GHSA-rx3g-mvc3-qfjf is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) CWE-59 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw's avatar symlink traversal can expose out-of-workspace local files
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-rx3g-mvc3-qfjf.
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-rx3g-mvc3-qfjf 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 377,238 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 avatar handling allowed a symlink traversal path that could expose local files outside an agent workspace through gateway avatar surfaces.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected versions:
<= 2026.2.21, plus prereleases2026.2.21-1and2026.2.21-2 - Latest published version at triage time (2026-02-22):
2026.2.21-2(affected) - Planned patched version (pre-set for release workflow):
2026.2.22
Details
In vulnerable builds, local avatar resolution could follow symlinks and return file bytes from outside the configured workspace boundary.
The issue was hardened in two paths:
- Gateway avatar metadata resolution now enforces canonical containment,
O_NOFOLLOW, and fd/file-identity checks. - Control UI avatar serving now rejects symlink paths and enforces fd/file-identity and size checks before reads.
Fix Commit(s)
3d0337504349954237d09e4d957df5cb844d5e776970c2c2db3ee069ef0fff0ade5cfbdd0134f9d2
Release Process Note
patched_versions is pre-set to >= 2026.2.22 so after npm release, the remaining action is to publish this advisory.
Impact
Confidentiality impact only: local files readable by the OpenClaw process could be disclosed via avatar response surfaces.
OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.2.22npm install openclaw@2026.2.22 |
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 2026.2.22 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-rx3g-mvc3-qfjf 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-rx3g-mvc3-qfjf can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-rx3g-mvc3-qfjf. 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-rx3g-mvc3-qfjf in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-rx3g-mvc3-qfjf across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.