Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthorized non-owner sender on external channel
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ExploitIssue global Active Memory toggle mutation
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ExecutionMissing owner check allows the action
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ImpactPersistently disable/enable Gateway memory recall
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Authorization checks on every request
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires an already-authorized non-owner sender operating over an external channel bridged to the OpenClaw Gateway, plus command policy that admits that sender to issue mutations. Exploitation is limited strictly to the persistent global Active Memory on/off toggle; session-level controls and read-only status remain governed by existing command policy and are not affected. Owner privileges are NOT required (that is the bug), but baseline authorized command access to the Gateway is, and no additional user interaction is needed. Only versions before 2026.7.1 are vulnerable. |
| Impact | This is a genuine but low-severity authorization flaw (CWE-862, missing owner check), not a high-CVSS-but-inflated issue - the vendor CVSS 4.0 of 5.3 (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L) is medium and honestly reflects limited impact. The vector shows network reach and low complexity, but exploitation requires PR:L (an already-authorized non-owner sender), which caps the blast radius. Impact is confined to persistently toggling the global Active Memory on/off state - degrading memory recall or re-enabling it against the owner's intent - with no confidentiality/integrity of arbitrary data and no code execution. There is no EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public PoC provided, so this is no public exploit identified at time of analysis. The 'Authentication Bypass' tag overstates the nature of the issue: this is an authorization (missing owner check) defect on a configuration toggle, not an auth bypass. Net: low real-world priority, patch on normal cadence. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An OpenClaw Gateway is bridged to an external chat channel where a non-owner user has been granted command access. That authorized-but-non-owner sender issues the global Active Memory toggle mutation, which fails to enforce the owner-only check, letting them persistently disable memory recall for all future sessions (or re-enable global recall the owner wanted off). No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 26, 2026
OpenClaw agent gateway installations before 2026.7.1 expose a missing owner authorization check that permits an authenticated non-owner sender on a bridged external channel to persistently enable or disable the global Active Memory setting, thereby disabling memory recall for future sessions or re-enabling global recall when the owner expected it to remain disabled. The flaw is limited to persistent global on/off mutations-session-level controls and read-only status remain governed by existing command policy-and carries a vendor CVSS 4.0 score of 5.3 with only low impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability. No public exploit code or active exploitation has been identified at time of analysis, and the vendor has released a patch in version 2026.7.1.
RemediationAI
Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.7.1 or later, which contains the vendor fix for the missing owner check on Active Memory global toggles. Apply the update via npm (e.g., npm install openclaw@2026.7.1) and verify the deployed gateway reports the new version. If immediate upgrade is not possible, restrict the command policy for external-channel senders so that only the owner can issue Active Memory toggle mutations; this compensating control will disable the ability for non-owner senders to change global memory recall settings-the intended security posture-but may be inconvenient if non-owner administrators legitimately managed that toggle. Review audit logs for unexpected changes to Active Memory state prior to patching. Vendor advisory: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-xw9g-7xvv-gcjc.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
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
CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) in OpenClaw's Active Memory global toggle mutation handlers. OpenClaw is an npm-distributed agent gateway with a Node.js runtime that bridges external messaging channels to AI agent sessions; the Active Memory feature controls whether agents may recall prior session context globally. Because the mutation endpoint omitted an owner-privilege check, any sender already authorized by command policy to issue mutations could alter the persistent global state. The vulnerability is confined to the on/off mutations for Active Memory; session-scoped controls and read-only status queries were not affected, which limits the blast radius to availability and integrity of memory recall settings. Affected CPE: cpe:2.3:a:openclaw:openclaw:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covering all versions before 2026.7.1.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Authorized non-owner sender (PR:L) remotely toggles a config setting with no auth bypass; impact is limited to memory-feature integrity (I:L) and availability of recall (A:L), no data disclosure (C:N).
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
OpenClaw is an npm-distributed agent gateway. In versions before 2026.7.1, the global Active Memory toggle mutations could omit owner checks. An authorized non-owner external-channel sender could therefore persistently enable or disable Active Memory for the Gateway, disabling memory recall for future sessions or re-enabling global recall where the owner expected it to remain disabled. The issue is limited to persistent global on/off mutations; session-level controls and read-only status remain governed by existing command policy. The issue is fixed in version 2026.7.1. (Suggested title: "OpenClaw before 2026.7.1 missing owner authorization check on Active Memory global toggles".)
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
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SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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
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
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.3.1 contain a sandbox escape vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers with low
EUVD-2026-87460
GHSA-8rc9-6r79-j4mw
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB