CVE-2026-42429
OpenClaw < 2026.4.8 - Privilege Escalation via Gateway Plugin HTTP Authentication
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.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
OpenClaw < 2026.4.8 - Privilege Escalation via Gateway Plugin HTTP Authentication
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.
- Record
CVE-2026-42429- CVSS 4.0
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 7.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-863
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-26131
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.
- Record
EUVD-2026-26131- CVSS 4.0
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-4f8g-77mw-3rxc
OpenClaw: Gateway plugin HTTP `auth: gateway` widens identity-bearing `operator.read` requests into runtime `operator.write`
Impact
Gateway plugin HTTP auth: gateway widens identity-bearing operator.read requests into runtime operator.write.
Plugin HTTP routes using gateway auth could receive runtime write scopes even when the upstream trusted-proxy request only declared read.
OpenClaw is a user-controlled local assistant. This advisory is scoped to the OpenClaw trust model and does not assume a multi-tenant service boundary.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected versions:
2026.1.29 - Patched versions:
2026.4.8
Fix
The issue was fixed on main and is available in the patched npm version listed above. The verified fixed tree is commit d7c3210cd6f5fdfdc1beff4c9541673e814354d5.
Verification
The fix was re-checked against main before publication, including targeted regression tests for the affected security boundary.
Credits
Thanks @smaeljaish771 for reporting.
- Record
GHSA-4f8g-77mw-3rxc- CVSS 4.0
- 2.0 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 7.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-269, CWE-863
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
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.
- Record
CVE-2026-42429- CVSS 4.0
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - CVSS 3.1
- 7.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-863
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
OpenClaw < 2026.4.8 - Privilege Escalation via Gateway Plugin HTTP Authentication
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.
- Record
CVE-2026-42429- CVSS 4.0
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - Weakness
- CWE-863
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-4f8g-77mw-3rxc
OpenClaw: Gateway plugin HTTP `auth: gateway` widens identity-bearing `operator.read` requests into runtime `operator.write`
Impact
Gateway plugin HTTP auth: gateway widens identity-bearing operator.read requests into runtime operator.write.
Plugin HTTP routes using gateway auth could receive runtime write scopes even when the upstream trusted-proxy request only declared read.
OpenClaw is a user-controlled local assistant. This advisory is scoped to the OpenClaw trust model and does not assume a multi-tenant service boundary.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected versions:
2026.1.29 - Patched versions:
2026.4.8
Fix
The issue was fixed on main and is available in the patched npm version listed above. The verified fixed tree is commit d7c3210cd6f5fdfdc1beff4c9541673e814354d5.
Verification
The fix was re-checked against main before publication, including targeted regression tests for the affected security boundary.
Credits
Thanks @smaeljaish771 for reporting.
- Record
GHSA-4f8g-77mw-3rxc- CVSS 4.0
- 2.0 Low
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 7.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-269, CWE-863
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
openclawnpm |
before 2026.4.8 | 2026.4.8 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-42429 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.0) in Openclaw, published April 9, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.24%, the 15th percentile. Fixed in openclaw 2026.4.8.
References
github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-4f8g-77mw-3rxc
vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-privilege-escalation-via-gateway-plugin-http-authentication
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42429