OpenclawApplication

CVE-2026-45004

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2026.4.23 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges Patch available

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 2026.4.23 contains an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in the bundled plugin setup resolver that loads setup-api.js from process.cwd() during provider setup metadata resolution. Attackers can execute arbitrary JavaScript under the current user account by placing a malicious extensions/<plugin>/setup-api.js file in a repository and convincing a user to run OpenClaw commands from that 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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-427

The program loads a library or executable from a location an attacker can influence — a writable directory early in the search order — so a malicious file is loaded with the application's privileges. On Windows this is the classic DLL-hijack. Remediation is loading only from fully-qualified trusted paths and controlling the search order explicitly.

General guidance for the uncontrolled search path (dll hijack) class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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:< 2026.4.23

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 2026.4.23 or later
Fixed in 2026.4.23
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

2026.4.23

  1. Check current OpenClaw version by running 'openclaw --version' or checking package.json
  2. Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.4.23 or later using your package manager (e.g., 'npm install [email protected]' or 'pip install openclaw==2026.4.23' depending on installation method)
  3. After upgrading, verify the fix was applied by confirming the version and optionally reviewing the vendor commit at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/993781e6e6eaf50f033cfc3e3bf4f47059740707
  4. As a defensive measure, avoid running OpenClaw commands from untrusted repository directories that may contain malicious extensions/<plugin>/setup-api.js files

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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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-2026-45004 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data