Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
OpenClaw before 2026.2.26 can run an approved command from a different filesystem location than the user saw during approval. The issue depends on writable parent symlinks being changed between approval and execution. This is a local, lower-privilege attack path, but it can meaningfully affect command integrity.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate-priority integrity risk for environments using OpenClaw command execution. Prioritize upgrade validation where OpenClaw runs operational automation, build tasks, or security-sensitive workflows.
Technical view
This is a CWE-367 time-of-check/time-of-use issue in system.run. A mutable parent symlink in the current working directory can be rebound after approval, preserving the visible working-directory string while changing the actual execution location. CVSS v4 rates it 6.9 with high vulnerable-system integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in OpenClaw deployments before 2026.2.26 where system.run approvals occur under directories with writable parent symlinks. The provided affected metadata lacks CPEs and contains limited version detail, so confirm exposure against vendor guidance.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show KEV listing or active exploitation. The attack is local, low complexity, requires low privileges, and needs no user interaction after the vulnerable approval flow is reachable.
Researcher notes
The CVSS vector indicates local attack, low complexity, low privileges, no UI, high vulnerable-system integrity impact, and low availability impact. Sources do not provide public exploit evidence, CPEs, or detailed affected-version ranges beyond OpenClaw before 2026.2.26.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade OpenClaw to 2026.2.26 or later per the advisory title.
- Review the GitHub advisory for vendor-specific remediation guidance.
- Avoid approving system.run operations from paths containing writable parent symlinks.
- Restrict write access to parent directories used as command working directories.
- Confirm deployed builds include the referenced patch commits.
Validation and detection
- Inventory OpenClaw versions across developer and automation environments.
- Identify workflows using system.run approvals.
- Check whether approved working directories include symlinked parent components.
- Verify parent directories are not writable by lower-privileged users.
- Confirm patched behavior in a non-production test environment.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-367: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-27545 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.9 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
2 official scoresWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——VulnCheckCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L1.84.2VulnCheckVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
6.9MediumVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.1MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-f7ww-2725-qvw2)CVE reference, VulnCheck · vendor-advisory
- Patch Commit #1CVE reference, VulnCheck · patch
- Patch Commit #2CVE reference, VulnCheck · patch
- Patch Commit #3CVE reference, VulnCheck · patch
- Patch Commit #4CVE reference, VulnCheck · patch
- Patch Commit #5CVE reference, VulnCheck · patch
- VulnCheck Advisory: OpenClaw < 2026.2.26 - Approval Bypass via Parent Symlink Current Working Directory RebindCVE reference, VulnCheck · third-party-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.