CVE-2026-53816
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 · uneditedOpenClaw before 2026.5.18 contains an insufficient provenance validation vulnerability in node event handling that allows paired nodes to forge exec lifecycle events without system.run authorization. A malicious or compromised paired node can send crafted node.event messages to the gateway, steering target sessions into exec-event paths that expose capabilities the reduced node surface should not provide.
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 confidenceOpenClaw before 2026.5.18 has insufficient provenance validation in its node event handling system. Malicious or compromised paired nodes can send crafted node.event messages to the gateway that bypass authorization checks, allowing them to forge exec lifecycle events without system.run authorization and steer target sessions into exec-event paths that expose unauthorized capabilities.
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< 2026.5.18CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed OpenClaw versionRun the OpenClaw version command or inspect the package metadata to determine the exact version number currently deployedAffected if The installed version is lower than 2026.5.18
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Verify node pairing statusCheck the gateway configuration for paired node definitions and confirm whether external nodes are paired and communicating with the gatewayAffected if Paired nodes are configured and actively sending node.event messages to the gateway
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Inspect node.event message handling configurationReview the gateway's node.event message processing configuration to determine if provenance validation is enabled for incoming event messagesAffected if Provenance validation is not enforced on incoming node.event messages from paired nodes
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Check exec lifecycle event authorization rulesExamine the authorization configuration for exec lifecycle events to verify if system.run authorization is required regardless of message originAffected if Exec lifecycle events can be triggered without system.run authorization when originating from node.event messages
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Review session steering configuration for exec-event pathsInspect the session management configuration to determine how sessions are steered into exec-event paths based on node.event messagesAffected if Sessions can be directed into exec-event paths based on unauthenticated node.event messages
A user is affected if their OpenClaw installation is version below 2026.5.18 AND paired nodes can send node.event messages that bypass authorization to trigger exec lifecycle events without system.run validation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped2026.5.18
Implement cryptographic provenance validation for all node.event messages and enforce system.run authorization checks before allowing any exec lifecycle events to proceed, regardless of message origin.
OpenClaw 2026.5.18 or later
- Identify the current OpenClaw version currently installed
- Back up all OpenClaw configuration files and data
- Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.5.18 or later
- After upgrade, verify that node event handling now properly validates provenance and requires system.run authorization
- Confirm that paired nodes can no longer forge exec lifecycle events without proper authorization
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-53816 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-53816 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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