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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-43529: OpenClaw · TOCTOU read in exec script preflight

Affects openclawSource GCVE Database

0
Authoritative record:CVE-2026-43529· Low 2.0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 2.0 Low : upgrade to 2026.4.10 when convenient.

Data as of 27 Oct 2026, 00:07 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
2.0Low
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
Patch
Available – fixed in 2026.4.10
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 5 May 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade openclaw to 2026.4.10.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
npmopenclawAffected
  • <2026.4.10
Fixed in
  • 2026.4.10

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

Description

## Summary OpenClaw's exec script preflight validator previously validated and then read a script by mutable pathname. A local race could swap the path between validation and read, causing preflight analysis to inspect a different file identity than the one that passed the workspace boundary check. ## Affected Packages / Versions - Package: `openclaw` - Ecosystem: npm - Affected versions: `< 2026.4.10` - Patched versions: `>= 2026.4.10` ## Impact The impact is limited. This was not arbitrary full-file disclosure through the preflight error path. The validator only surfaced derived preflight content, such as a matched token, a line number, or the first non-empty JavaScript line in one branch. Exploitation also required the ability to mutate the relevant workspace path during the preflight window. Still, this was a real TOCTOU boundary bug in code that is supposed to reason about workspace-local script files before execution. A file identity that passed the initial boundary validation could differ from the identity that was later read for preflight analysis. ## Technical Details The vulnerable flow performed separate path validation and file reads in `validateScriptFileForShellBleed`. Because the read was path-based, an attacker with write access to the workspace path could race replacement of the target after validation but before preflight read. ## Fix PR #62333 replaced the check-then-read flow with a pinned safe-open/read path using the shared `readFileWithinRoot` helper. The fixed path performs boundary verification around the opened file identity and avoids relying on a mutable pathname for the final preflight read. Regression tests cover both pre-open and post-open swap windows. ## Fix Commit(s) - `b024fae9e5df43e9b69b2daebb72be3469d52e91` (`fix(exec): replace TOCTOU check-then-read with atomic pinned-fd open in script preflight [AI]`) - PR: #62333 ## Release Process Note The fix first shipped in `v2026.4.10`. Users should upgrade to `openclaw` `2026.4.10` or newer; the latest npm release already includes the fix. ## Credits Thanks to @kikayli for reporting this issue.

References

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