CVE-2026-32232: ZeptoClaw Path Boundary Checks Bypass Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-2m67-cxxq-c3h8",
  "modified" : "2026-03-13T13:36:00Z",
  "published" : "2026-03-12T16:37:49Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-32232" ],
  "summary" : "ZeptoClaw: Path boundary checks bypass via symlink, TOCTOU, and hardlink",
  "details" : "### Summary\nWorkspace boundary enforcement currently has three related bypass risks. This issue tracks fixing all three in one pull request.\n\n### Details\n\n#### R1 - Dangling Symlink Component Bypass\n- What happens: Path validation can miss dangling symlink components during traversal checks.\n- Why it matters: A symlink that is unresolved at validation time can later resolve to an external location.\n- Impact: Read and write operations may escape workspace boundaries.\n- Affected area: src/security/path.rs (check_symlink_escape).\n\n#### R2 - TOCTOU Between Validation and Use\n- What happens: The path is validated first, then used later for filesystem operations.\n- Why it matters: A concurrent filesystem change can swap path components after validation but before open/write.\n- Impact: Race-based workspace escape is possible.\n- Affected area: Filesystem and file-consuming tools that call validate_path_in_workspace before I/O.\n\n#### R3 - Hardlink Alias Bypass\n- What happens: A file inside workspace can be a hardlink to an inode outside the intended workspace trust boundary.\n- Why it matters: Prefix and symlink checks can pass while data access still mutates or reads external content.\n- Impact: Policy bypass for read/write operations.\n- Affected area: Any tool that reads or writes via validated paths.\n\n#### Risk Matrix\n\n| ID | Risk | Severity | Likelihood | Impact |\n|---|---|---|---|---|\n| R1 | Dangling symlink component bypass | High | Medium | Workspace boundary escape for read/write |\n| R2 | Validate/use TOCTOU race | High | Medium | Race-based boundary escape during file I/O |\n| R3 | Hardlink alias bypass | Medium | Low-Medium | External inode read/write through in-workspace path |\n\n### PoC\n\n#### R1 - Dangling symlink component bypass\n1. Create a symlink inside workspace pointing to a missing target.\n2. Validate a path traversing that symlink.\n3. Create the target directory outside workspace after validation.\n4. Perform file operation and observe potential boundary escape if not fail-closed.\n\n#### R2 - TOCTOU between validation and use\n1. Validate a candidate in-workspace path.\n2. Before open/write, replace an intermediate component with a link to external location.\n3. Continue with the file operation.\n4. Observe boundary escape if operation trusts only stale validation result.\n\n#### R3 - Hardlink alias bypass\n1. Place a hardlink inside workspace that points to an external inode.\n2. Validate the in-workspace hardlink path.\n3. Read or write through this path.\n4. Observe external inode access through a path that appears in-scope.\n\n### Impacts\nUnauthorized cross path boundary\n\n## Credit\n[@zpbrent](https://github.com/zpbrent)\n\n### Patch\n[f50c17e11ae3e2d40c96730abac41974ef2ee2a8](https://github.com/qhkm/zeptoclaw/commit/f50c17e11ae3e2d40c96730abac41974ef2ee2a8)",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "zeptoclaw"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.7.6"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.7.5"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/qhkm/zeptoclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-2m67-cxxq-c3h8"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32232"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/qhkm/zeptoclaw/pull/324"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/qhkm/zeptoclaw/commit/bf004a20d3687a0c1a9e052ec79536e30d6de134"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/qhkm/zeptoclaw/commit/f50c17e11ae3e2d40c96730abac41974ef2ee2a8"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/qhkm/zeptoclaw"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/qhkm/zeptoclaw/releases/tag/v0.7.6"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22", "CWE-62" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-12T16:37:49Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-03-12T19:16:17Z"
  }
}