dbcve.org
OpenclawApplication

CVE-2026-33573

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2026.3.11 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
OpenClaw before 2026.3.11 contains an authorization bypass vulnerability in the gateway agent RPC that allows authenticated operators with operator.write permission to override workspace boundaries by supplying attacker-controlled spawnedBy and workspaceDir values. Remote operators can escape the configured workspace boundary and execute arbitrary file and exec operations from any process-accessible directory.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

OpenClaw before 2026.3.11 has an authorization bypass in the gateway agent RPC where authenticated operators with operator.write permission can supply attacker-controlled spawnedBy and workspaceDir values to override configured workspace boundaries, enabling arbitrary file and command execution from any process-accessible directory.

MitigationUpgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.3.11 or later which contains the fix for this authorization bypass vulnerability in the gateway agent RPC.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
OpenclawApplication
Affected:< 2026.3.11

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed OpenClaw version
    Run 'openclaw --version' or check the application binary/version file to determine the current version number
    Affected if Version is earlier than 2026.3.11 (e.g., 2026.3.10, 2026.2.x, etc.)
  2. Verify gateway agent RPC is enabled
    Check the OpenClaw configuration file or running service for the 'gateway.agent.rpc.enabled' or similar setting that controls RPC access
    Affected if The gateway agent RPC interface is exposed and accessible
  3. Identify operators with operator.write permission
    Review the operator/role configuration to list accounts that have the 'operator.write' permission assigned
    Affected if Any operator account possesses the operator.write permission
  4. Check workspace boundary configuration
    Inspect the workspace settings in the OpenClaw configuration to see if spawnedBy and workspaceDir parameters are validated against configured boundaries
    Affected if Workspace boundaries exist but spawnedBy and workspaceDir values can be overridden by operators with write permission
  5. Verify RPC parameter handling
    Test or inspect RPC gateway requests to determine if supplied spawnedBy and workspaceDir values override configured workspace restrictions
    Affected if The RPC accepts and enforces user-supplied spawnedBy and workspaceDir values without strict validation

You are affected if running OpenClaw version below 2026.3.11 with the gateway agent RPC enabled and operators having operator.write permission, allowing workspace boundary overrides.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2026.3.11 or later
Fixed in 2026.3.11
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.3.11 or later which contains the fix for this authorization bypass vulnerability in the gateway agent RPC.

Recommended fix High confidence

OpenClaw 2026.3.11 or later

  1. 1. Identify current installed version of OpenClaw by checking the application or its configuration files
  2. 2. If running a version earlier than 2026.3.11, plan for upgrade to version 2026.3.11 or later
  3. 3. Review existing operator permissions - ensure operator.write permission is only granted to trusted personnel as this vulnerability exploits this permission level
  4. 4. Schedule maintenance window for upgrade following standard deployment procedures
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the gateway agent RPC now correctly enforces workspace boundaries and rejects attacker-controlled spawnedBy and workspaceDir values
  6. 6. Test that workspace boundary controls function as expected, preventing escape to process-accessible directories
Caveat Review release notes for 2026.3.11 to check for any breaking changes in operator permissions or RPC API behavior

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Openclaw Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-33573 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-33573 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data