Auth bypass in Openclaw
CVE-2026-42429
OpenClaw before 2026.4.8 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the gateway plugin HTTP authentication mechanism that escalates identity-bearing operator.read requests to runtime operator.write permissions. Attackers can exploit this by sending read-scoped requests through the gateway auth route to gain unauthorized write access to runtime operations.
Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.1 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.004 (34.2th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 34th percentile — 34.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.004 · change: +0.002
Affected products
- Openclaw — versions 0, 2026.4.8
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-4f8g-77mw-3rxc (vendor-advisory, Vendor Advisory)
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/d7c3210cd6f5fdfdc1beff4c9541673e814354d5 (Patch, patch)
- www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-privilege-escalation-via-gateway-plugin-h… (Third Party Advisory, third-party-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-42429?
- CVE-2026-42429 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openclaw, classified under Incorrect Authorization. CVSS score: 7.1/10. Published 2026-04-28.
- How severe is CVE-2026-42429?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.1 out of 10.