Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
-
AccessObtain valid operator.write credentials
-
DeliveryAccess OpenClaw Gateway management interface over network
-
ExploitCraft configuration request targeting Active Memory write scope
-
ExecutionSubmit request bypassing admin privilege enforcement
-
ImpactApply unauthorized global configuration changes
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Privilege assignment review
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires a valid authenticated account with operator.write access to an OpenClaw Gateway instance that is reachable over the network (AV:N). The vulnerability is specific to the Active Memory write scope component and is triggered by submitting configuration change requests that should require operator.admin authorization. Exploitation is limited by the mandatory requirement for operator.write credentials - unauthenticated users and accounts without any operator scope cannot exploit this directly. Risk is further bounded by deployments where operator.write access is tightly controlled or where the Gateway management interface is not broadly network-accessible. No user interaction is required once authenticated access is established, and no special system configuration beyond having the Gateway running is needed. |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 score of 5.3 (Medium) with vector AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L reflects a network-accessible, low-complexity, low-privilege attack with bounded integrity and availability impact and no confidentiality exposure. The real-world risk is operationally significant for organizations running OpenClaw Gateways with multiple operator-level users: any operator.write account - typically a broader population than admin accounts - could silently alter global gateway configuration. The impact is capped (VI:L/VA:L, no scope change to subsequent systems), and this CVE is not in CISA KEV; no public exploit code has been identified. An EPSS score was not included in the source data, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified numerically. The privilege escalation path does not yield direct code execution, but unauthorized configuration changes to a gateway could enable secondary attacks such as traffic rerouting or disabling security controls. This represents a genuine remediation priority for affected deployments, particularly those where operator.write is granted broadly. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An authenticated Gateway operator with only operator.write credentials sends crafted requests targeting the Active Memory write scope API endpoint, supplying a configuration payload that normally requires operator.admin authorization. Because the scope validation logic does not enforce the privilege boundary, the system processes and applies the global configuration change without elevating the privilege check. No public exploit code is known at this time, but the low attack complexity (AC:L, AT:N) means exploitation would be straightforward for any operator-level user with API familiarity. |
Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.
Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jun 16, 2026
Privilege escalation in OpenClaw before 2026.5.6 allows authenticated Gateway operators holding operator.write access to modify global configuration that should be restricted exclusively to operator.admin privileges. The root cause (CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment) lies in insufficient scope validation within the Active Memory write scope, which fails to enforce the boundary between the write and admin privilege tiers. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis; however, the network-accessible attack vector (AV:N, PR:L) means any authenticated operator-level account across the deployment is a viable exploitation path with low attack complexity.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: OpenClaw 2026.5.6, which resolves the insufficient scope validation in the Active Memory write scope per the vendor advisory at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-x629-46cc-7xgw. Upgrade to 2026.5.6 or later as the primary remediation step. If an immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict operator.write access to the same vetted personnel population as operator.admin, treating write-scope credentials as effectively equivalent to admin credentials until patched - this trade-off reduces operational flexibility but closes the privilege escalation path. Additionally, audit all existing accounts holding operator.write access, review recent gateway configuration changes for unauthorized modifications, and where architecturally possible, restrict network access to the Gateway management interface to trusted hosts to reduce the AV:N attack surface.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in npm
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
OpenClaw is a Gateway product (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:openclaw:openclaw:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) that implements a tiered role-based access control model with at least two distinct operator privilege levels: operator.write and operator.admin. The vulnerability resides in the Active Memory write scope - a component responsible for handling runtime configuration write operations. CWE-266 (Incorrect Privilege Assignment) identifies the root cause as the scope validation logic failing to enforce the privilege boundary: operations that should require operator.admin are accepted when presented by an operator.write token. The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N) confirms the flaw is reachable over the network by low-privileged authenticated users without special attack prerequisites or required user interaction.
Know when Openclaw gets its next vulnerability
- Watch products and get an email when something new is published
- Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
No credit card · 7-day full trial
Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Requires valid operator.write credentials over the network (AV:N, PR:L); privilege escalation stays within the product boundary (S:U); configuration modification yields limited integrity and availability impact with no confidentiality exposure.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
OpenClaw before 2026.5.6 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the Active Memory write scope that allows Gateway operators with operator.write access to modify global configuration without requiring operator.admin privileges. Attackers with operator.write access can exploit insufficient scope validation to apply unauthorized configuration changes beyond the intended write scope.
Blast Radius
ecosystem impact- 1 npm packages depend on openclaw (1 direct, 0 indirect)
Ecosystem-wide dependent count for version 2026.5.6.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
Auth bypass in OpenClaw voice-call extension before 2026.2.1. EPSS 0.68%. PoC and patch available.
Privilege escalation in OpenClaw (pre-2026.3.28) allows unauthenticated remote attackers to gain administrative access b
OpenClaw versions 2026.2.22 through 2026.2.24 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows authenticated att
An authorization mismatch vulnerability in OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.3.1 allows authenticated users with operator.
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.1.29 automatically establish WebSocket connections to attacker-controlled gateway URLs e
Path traversal in OpenClaw through version 2026.3.23 enables unauthenticated remote attackers to read arbitrary files in
Authentication bypass in OpenClaw before 2026.5.3 allows remote attackers with low privileges to receive agent responses
Directory-context bypass in OpenClaw before 2026.8.1 allows authenticated attackers with user interaction to reuse an 'a
Unauthenticated access to the noVNC observer interface in OpenClaw's Docker sandbox browser allows anyone who can reach
OpenClaw versions before 2026.2.26 allow authenticated attackers to write arbitrary files outside the workspace director
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.22 contain a shell environment variable injection vulnerability in the system.run func
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.22 contain a resource exhaustion vulnerability where the application fails to consiste
EUVD-2026-37149
GHSA-58wc-8wrv-xp9j
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB