Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
OpenClaw before 2026.3.2 can be tricked into writing outside its intended sandbox through symlinks during media staging. This could let a low-privileged local attacker overwrite host files, creating integrity and limited availability risk. Public sources do not indicate active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat as a timely maintenance fix, not an emergency based on current evidence. Prioritize systems where OpenClaw processes content from less-trusted local users or shared environments, because the main business risk is unauthorized file overwrite on the host.
Technical view
CVE-2026-31990 is a CWE-59 symlink traversal in OpenClaw’s stageSandboxMedia destination handling. The function fails to validate destination symlinks, so writes can follow links outside the sandbox workspace. CVSS 4.0 is 6.9, with local access, low complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, high integrity impact, and low availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where OpenClaw versions earlier than 2026.3.2 are deployed and untrusted or low-privileged local users can influence staged media paths. Internet exposure is not indicated by the provided CVSS vector, which specifies local attack access.
Exploitation context
The attacker needs local, low-privileged access and a way to affect media staging inputs. The impact described is arbitrary host file overwrite outside sandbox boundaries. The CVE is not listed as KEV, and the provided sources do not claim in-the-wild exploitation.
Researcher notes
The bundle’s affected metadata is internally inconsistent: the description says versions prior to 2026.3.2, while the affected array lists version 0 and default unaffected. Use the vendor advisory and patch as the primary source of truth. No exploit code or active exploitation evidence is provided.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade OpenClaw to 2026.3.2 or later per the advisory.
- Review the vendor advisory and patch commit for exact remediation details.
- Limit write access to OpenClaw media staging locations until upgraded.
- Monitor sensitive host files for unexpected changes on affected systems.
Validation and detection
- Inventory OpenClaw deployments and record installed versions.
- Confirm each deployment runs OpenClaw 2026.3.2 or later.
- Check vendor advisory details against your deployment configuration.
- Verify sandbox media staging no longer follows destination symlinks outside the workspace.
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-59: 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-2026-31990 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-cfvj-7rx7-fc7c)CVE reference, VulnCheck · vendor-advisory
- Patch CommitCVE reference, VulnCheck · patch
- VulnCheck Advisory: OpenClaw < 2026.3.2 - Symlink Traversal in stageSandboxMedia DestinationCVE 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.
Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.