Which versions of OpenClaw are affected by CVE-2026-42422?

OpenClaw versions before 2026.4.8 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2026-42422, CVSS 7.7) in device token rotation that allows authenticated low-privileged users to bypass approval…. A patch is available.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2026-42422?

Within 24 hours, identify all systems running OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.4.8 and assess their role in your access control infrastructure. Within 7 days, test OpenClaw 2026.4.8 in a staging environment to verify compatibility with your device token and approval workflows. Within 30 days, deploy the patch to all production OpenClaw installations and conduct token validation testing to confirm role-upgrade approval controls are properly enforced.

OpenClaw CVE-2026-42422

Q: What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-42422?

CVE-2026-42422 has a CVSS 4.0 base score of 7.7 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.0%.

EUVD-2026-26125 HIGH

Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863)

2026-04-28 VulnCheck

Authentication Bypass Openclaw

7.7

CVSS 4.0 · NVD

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY

7.7 HIGH

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

vuln.today AI

7.5 HIGH

Network-reachable but needs an existing low-priv token and specific rotation/pairing conditions, so PR:L and AC:H; role/token compromise gives high C/I/A within the single app, so scope unchanged.

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

4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from NVD.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Lifecycle Timeline

Source Code Evidence Fetched

Jul 24, 2026 - 04:16 vuln.today

Analysis Generated

Jul 24, 2026 - 04:16 vuln.today

CVSS changed

Apr 28, 2026 - 19:52 NVD

8.8 (HIGH) 7.7 (HIGH)

EUVD ID Assigned

Apr 28, 2026 - 19:30 euvd

EUVD-2026-26125

Patch released

Apr 28, 2026 - 19:30 nvd

Patch available

CVE Published

Apr 28, 2026 - 18:10 nvd

HIGH 7.7

DescriptionCVE.org

OpenClaw before 2026.4.8 contains a role bypass vulnerability in the device.token.rotate function that allows minting tokens for unapproved roles. Attackers can bypass device role-upgrade pairing to preserve or mint roles and scopes that had not undergone intended approval.

AnalysisAI

Improper authorization in OpenClaw's device.token.rotate function (versions before 2026.4.8) lets a low-privileged actor mint or preserve device tokens carrying roles and scopes that never passed the intended role-upgrade pairing approval, effectively escalating privilege within the assistant's trust model. The flaw was reported by VulnCheck and Tencent Zhuque Lab and carries a CVSS 4.0 base score of 7.7 (High), but there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and EPSS is negligible (0.04%, 11th percentile). SSVC rates exploitation as none and automatable as no, while technical impact is total.

Technical ContextAI

OpenClaw is a user-controlled local AI assistant distributed as the npm package 'openclaw' (cpe:2.3:a:openclaw:openclaw). The vulnerability class is CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization): the device.token.rotate routine, whose legitimate purpose is to refresh device credentials, fails to re-validate that the roles/scopes being written into the rotated token were actually approved through the device role-upgrade pairing workflow. Instead of dropping or re-verifying unapproved roles at rotation time, it carries them forward or mints new ones, so token rotation becomes a path around the pairing gate. The GHSA advisory explicitly scopes this to OpenClaw's single-user trust model and states it does not assume a multi-tenant service boundary, meaning the security boundary being broken is role/scope separation within one user's assistant rather than tenant isolation.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: 2026.4.8 - upgrade the openclaw npm package to 2026.4.8 or later, which is the version the maintainers verified fixes the device.token.rotate role handling (verified fixed tree commit d7c3210cd6f5fdfdc1beff4c9541673e814354d5). This is the primary and only fully reliable remediation; the advisory provides no official workaround. As interim compensating controls until upgrade, restrict who can invoke device token rotation and treat existing device tokens as suspect by forcing re-pairing/re-issuance so any previously carried-forward unapproved roles are revoked; also review current tokens for roles/scopes that were never approved through the pairing flow and revoke them. The trade-off is operational friction: forcing re-pairing invalidates working device sessions and requires users to re-approve devices. See the GHSA advisory (https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-whf9-3hcx-gq54) and the VulnCheck advisory (https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-role-bypass-in-device-token-rotate-function) for authoritative guidance.