What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-22172?

CVE-2026-22172 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.9 (Critical). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.0%.

Which versions of Openclaw are affected by CVE-2026-22172?

OpenClaw deployments face a critical privilege escalation vulnerability (CVSS 9.9) allowing attackers with basic user credentials to gain administrative access without proper validation.. A patch is available.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2026-22172?

Within 24 hours: Identify all OpenClaw instances in production and development environments; restrict WebSocket access to trusted networks only via firewall/WAF rules; disable non-essential gateway administrative features if possible. Within 7 days: Implement mandatory multi-factor authentication for all administrative accounts; rotate all shared tokens and service credentials; audit access logs for privilege escalation attempts. Within 30 days: Establish vendor contact for patch availability; evaluate alternative gateway solutions; conduct full security assessment of affected systems.

Openclaw CVE-2026-22172

EUVD-2026-13704 CRITICAL

Missing Authorization (CWE-862)

2026-03-20 VulnCheck

GHSA-rqpp-rjj8-7wv8

Authentication Bypass Openclaw

9.9

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY

9.9 CRITICAL

AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Lifecycle Timeline

Patch released

Mar 31, 2026 - 21:13 nvd

Patch available

EUVD ID Assigned

Mar 20, 2026 - 15:00 euvd

EUVD-2026-13704

Analysis Generated

Mar 20, 2026 - 15:00 vuln.today

CVE Published

Mar 20, 2026 - 14:48 nvd

CRITICAL 9.9

Blast Radius

ecosystem impact

† from your stack dependencies † transitive graph · vuln.today resolves 4-path depth

1 npm packages depend on openclaw (1 direct, 0 indirect)

Ecosystem-wide dependent count for version 2026.3.12.

DescriptionCVE.org

OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.3.12 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability in the WebSocket connect path that allows shared-token or password-authenticated connections to self-declare elevated scopes without server-side binding. Attackers can exploit this logic flaw to present unauthorized scopes such as operator.admin and perform admin-only gateway operations.

AnalysisAI

OpenClaw contains an authorization bypass vulnerability in its WebSocket connection handling that allows authenticated users with low-privilege shared-token or password credentials to falsely declare elevated administrative scopes without proper server-side validation. Attackers with basic authentication can escalate privileges to operator.admin level and execute administrative gateway operations. With a CVSS score of 9.9 (Critical) and low attack complexity, this represents a severe privilege escalation risk, though no KEV listing or EPSS data is currently available to confirm active exploitation.

Technical ContextAI

The vulnerability affects OpenClaw (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:openclaw:openclaw), appearing to be an IoT or network gateway management platform based on the reference to 'gateway operations'. The flaw is classified as CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), meaning the application fails to perform proper authorization checks after authentication. Specifically, the WebSocket connection establishment path accepts client-supplied scope declarations without binding them to the authenticated session's actual privileges on the server side. This violates the principle that authorization decisions must always be made server-side using trusted data rather than accepting client assertions, allowing any authenticated user to claim administrative capabilities they do not legitimately possess.

RemediationAI

Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.3.12 or later, which addresses the authorization bypass in the WebSocket connection path according to the version constraint in the vulnerability disclosure (see https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-rqpp-rjj8-7wv8 for patch details). Until patching is completed, implement defense-in-depth measures including network segmentation to restrict WebSocket endpoint access to trusted IP ranges only, deploy a reverse proxy or API gateway that enforces server-side scope validation independently of client assertions, enable comprehensive logging of WebSocket connection attempts with scope declarations for anomaly detection, and review audit logs for any unauthorized admin operations that may indicate prior exploitation. If possible, temporarily disable password and shared-token authentication methods in favor of certificate-based authentication with hardware-enforced scope binding until the patch can be applied.