EUVD-2026-28168Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Input validation completeness
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – May 06, 2026
Privilege escalation in OpenClaw 2026.3.31 through 2026.4.9 allows remote unauthenticated attackers to maintain elevated execution context by injecting malicious async completion events that bypass heartbeat owner-downgrade detection. The flaw stems from incomplete pattern matching in local background exec completion filtering, enabling attackers to submit untrusted completion content that prevents proper privilege de-escalation after operations complete. Vendor-released patch available in version 2026.4.10 and later. No evidence of active exploitation (not in CISA KEV) or public exploit code at time of analysis, but CVSS 9.1 critical rating reflects network-accessible attack surface with no authentication required.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in npm
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
OpenClaw versions 2026.3.31 before 2026.4.10 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability where heartbeat owner downgrade detection misses local background async exec completion events. Attackers can exploit this by providing untrusted completion content to leave a run in a more privileged context than intended.
Blast Radius
ecosystem impact- 1 npm packages depend on openclaw (1 direct, 0 indirect)
Ecosystem-wide dependent count for version 2026.3.31.
Executive ViewAI
OpenClaw versions 2026.3.31 through 2026.4.9 contain a critical privilege escalation vulnerability (CVSS 9.1) that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to maintain elevated system privileges by manipulating async completion events, potentially enabling full system compromise without legitimate credentials. This vulnerability affects any organization running vulnerable OpenClaw deployments and requires immediate patching to prevent unauthorized administrative access.
Within 24 hours: Identify all systems running OpenClaw versions 2026.3.31-2026.4.9 and isolate them from production if feasible; verify current deployed version across infrastructure. Within 7 days: Apply vendor-released patch to upgrade all affected instances to OpenClaw 2026.4.10 or later; test patches in staging environment before production deployment. Within 30 days: Complete patch deployment across all environments; validate privilege de-escalation mechanisms are functioning correctly post-upgrade; conduct access logs review for suspicious privilege elevation patterns during vulnerability window.
Apply vendor patch (OpenClaw 2026.4.10 or later). If immediate patching is not feasible: implement network-level access restrictions to OpenClaw services (limit to authorized IP ranges only); enable enhanced logging and monitoring of privilege escalation events and async completion submissions; consider running vulnerable instances in isolated network segments with restricted lateral movement until patching completes.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
GitHub
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.
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