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Vulnerability details: VCID-k8x3-9pv7-rfax
Vulnerability ID VCID-k8x3-9pv7-rfax
Aliases CVE-2026-42438
GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
Summary OpenClaw: Sender policy bypass in host media attachment reads allows unauthorized local file disclosure ## Summary OpenClaw's outbound host-media attachment read helper could enable host-local file reads based on global or agent-level read access without also honoring sender and group-scoped tool policy. In channel deployments that used `toolsBySender` or group policy to deny `read` for less-trusted senders, a denied sender could still trigger host-media attachment loading and cause readable local files to be returned through the outbound media path. ## Affected Versions This issue is known to affect OpenClaw 2026.4.9. Earlier versions were not confirmed during triage, so the advisory range is intentionally scoped to `>= 2026.4.9 < 2026.4.10`. ## Impact Affected deployments are those that both allow host read or filesystem root expansion at the global/agent level and rely on sender or group-scoped policy to deny `read` for some channel participants. In that configuration, the intended sender/group authorization boundary could be bypassed for outbound media reads, potentially disclosing host-local files readable by the OpenClaw process. The issue does not require treating the model prompt as the security boundary. The vulnerable behavior was a concrete policy enforcement mismatch: sender/group policy denied `read`, while the host-media read helper could still be installed without that sender context. ## Resolution Fixed in OpenClaw 2026.4.10 by PR #64459, commit `c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98`. The fix threads sender, session, channel, and account context into outbound media access resolution and intersects host-media read capability creation with the existing group tool policy for `read`. When a concrete sender/group override denies `read`, OpenClaw no longer creates the host `readFile` media capability. Additional attachment canonicalization hardening shipped in 2026.4.14, but the authorization bypass described here was fixed in 2026.4.10. ## Credit Thanks to @Telecaster2147 for reporting this issue.
Status Published
Exploitability 0.5
Weighted Severity 6.9
Risk 3.5
Affected and Fixed Packages Package Details
Weaknesses (3)
CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization
CWE-937 OWASP Top Ten 2013 Category A9 - Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities
CWE-1035 OWASP Top Ten 2017 Category A9 - Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities
System Score Found at
epss 0.00031 https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-42438
epss 0.00036 https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-42438
epss 0.00036 https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-42438
cvssv3.1_qr MODERATE https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
cvssv4 6.0 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
generic_textual MODERATE https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
cvssv3.1 7.7 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
cvssv4 4.9 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
cvssv4 6.0 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
generic_textual MODERATE https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
ssvc Track https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
cvssv4 6.0 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/64459
generic_textual MODERATE https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/64459
cvssv3.1 7.7 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
cvssv3.1_qr MODERATE https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
cvssv4 4.9 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
cvssv4 6.0 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
generic_textual MODERATE https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
ssvc Track https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
cvssv3.1 7.7 https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-reads
cvssv4 4.9 https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-reads
ssvc Track https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-reads
Reference id Reference type URL
https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-42438
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/64459
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
CVE-2026-42438 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42438
GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-reads https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-reads
No exploits are available.
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Attack Requirements (AT) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA)

network

adjacent

local

physical

low

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passive

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Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

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Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Attack Requirements (AT) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA)

network

adjacent

local

physical

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Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Attack Requirements (AT) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA)

network

adjacent

local

physical

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passive

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Vector: SSVCv2/E:N/A:N/T:P/P:M/B:A/M:M/D:T/2026-05-05T14:48:10Z/ Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/64459
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Attack Requirements (AT) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA)

network

adjacent

local

physical

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Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

high

none

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high

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required

unchanged

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Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Attack Requirements (AT) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA)

network

adjacent

local

physical

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passive

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Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Attack Requirements (AT) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA)

network

adjacent

local

physical

low

high

none

present

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passive

active

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Vector: SSVCv2/E:N/A:N/T:P/P:M/B:A/M:M/D:T/2026-05-05T14:48:10Z/ Found at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N Found at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-reads
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

high

none

low

high

none

required

unchanged

changed

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none

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Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N Found at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-reads
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Attack Requirements (AT) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA)

network

adjacent

local

physical

low

high

none

present

none

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passive

active

high

low

none

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Vector: SSVCv2/E:N/A:N/T:P/P:M/B:A/M:M/D:T/2026-05-05T14:48:10Z/ Found at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-reads
Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)
Percentile 0.09559
EPSS Score 0.00031
Published At June 5, 2026, 12:55 p.m.
Date Actor Action Source VulnerableCode Version
2026-06-04T16:52:25.364694+00:00 GithubOSV Importer Import https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/04/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56h.json 38.6.0