GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843: OpenClaw Sandbox Staged Writes Could Escape Vulnerability

HIGH
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-367 CWE-59
Published
Advisory Summary

GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) sandbox staged writes could escape vulnerability (CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition) affecting OpenClaw libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves sandbox staged writes could escape the verified parent directory before commit. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2026.3.11.

GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843 at a Glance

CVE Identifier N/A
GHSA Identifier GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
Affected Product OpenClaw
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected OpenClaw dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

openclaw fixed: 2026.3.11 
npm install openclaw@2026.3.11
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

npm ls openclaw

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls openclaw

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of OpenClaw in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2026.3.11), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls openclaw command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition, where the product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check. In OpenClaw, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

## Summary In affected versions of `openclaw`, sandbox fs-bridge writes validated the destination before commit, but temporary file creation and population were not pinned to a verified parent directory. A raced parent-path alias change could cause the staged temp file to be created outside the intended writable mount before the final guarded replace step. ## Impact This is a sandbox boundary bypass affecting integrity and availability within the writable mount scope. Attacker-controlled bytes could be written outside the intended validated path before the final guarded step ran. ## Affected Packages and Versions - Package: `openclaw` (npm) - Affected versions: `<= 2026.3.8` - Fixed in: `2026.3.11` ## Technical Details The older staging flow created and wrote the temporary file using target-directory shell path operations before the final replace step revalidated the destination. That meant the last guard protected only the final rename, not the earlier temp-file materialization path. ## Fix OpenClaw now resolves a pinned mount root plus relative parent path, creates the temporary file inside the verified parent directory, and performs the final atomic replace from that pinned directory context. The fix shipped in `openclaw@2026.3.11`. ## Workarounds Upgrade to `2026.3.11` or later.

GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843 Affected OpenClaw Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2026.3.11
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
openclaw
npm/openclaw
npm
< 2026.3.11
2026.3.11

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843
OpenClaw Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
OpenClaw Release RELEASE
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/tag/v2026.3.11

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843?
GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843 is a security vulnerability in OpenClaw involving Sandbox staged writes could escape the verified parent directory before commit under CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition.
Which OpenClaw versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2026.3.11 across affected packages: openclaw.
What version fixes GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843?
Upgrading to 2026.3.11 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is openclaw affected?
Yes, openclaw is affected in releases prior to 2026.3.11. Upgrade your dependency to 2026.3.11 or later.
What is the CVSS score of GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843?
GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843?
GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843 is classified under CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (The product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check.).
How can I check npm dependencies for GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls openclaw'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843",
  "modified" : "2026-03-13T15:48:16Z",
  "published" : "2026-03-13T15:48:16Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "OpenClaw: Sandbox staged writes could escape the verified parent directory before commit",
  "details" : "## Summary\nIn affected versions of `openclaw`, sandbox fs-bridge writes validated the destination before commit, but temporary file creation and population were not pinned to a verified parent directory. A raced parent-path alias change could cause the staged temp file to be created outside the intended writable mount before the final guarded replace step.\n\n## Impact\nThis is a sandbox boundary bypass affecting integrity and availability within the writable mount scope. Attacker-controlled bytes could be written outside the intended validated path before the final guarded step ran.\n\n## Affected Packages and Versions\n- Package: `openclaw` (npm)\n- Affected versions: `<= 2026.3.8`\n- Fixed in: `2026.3.11`\n\n## Technical Details\nThe older staging flow created and wrote the temporary file using target-directory shell path operations before the final replace step revalidated the destination. That meant the last guard protected only the final rename, not the earlier temp-file materialization path.\n\n## Fix\nOpenClaw now resolves a pinned mount root plus relative parent path, creates the temporary file inside the verified parent directory, and performs the final atomic replace from that pinned directory context. The fix shipped in `openclaw@2026.3.11`.\n\n## Workarounds\nUpgrade to `2026.3.11` or later.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "openclaw"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2026.3.11"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-mj4p-rc52-m843"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/tag/v2026.3.11"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-367", "CWE-59" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-13T15:48:16Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}