dbcve.org
OpenclawApplication

CVE-2026-53811

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2026.5.7 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 2026.5.7 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the Matrix allowFrom feature that allows authenticated accounts to match policy entries through mutable display name metadata. Attackers with the ability to change display names can receive agent access intended for another Matrix identity, potentially gaining unauthorized permissions depending on operator configuration.

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 · moderate confidence

OpenClaw before 2026.5.7 has a privilege escalation vulnerability in the Matrix allowFrom feature where authenticated users can exploit mutable display name metadata to match policy entries intended for other Matrix identities. Attackers who can modify their display name to impersonate another user's display name can receive agent access and permissions assigned to that identity.

MitigationUpgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.5.7 or later. As an interim measure, restrict or closely monitor display name changes and audit existing Matrix policy configurations for overly permissive allowFrom rules.

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:< 2026.5.7

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. Determine installed OpenClaw version
    Check the OpenClaw version by running 'openclaw --version' or inspecting the package metadata/config file where version is stored (e.g., openclaw.json, version file in installation directory)
    Affected if Version is below 2026.5.7 (e.g., 2026.5.6, 2026.5.0, any pre-2026.5.7 release)
  2. Identify if Matrix allowFrom is configured
    Locate and review the OpenClaw configuration file (commonly matrix.yaml, matrix.json, or similar) and search for 'allowFrom' entries within Matrix policy definitions
    Affected if Matrix allowFrom policies exist in the configuration, indicating the feature is in use
  3. Examine Matrix policies for display name matching
    Inspect each allowFrom policy entry and identify which ones rely on displayName or display_name fields rather than immutable identity attributes like userId, sub, or uid
    Affected if Any allowFrom policy entry uses display name (displayName/display_name) as the matching criterion for access decisions
  4. Audit recent display name changes
    Review OpenClaw logs, Matrix identity provider audit logs, or user profile change logs for any recent display name modifications that may indicate exploitation attempts
    Affected if Users have changed their display names to match policy entries for identities they do not own

You are affected if running OpenClaw version below 2026.5.7 AND have Matrix allowFrom policies that rely on display name matching for access control.

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 2026.5.7 or later
Fixed in 2026.5.7
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.5.7 or later. As an interim measure, restrict or closely monitor display name changes and audit existing Matrix policy configurations for overly permissive allowFrom rules.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Openclaw 2026.5.7

  1. Identify all Openclaw installations running versions before 2026.5.7
  2. Review existing Matrix allowFrom policies to identify any that rely on display name matching for access control
  3. Plan and schedule maintenance window for upgrade process
  4. Upgrade Openclaw to version 2026.5.7 or later
  5. After upgrade, verify that display name changes no longer bypass allowFrom policy matching
  6. Consider migrating allowFrom policies to use Matrix IDs instead of display names for more stable identity matching
  7. Test agent access controls to confirm the privilege escalation is mitigated

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
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-53811 — 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-2026-53811 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