Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2026-31993 lets a highly privileged OpenClaw operator bypass command approval checks in the macOS companion app under specific conditions. The attacker must already have operator.write privileges and a paired macOS beta node. Successful abuse can execute arbitrary commands on that host. This is not listed as known exploited in CISA KEV.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted internal or delegated-operator risk, not an internet-scale emergency. Prioritize remediation where OpenClaw controls sensitive macOS hosts or where many users hold operator.write privileges.
Technical view
OpenClaw before 2026.2.22 has an allowlist parsing mismatch in system.run shell chains. Incomplete validation can allow crafted shell-chain payloads to pass exec approval checks. Scope is limited by high privileges, high attack complexity, and user interaction, but impact includes high integrity compromise and low availability impact on the paired macOS host.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in environments running OpenClaw before 2026.2.22 with macOS companion beta nodes paired and operator.write access granted. The provided affected-version metadata is sparse, so confirm directly against vendor advisory and deployed versions.
Exploitation context
Sources describe a post-authentication abuse path requiring operator.write privileges and a paired macOS beta node. The CVSS vector indicates network reachability, high complexity, high privileges, and user interaction. No provided source states active exploitation, and KEV status is false.
Researcher notes
Key uncertainty is affected-version metadata: the bundle states prior to 2026.2.22, while the affected entry is minimal and defaultStatus says unaffected. Validate against the GitHub advisory. Avoid assuming broader platform impact beyond the macOS companion beta-node path described.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade OpenClaw to 2026.2.22 or later if confirmed affected by vendor guidance.
- Review operator.write assignments and remove unnecessary privileged operators.
- Disable or restrict paired macOS beta nodes until updated, if operationally feasible.
- Monitor vendor advisory and patch commits for additional remediation notes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory OpenClaw deployments and identify versions earlier than 2026.2.22.
- Identify paired macOS beta nodes using the companion app.
- Review accounts or roles with operator.write privileges.
- Confirm applied patch level against the referenced GitHub advisory or commits.
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-184: 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-2026-31993 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
- 5.6 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:H/UI:A/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:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:H/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——VulnCheckCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L0.54.2VulnCheckVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
5.6MediumVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:H/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.8MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/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-5f9p-f3w2-fwch)CVE reference, VulnCheck · vendor-advisory
- Patch CommitCVE reference, VulnCheck · patch
- Patch CommitCVE reference, VulnCheck · patch
- VulnCheck Advisory: OpenClaw < 2026.2.22 - Allowlist Parsing Mismatch in system.run Shell ChainsCVE 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.
Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs
Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.