Auth bypass in Openclaw
CVE-2026-45001
OpenClaw before 2026.4.20 contains a guard bypass vulnerability in the agent-facing gateway config.patch and config.apply endpoints that fails to protect operator-trusted settings including sandbox policy, plugin enablement, gateway auth/TLS, hook routing, MCP server configuration, SSRF policy, and filesystem hardening. A prompt-injected model with access to the owner-only gateway tool can persist unauthorized changes to protected operator settings.
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 (30.3th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 30th percentile — 30.3% 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, 2026.4.20
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-7jm2-g593-4qrc (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/fe30b31a97a917ecc6e92f6c85378b6b20352422 (Patch, patch)
- www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-gateway-config-mutation-guard-bypass-via-… (Patch, Third Party Advisory, third-party-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-45001?
- CVE-2026-45001 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openclaw, classified under Missing Authorization. CVSS score: 7.1/10. Published 2026-05-11.
- How severe is CVE-2026-45001?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.1 out of 10.