Resource exhaustion in Openclaw

CVE-2026-42420

OpenClaw before 2026.4.8 contains improper input validation in base64 decode paths that allocate memory before enforcing decoded-size limits. Attackers can exploit multiple code paths to cause memory exhaustion or denial of service through crafted base64-encoded input.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 4.3 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (43.7th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 44th percentile — 43.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-42420: held from 0.003 to 0.005.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.002

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-42420?
CVE-2026-42420 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openclaw, classified under Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. CVSS score: 4.3/10. Published 2026-04-28.
How severe is CVE-2026-42420?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.3 out of 10.