{"id":"CVE-2026-53821","aliases":["EUVD-2026-36609","GHSA-qjpc-qf9m-xwmr","GHSA-vcg8-6gf2-cg9j"],"status":"published","title":"OpenClaw \u003c 2026.5.18 - Scope Elevation in trusted-proxy Control UI WebSocket","description":"OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 accepts WebSocket client-declared operator scopes before binding to server-approved pairing or trusted-proxy authorization baseline. Unpaired or restricted trusted-proxy Control UI clients can obtain cached operator.admin authority on live WebSocket connections to execute admin-gated Gateway RPCs.","severity":{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-12","score":0.00289,"percentile":0.21685,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-862","CWE-863"],"published":"2026-06-12T21:56:49Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:30:24Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"npm","package":"openclaw","fixed_in":["2026.5.18"],"sources":["ghsa","osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"npm","package":"openclaw","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"2026.5.18"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"npm","package":"openclaw","ranges":[{"type":"SEMVER","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"2026.5.18"}]}]}],"products":[{"vendor":"openclaw","product":"openclaw"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-qjpc-qf9m-xwmr","tags":["vendor-advisory","Mitigation","Vendor Advisory","advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-scope-elevation-in-trusted-proxy-control-ui-websocket","tags":["third-party-advisory","Third Party Advisory","advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-qjpc-qf9m-xwmr"},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53821","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-vcg8-6gf2-cg9j"},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/53xxx/CVE-2026-53821.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw","tags":["package"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2026-53821","title":"OpenClaw \u003c 2026.5.18 - Scope Elevation in trusted-proxy Control UI WebSocket","description":"OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 accepts WebSocket client-declared operator scopes before binding to server-approved pairing or trusted-proxy authorization baseline. Unpaired or restricted trusted-proxy Control UI clients can obtain cached operator.admin authority on live WebSocket connections to execute admin-gated Gateway RPCs.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T21:56:49.563Z","modified":"2026-06-15T21:36:56.983Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"high","assessor":"cna"},{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-862"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:19:59.761005Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2026-36609","description":"OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 accepts WebSocket client-declared operator scopes before binding to server-approved pairing or trusted-proxy authorization baseline. Unpaired or restricted trusted-proxy Control UI clients can obtain cached operator.admin authority on live WebSocket connections to execute admin-gated Gateway RPCs.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T21:56:49Z","modified":"2026-06-15T21:36:56Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T18:20:41.428781Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-qjpc-qf9m-xwmr","title":"OpenClaw: Trusted-proxy Control UI WebSocket accepted client-declared scopes before pairing","description":"### Summary\n\nIn trusted-proxy Control UI mode, OpenClaw accepted a WebSocket client's declared operator scopes before those scopes were bound to a server-approved pairing or trusted-proxy authorization baseline.\n\nThis issue affects trusted-proxy Control UI deployments. It does not apply to shared-secret Control UI sessions, which are treated as trusted operator sessions by design.\n\n### Affected configurations\n\nThis affects deployments using `gateway.auth.mode: \"trusted-proxy\"` for Control UI access where a restricted trusted-proxy user could open a Control UI WebSocket and present a fresh, unpaired device identity with elevated requested scopes.\n\n### Impact\n\nAn unpaired or restricted trusted-proxy Control UI client could obtain cached `operator.admin` authority on its live WebSocket connection. That authority could then be used for admin-gated Gateway RPCs until the connection was closed or revalidated.\n\n### Patched Versions\n\nThe first stable patched version is `2026.5.18`.\n\n### Mitigations\n\nUpgrade to `openclaw@2026.5.18` or later. Before upgrading, restrict trusted-proxy Control UI access to users who should have the scopes they can request, and restart the gateway after changing trusted-proxy authorization policy.","status":"published","published":"2026-07-02T16:43:53Z","modified":"2026-07-02T16:43:55Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-862","CWE-863"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:40:37.437888Z"},{"id":"GHSA-vcg8-6gf2-cg9j","title":"OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 accepts WebSocket client-declared operator scopes before binding to...","description":"OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 accepts WebSocket client-declared operator scopes before binding to server-approved pairing or trusted-proxy authorization baseline. Unpaired or restricted trusted-proxy Control UI clients can obtain cached operator.admin authority on live WebSocket connections to execute admin-gated Gateway RPCs.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-13T00:34:31Z","modified":"2026-06-13T00:34:39Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/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","level":"high"},{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-862"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:08:45.788743Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2026-53821","description":"OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 accepts WebSocket client-declared operator scopes before binding to server-approved pairing or trusted-proxy authorization baseline. Unpaired or restricted trusted-proxy Control UI clients can obtain cached operator.admin authority on live WebSocket connections to execute admin-gated Gateway RPCs.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T22:16:53.173Z","modified":"2026-07-23T09:10:00.113Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/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","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"}],"cwes":["CWE-862"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:12:23.846948Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2026-53821","title":"OpenClaw \u003c 2026.5.18 - Scope Elevation in trusted-proxy Control UI WebSocket","description":"OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 accepts WebSocket client-declared operator scopes before binding to server-approved pairing or trusted-proxy authorization baseline. Unpaired or restricted trusted-proxy Control UI clients can obtain cached operator.admin authority on live WebSocket connections to execute admin-gated Gateway RPCs.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T21:56:49.563Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:30:24.349858143Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":8.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-862"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:45:08.132336Z"},{"id":"GHSA-qjpc-qf9m-xwmr","title":"OpenClaw: Trusted-proxy Control UI WebSocket accepted client-declared scopes before pairing","description":"### Summary\n\nIn trusted-proxy Control UI mode, OpenClaw accepted a WebSocket client's declared operator scopes before those scopes were bound to a server-approved pairing or trusted-proxy authorization baseline.\n\nThis issue affects trusted-proxy Control UI deployments. It does not apply to shared-secret Control UI sessions, which are treated as trusted operator sessions by design.\n\n### Affected configurations\n\nThis affects deployments using `gateway.auth.mode: \"trusted-proxy\"` for Control UI access where a restricted trusted-proxy user could open a Control UI WebSocket and present a fresh, unpaired device identity with elevated requested scopes.\n\n### Impact\n\nAn unpaired or restricted trusted-proxy Control UI client could obtain cached `operator.admin` authority on its live WebSocket connection. That authority could then be used for admin-gated Gateway RPCs until the connection was closed or revalidated.\n\n### Patched Versions\n\nThe first stable patched version is `2026.5.18`.\n\n### Mitigations\n\nUpgrade to `openclaw@2026.5.18` or later. Before upgrading, restrict trusted-proxy Control UI access to users who should have the scopes they can request, and restart the gateway after changing trusted-proxy authorization policy.","status":"published","published":"2026-07-02T16:43:53Z","modified":"2026-07-08T08:27:08.276556512Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-862","CWE-863"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:54.760124Z"}]}}