Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
OpenClaw versions before 2026.3.8 have a local installer flaw that can let an attacker redirect skill installation writes outside the intended tools directory. This is mainly a concern on shared systems, build hosts, or developer workstations where untrusted local users or processes can interfere with installation paths.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority upgrade for developer, CI, and shared workstation environments. It is not reported as actively exploited, but local path-redirection flaws can undermine trust in tooling and installation boundaries.
Technical view
The skills download installer validates the tools root lexically, then reuses a mutable path during archive download and copy operations. A local attacker can rebind that path after validation and before final write, creating a time-of-check/time-of-use path traversal condition. The CVSS vector is local, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, with high confidentiality impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to systems running OpenClaw before 2026.3.8 where skills downloads are used and a local attacker can manipulate the tools-root path during installation.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not cite known active exploitation, and KEV is false. Exploitation is local, not remote, and depends on racing or rebinding the tools-root path during installer activity.
Researcher notes
The provided evidence supports a CWE-367 time-of-check/time-of-use issue in the skills installer. The source bundle names 2026.3.8 as the fixed boundary, but does not provide exploit telemetry. Avoid assuming remote reachability or additional affected products.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade OpenClaw to 2026.3.8 or later.
- Review the GitHub advisory and patch commit for vendor guidance.
- Restrict local access to systems that run OpenClaw installers.
- Run installation workflows with least necessary filesystem privileges.
- Monitor for unexpected writes outside the configured tools directory.
Validation and detection
- Inventory OpenClaw installations and flag versions before 2026.3.8.
- Identify hosts or CI jobs that perform skills downloads.
- Confirm tools-root paths are owned by trusted users only.
- Review recent installer activity for unexpected filesystem writes.
- Verify upgraded deployments use the patched installer behavior.
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 lookupFile access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-33574 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
- 6.2 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A: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:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N2.53.6VulnCheckCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——VulnCheckVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
5.8MediumVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.2MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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-vhwf-4x96-vqx2)CVE reference, VulnCheck · vendor-advisory
- Patch CommitCVE reference, VulnCheck · patch
- VulnCheck Advisory: OpenClaw < 2026.3.8 - Path Traversal via Tools Root Rebinding in Skills DownloadCVE 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.