Description

A vulnerability was detected in OpenClaw ClawScan up to 0.1.6. The impacted element is the function IsBinaryFile of the file internal/runner/static_scanner.go of the component File Classifier. The manipulation results in interpretation conflict. Attacking locally is a requirement. The exploit is now public and may be used. Upgrading to version 0.1.7 is sufficient to resolve this issue. The patch is identified as 04401337b3adb9343bd338b21e5e258bf49ca9c8. You should upgrade the affected component.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "2.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-15T15:17:32.567Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-15T15:17:32.567Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A critical vulnerability has been identified in the OpenClaw ClawScan file classification component, specifically within the IsBinaryFile function in internal/runner/static_scanner.go.\nThe flaw manifests as an interpretation conflict, which may allow for unauthorized file handling or security mechanism bypasses during static analysis.\nThe vulnerability affects all versions of OpenClaw ClawScan up to and including 0.1.6.\nThe exploit for this vulnerability is currently public, increasing the risk of malicious activity.\nSuccessful exploitation requires local access to the system, as the vulnerability cannot be triggered remotely.\nThe impact involves potential manipulation of file classification results, which could lead to security policy enforcement failures or improper handling of malicious payloads during scanning operations.\nUsers are strongly advised to upgrade to version 0.1.7 to mitigate the risk posed by this vulnerability.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the logic of the IsBinaryFile function located in internal/runner/static_scanner.go. This function is responsible for determining the content type of files during the scanning process performed by the File Classifier component.\nThe root cause of the vulnerability is an interpretation conflict, where the logic used to distinguish between binary and text-based data can be subverted. This type of vulnerability typically arises when the heuristic algorithm for file classification fails to account for ambiguous byte sequences or malicious encoding patterns, leading the scanner to misidentify a binary file as a text file (or vice versa).\nBecause the scanner relies on the output of IsBinaryFile to determine which subsequent analysis modules to apply, a manipulation of this detection logic results in a bypass of security filters. For example, if a binary file containing malicious code is misclassified as text, security modules designed to inspect binary payloads may be bypassed entirely, or the file may be processed by text-based parsers that are vulnerable to injection attacks.\nThe exploitation process necessitates local access to the target system. An attacker with the ability to place a crafted file within the scanning path of OpenClaw ClawScan can trigger the vulnerability. When the File Classifier component invokes IsBinaryFile on the crafted file, the flawed detection logic forces an incorrect classification decision.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the attacker identifies the file path monitored by ClawScan. Second, the attacker crafts a malicious file that mimics text patterns while containing binary payloads or specific triggers designed to exploit the IsBinaryFile heuristic. Third, upon initiating a scan, the component reads the malicious file; the IsBinaryFile function incorrectly handles the byte stream, leading to a state of interpretation conflict. Finally, the downstream analysis pipeline treats the file according to its misclassified type, facilitating execution, bypass of security controls, or the evasion of heuristic detection mechanisms.\nThe vulnerability is fixed in version 0.1.7, which incorporates patch 04401337b3adb9343bd338b21e5e258bf49ca9c8 to correct the classification logic within the identified file path."
}