CVE-2026-42438
highpriority · track · 0OT risk · elevatedEPSS 0.002 · 15 %ileDEEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
OpenClaw versions 2026.4.9 before 2026.4.10 contain a sender policy bypass vulnerability in the outbound host-media attachment read helper that allows unauthorized local file disclosure. Attackers with denied read access via toolsBySender or group policy can trigger host-media attachment loading to bypass sender and group-scoped authorization boundaries and retrieve readable local files through the outbound media path.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · low–high · 1.1–7.7
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
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affected products (5)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (2)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- WID-SEC-W-2026-1161OpenClaw: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-04-16csaf · cert_bundDE
Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in OpenClaw ausnutzen, um erweiterte Rechte zu erlangen, beliebigen Code auszuführen, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, Daten offenzulegen oder zu manipulieren oder andere, nicht näher spezifizierte Angriffe durchzuführen.
- GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56hOpenClaw: Sender policy bypass in host media attachment reads allows unauthorized local file disclosure2026-04-17ghsa · osvUS
## 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.
also known as (2)
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sources
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references (8)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releasesPatchcnnvd
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42438cnnvd
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98enisa_euvd
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56henisa_euvd
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-readsenisa_euvd
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/c949af9fabf3873b5b7c484090cb5f5ab6049a98Patchnvd
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jhpv-5j76-m56hVendor Advisorynvd
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-sender-policy-bypass-in-host-media-attachment-readsThird Party Advisorynvd
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