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NanoClaw EUVDEUVD-2026-38465

| CVE-2026-56693 MEDIUM
Client-Side Enforcement of Server-Side Security (CWE-602)
2026-06-23 VulnCheck GHSA-7pvg-qfjr-jg4r
6.8
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: VulnCheck
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Gain execution in confined agent container (e.g., prompt injection)
  2. Delivery
    Craft outbound create_agent system row directly
  3. Exploit
    Bypass container-side MCP tool gate
  4. Execution
    Write arbitrary agent group and config to central DB
  5. Impact
    Operate with permissions beyond confinement boundary

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V4 - API and Web Service Server-side security enforcement
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires execution context within a confined NanoClaw agent container assigned a non-'global' CLI scope ('group', 'disabled', or missing config). The attacker must be able to write outbound system rows from within the container runtime to the host's central database - access that is architecturally available to all containers but was intended to be gated by the (now-fixed) missing host-side authorization check. Containers operating under 'global' scope are not vulnerable, as they were already trusted to create agents directly. Exploitation does not require user interaction and has low attack complexity once container access is established. The primary limiting factor is the local attack vector (AV:L): an attacker must first gain or influence execution inside a confined container, most plausibly via prompt injection in an agentic pipeline. Default-configured confined deployments are affected; environments with only 'global'-scope agents or with create_agent tool exposure fully disabled are not exploitable.

Impact

The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N) scores 6.8 (Medium), reflecting a local attack requiring low privilege and producing high integrity impact. The local attack vector is the primary severity limiter - an attacker must already have execution inside a confined agent container. In agentic pipeline deployments, however, this bar is relatively low: prompt injection against a confined container is a plausible initial foothold, after which this vulnerability enables full confinement escape to the host central database. No EPSS score was available in the provided intelligence, and NanoClaw is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, though the public GitHub PR diff explicitly documents the vulnerability mechanism and the bypass method, lowering the bar for exploitation by observers of the repository. The real-world risk is most acute in multi-tenant or shared NanoClaw deployments where agent confinement is a meaningful security boundary - in single-user or fully-trusted deployments the practical impact is lower.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An adversary who controls or has compromised a confined NanoClaw agent container (via prompt injection or a malicious task payload) crafts an outbound create_agent system row and writes it directly to the host central database, bypassing the container-side MCP gate entirely. This creates a new agent group with elevated permissions outside the attacker's confinement boundary, effectively escaping container isolation. The public PR diff documenting the exact bypass path lowers the barrier for constructing such an exploit, though no ready-made proof-of-concept has been observed at time of analysis.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Jun 23, 2026

Privilege escalation in NanoClaw before 2.1.17 allows confined agent containers to bypass their architectural confinement boundary by invoking the create_agent delivery-action handler without host-side authorization. The handler performed privileged central-database writes - creating agent groups, container configurations, and destinations - gated only by a container-side MCP tool check that, being inside the untrusted container, is trivially bypassed by writing outbound system rows directly. No public exploit identified at time of analysis; a vendor patch is available and the fix is documented in a public GitHub commit.

RemediationAI

Upgrade NanoClaw to version 2.1.17 or later, which enforces host-side authorization for the create_agent handler based on CLI scope. Note that the fix version 2.1.17 is stated in the CVE description; upstream fix availability is confirmed via GitHub commit ac37ecbfd6b9d14fdfa1598a6412a8ffdbeaef45 and PR #2720 (https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw/pull/2720), but a formally tagged patched release has not been independently verified beyond the CVE description text. For deployments unable to patch immediately, operators should disable the create_agent MCP tool exposure for all confined agent containers - this eliminates the attack surface at the cost of losing sub-agent creation capability for those containers. As a detection compensating control, monitor central-database writes for unexpected agent group or container configuration creation events originating from containers with non-'global' scope. The VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nanoclaw-privilege-escalation-via-unauthorized-create-agent-system-action provides additional remediation context.

Affected VersionsENISA

NanoClaw 0 <2.1.17

Affected Packages

euvd nanoclaw fix: 2.1.17

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

NanoClaw (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:nanocoai:nanoclaw:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) is an AI agent orchestration platform that exposes MCP (Model Context Protocol) tools to containerized agent runtimes. Agent containers are assigned a CLI scope - 'global' for trusted owner groups and 'group' for confined agents - intended to limit what privileged operations they can perform. CWE-602 (Client-Side Enforcement of Server-Side Security) precisely describes the root cause: the only authorization gate for create_agent lived inside the container itself (the untrusted component), meaning a confined container could bypass it by crafting the outbound system row and writing it directly to the central database without the host ever checking the caller's scope. The fix in PR #2720 (commit ac37ecbfd6b9d14fdfa1598a6412a8ffdbeaef45) moves authorization to the host side, requiring 'global' scope for direct creation and routing all other scopes - including 'group', 'disabled', and missing config - through an admin approval flow that fails closed.

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Severity by source

Vendor (VulnCheck) PRIMARY 6.8 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
vuln.today AI 6.5 MEDIUM

Confined container execution (PR:L, AV:L) escapes to unauthorized host central-DB writes (S:C, I:H); no confidentiality or availability impact observed.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:H/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).

CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
None
Vulnerable system: Integrity
High
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

DescriptionCVE.org

NanoClaw before 2.1.17 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the create_agent delivery-action handler that performs privileged central-database writes without host-side authorization checks. Confined agent containers can invoke create_agent to create arbitrary agent groups, container configurations, and destinations, escalating beyond their intended confinement boundary.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 98% exploitable
Prevalence
Rare
niche AI agent orchestration platform, limited known enterprise footprint
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

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.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

34
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +34
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

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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