GHSA-p25h-9q54-ffvw is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) Path Traversal vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw has Zip Slip path traversal in tar archive extraction
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-p25h-9q54-ffvw.
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-p25h-9q54-ffvw 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 versions before 2026.2.14 did not sufficiently validate TAR archive entry paths during extraction. A crafted archive could use path traversal sequences (for example ../../...) to write files outside the intended destination directory (Zip Slip).
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected:
< 2026.2.14 - Fixed:
>= 2026.2.14
Details
The affected code path is extractArchive() in src/infra/archive.ts. Prior to 2026.2.14, TAR extraction used tar.x({ cwd: destDir }) without rejecting traversal and absolute entry paths.
This extraction is used by installation flows such as:
openclaw plugins install …openclaw hooks install …
Impact
If a user installs an untrusted .tar / .tgz archive, an attacker can write files outside the extraction directory (within the permissions of the OpenClaw process). This can lead to configuration tampering and potentially code execution.
Mitigation
Upgrade to openclaw >= 2026.2.14. Avoid installing untrusted plugin/hook archives.
Fix Commit(s)
3aa94afcfd12104c683c9cad81faf434d0dadf87
OpenClaw thanks @xuemian168 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-p25h-9q54-ffvw 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-p25h-9q54-ffvw can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-p25h-9q54-ffvw. 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-p25h-9q54-ffvw in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-p25h-9q54-ffvw across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.