Privilege escalation in Openclaw
CVE-2026-44997
OpenClaw before 2026.4.22 contains a security envelope constraint bypass vulnerability allowing restricted subagents to spawn ACP child sessions that fail to inherit depth, child-count limits, control scope, or target-agent restrictions. Attackers can exploit this by spawning child sessions that bypass subagent-only constraints, potentially escalating privileges or accessing restricted resources.
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:L/A:N.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.004 (29.0th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 29th percentile — 29.0% 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, 2026.4.22
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-q3jj-46pq-826r (vendor-advisory, Patch, Third Party Advisory)
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/31160dc069b7cc5d833b39c53736a41ad3befda2 (Patch, patch)
- www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-security-envelope-constraint-bypass-in-ac… (Patch, Third Party Advisory, third-party-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-44997?
- CVE-2026-44997 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openclaw, classified under Incorrect Privilege Assignment. CVSS score: 4.3/10. Published 2026-05-11.
- How severe is CVE-2026-44997?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.3 out of 10.