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OpenclawApplication

CVE-2026-35674

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2026.5.18 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 2026.5.18 contains a scope bypass vulnerability in the Gateway chat.send route that allows scoped clients to execute privileged commands. Attackers with operator.write scope can deliver commands through inherited external routes to bypass operator.approvals and operator.admin scope requirements, enabling unauthorized plugin, config, MCP, allowlist, and ACP mutations.

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 2026.5.18 has a scope bypass vulnerability in the Gateway chat.send route where operators with only operator.write scope can bypass operator.approvals and operator.admin requirements by sending privileged commands through inherited external routes, allowing unauthorized mutations to plugins, configs, MCP, allowlist, and ACP settings.

MitigationUpgrade to OpenClaw 2026.5.18 or later, which should contain proper scope validation enforcement in the chat.send Gateway route to prevent inherited route scope bypass.

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:< 2026.5.18

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. Check OpenClaw version
    Locate the installed OpenClaw version by querying the application version endpoint, checking the about page in the admin console, or running 'openclaw --version' if CLI is available. Compare the version number to 2026.5.18.
    Affected if The installed version is below 2026.5.18 (e.g., 2026.5.17, 2026.4.x, or earlier).
  2. Identify operator.write scope assignments
    Access the OpenClaw admin console or identity provider configuration. Navigate to the scope or permission settings for client applications or user roles. Look for assignments of the 'operator.write' scope.
    Affected if Any client application, service account, or user role has the operator.write scope granted.
  3. Verify Gateway chat.send route exists
    Examine the OpenClaw Gateway configuration files (typically in /etc/openclaw/gateway/ or similar) or the route definitions in the admin console. Locate the 'chat.send' route definition.
    Affected if The chat.send route is defined and enabled in the Gateway configuration.
  4. Check for inherited external routes
    Inspect the Gateway route configuration for the chat.send route or its parent scope. Look for any 'external routes' or 'inherited routes' settings that allow routing through external services or additional endpoints.
    Affected if The chat.send route or its operator.write scope configuration includes inherited or external route references that bypass standard scope enforcement.

You are affected if OpenClaw version is below 2026.5.18 AND operator.write scope is assigned to any client while the chat.send route with inherited external routes is enabled.

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 2026.5.18 or later
Fixed in 2026.5.18
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to OpenClaw 2026.5.18 or later, which should contain proper scope validation enforcement in the chat.send Gateway route to prevent inherited route scope bypass.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

2026.5.18

  1. 1. Back up your current OpenClaw configuration and data directory before proceeding with the upgrade.
  2. 2. Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.5.18 or later by following your deployment method (e.g., package manager, Docker, or manual installation).
  3. 3. After upgrading, restart the OpenClaw service to load the new version.
  4. 4. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the OpenClaw version at startup or via the admin interface.
  5. 5. Confirm that operator.write scope can no longer bypass operator.approvals or operator.admin scope requirements by testing that scoped clients cannot access plugin, config, MCP, allowlist, and ACP mutation endpoints.

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

Fix this in Openclaw Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.

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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-2026-35674 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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