Vulnerability Database

328,409

Total vulnerabilities in the database

OpenClaw browser navigation guard allowed non-network URL schemes, enabling authenticated browser-tool users to access file:// local files

Impact

assertBrowserNavigationAllowed() validated only http:/https: network targets but implicitly allowed other schemes. An authenticated gateway user could navigate browser sessions to file:// URLs and read local files via browser snapshot/extraction flows.

Affected Component

  • src/browser/navigation-guard.ts

Technical Reproduction

  1. Authenticate to a gateway that has browser tooling enabled.
  2. Invoke browser navigation with a file:// URL (for example file:///etc/passwd).
  3. Read page content through browser snapshot/extract actions.

Demonstrated Impact

An attacker with valid gateway credentials and browser-tool access can exfiltrate local files readable by the OpenClaw process user (for example config/secrets in that user context).

Environment

  • OpenClaw browser tool enabled
  • Attacker has authenticated access capable of invoking browser actions

Remediation Advice

Reject unsupported navigation schemes and allow only explicitly safe non-network URLs. OpenClaw now blocks non-network schemes (such as file:, data:, and javascript:) while preserving about:blank.

Affected Packages / Versions

  • Package: openclaw (npm)
  • Affected versions: <= 2026.2.19-2
  • Patched in planned next release: 2026.2.21

Fix Commit(s)

  • 220bd95eff6838234e8b4b711f86d4565e16e401

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to the planned next release (2026.2.21) so once npm 2026.2.21 is published, the advisory can be published directly.

OpenClaw thanks @q1uf3ng for reporting.

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Unknown
  • Score:
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CWEs:

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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