlled executable earlier in
PATH(for example, a writable directory on the node host), with a name that matches an allowlisted/safe-bin command that OpenClaw will run.
Notes:
- OpenClaw deployments commonly require a gateway token/password (or equivalent transport authentication). This should not be treated as unauthenticated Internet RCE.
- This scenario typically depends on non-standard / misconfigured deployments (for example, granting untrusted parties access to invoke node-host execution or otherwise exposing a privileged execution surface beyond the intended trust boundary).
B) Project-local PATH bootstrapping (local command hijack)
An attacker needs all of the following:
- The victim runs OpenClaw from within an attacker-controlled working directory (for example, cloning and running inside a malicious repository).
- That directory contains a
node_modules/.bin/openclawand additional attacker-controlled executables in the same directory. - OpenClaw subsequently executes a command by name (resolved via
PATH) that matches one of those attacker-controlled executables.
Fix
- Project-local
node_modules/.binPATH bootstrapping is now disabled by default. If explicitly enabled, it is append-only (never prepended) viaOPENCLAW_ALLOW_PROJECT_LOCAL_BIN=1. - Node Host now ignores request-scoped
PATHoverrides.
Fix Commit(s)
- 013e8f6b3be3333a229a066eef26a45fec47ffcc
Thanks @akhmittra for reporting.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 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-jqpq-mgvm-f9r6 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-jqpq-mgvm-f9r6 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-jqpq-mgvm-f9r6. 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-jqpq-mgvm-f9r6 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-jqpq-mgvm-f9r6 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.