GHSA-mgrq-9f93-wpp5 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.6) Path Traversal vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw: workspace path guard bypass on non-existent out-of-root symlink leaf
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-mgrq-9f93-wpp5.
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-mgrq-9f93-wpp5 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 378,156 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 had a workspace boundary bypass in workspace-only path validation: when an in-workspace symlink pointed outside the workspace to a non-existent leaf, the first write could pass validation and create the file outside the workspace.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Vulnerable versions:
<= 2026.2.25 - Patched versions:
>= 2026.2.26(pre-set for next planned release) - Latest published npm version at update time:
2026.2.25
Details
The boundary check path resolved aliases in a way that allowed a non-existent out-of-root symlink target to pass the initial validation window. A first write through the guarded workspace path could therefore escape the workspace boundary.
The fix hardens canonical boundary resolution so missing-leaf alias paths are evaluated against canonical containment, while preserving valid in-root aliases. This closes the first-write escape condition without regressing valid in-root alias usage.
Fix Commit(s)
46eba86b45e9db05b7b792e914c4fe0de1b40a231aef45bc060b28a0af45a67dc66acd36aef763c9
Release Process Note
patched_versions is pre-set to the planned next release (2026.2.26). Once npm release 2026.2.26 is published, this advisory can be published directly.
Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.2.26npm install openclaw@2026.2.26 |
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 2026.2.26 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-mgrq-9f93-wpp5 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-mgrq-9f93-wpp5 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-mgrq-9f93-wpp5. 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-mgrq-9f93-wpp5 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-mgrq-9f93-wpp5 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.