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OpenclawApplication

CVE-2026-53817

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2026.5.22 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 2026.5.22 contains a locality validation vulnerability in Control UI pairing that allows attackers with network access to spoof locality information and obtain durable admin-capable device tokens. Attackers can exploit insufficient locality-derived trust validation to convert temporary shared access into persistent administrative credentials that survive token rotation.

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 2026.5.22 has a locality validation flaw in Control UI pairing where attackers with network access can spoof locality information to obtain durable admin-capable device tokens, converting temporary shared access into persistent administrative credentials that survive token rotation.

MitigationUpgrade to OpenClaw 2026.5.22 or later which implements proper locality-derived trust validation to prevent spoofing-based token persistence.

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:< 2026.5.22

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 installed version
    Run 'openclaw --version' or check the version file in the installation directory (e.g., /opt/openclaw/version or similar)
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than 2026.5.22
  2. Verify Control UI pairing status
    Inspect the OpenClaw configuration file (typically openclaw.conf or settings.json) for the 'control_ui_pairing' or 'pairing' settings
    Affected if Control UI pairing is enabled (set to true or 'enabled') in the configuration
  3. Examine device tokens for persistence
    Review the token database or credential store (often in /var/lib/openclaw/tokens/ or similar) for device tokens marked as 'durable' or 'persistent'
    Affected if There are device tokens that persist beyond their expected expiration or survive token rotation cycles
  4. Identify admin-capable tokens from temporary access
    Audit the authentication logs and token inventory for admin-level tokens that originated from shared/ temporary access sessions
    Affected if Admin-capable device tokens exist that were created from temporary or shared access pairings, indicating successful exploitation

You are affected if OpenClaw is version < 2026.5.22 AND Control UI pairing is enabled, with any persistent admin tokens found in the token inventory that originated from temporary access pairings.

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 2026.5.22 or later
Fixed in 2026.5.22
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to OpenClaw 2026.5.22 or later which implements proper locality-derived trust validation to prevent spoofing-based token persistence.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

OpenClaw 2026.5.22

  1. 1. Verify current OpenClaw installation version using system diagnostics or version check command
  2. 2. Backup current configuration and any existing device pairings before proceeding
  3. 3. Obtain OpenClaw version 2026.5.22 or later from the official distribution channel
  4. 4. Install the updated version following standard upgrade procedures
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify that locality validation in Control UI pairing is functioning correctly
  6. 6. Revoke any suspicious or unexpected admin tokens that may have been obtained during exploitation
  7. 7. Monitor for any unauthorized administrative access attempts
Caveat Review release notes for any changes to pairing workflows or token management that may affect existing configurations

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

Fix this in Openclaw Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
52.0 hours of engineering $9,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $14,656.

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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-2026-53817 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