OpenclawApplication

CVE-2026-62196

HIGH · 8.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2026.6.6 or later.
See remediation →
89/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable Zero-click 5 weeks old

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 versions 2026.3.22 before 2026.6.6 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability where WhatsApp group IDs can satisfy elevated sender allowlists. Attackers with lower-trust access can perform actions requiring stronger authorization by leveraging group ID validation in the affected feature.

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 versions 2026.3.22 through 2026.6.5 contain an authorization bypass where WhatsApp group IDs are incorrectly validated against elevated sender allowlists that should only permit individual high-privilege users. Attackers with lower-trust access can exploit this by sending messages from group contexts to bypass authorization checks and perform actions requiring stronger authentication.

MitigationUpgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.6.6 or later. Additionally, implement proper validation to distinguish WhatsApp group IDs from individual sender IDs in allowlist enforcement, ensuring group contexts cannot satisfy elevated permission requirements.

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:>= 2026.3.22, < 2026.6.6

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
Low

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

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. Identify OpenClaw installation version
    Locate the OpenClaw application and retrieve its version number (check the application itself, a version file, or the software's about/information page)
    Affected if The installed version is 2026.3.22 through 2026.6.5 inclusive
  2. Confirm WhatsApp integration is active
    Check whether the WhatsApp messaging module or integration is enabled in the OpenClaw configuration
    Affected if WhatsApp integration is enabled and the version falls within the affected range
  3. Locate elevated sender allowlists
    Find the authorization configuration that defines elevated-permission sender allowlists within OpenClaw (typically in security, authentication, or permission settings)
    Affected if Elevated sender allowlists exist and are in use for WhatsApp message handling
  4. Verify group messaging authorization logic
    Examine how the system validates WhatsApp message senders against allowlists, specifically looking for logic that determines whether a message originates from a group versus an individual user
    Affected if The validation does not properly distinguish between group-sent messages and individual user messages when checking allowlist permissions
  5. Review recent authorization logs for group-context actions
    Search authentication or audit logs for actions performed from WhatsApp group contexts that may have bypassed elevated permission checks
    Affected if Actions were taken using elevated permissions from group-originated messages

The environment is affected if OpenClaw version 2026.3.22 through 2026.6.5 is running with WhatsApp integration enabled and elevated sender allowlists are in use without proper group-versus-individual sender validation.

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 2026.6.6 or later
Fixed in 2026.6.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.6.6 or later. Additionally, implement proper validation to distinguish WhatsApp group IDs from individual sender IDs in allowlist enforcement, ensuring group contexts cannot satisfy elevated permission requirements.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.6.6 or later

  1. Identify the current OpenClaw version in use by checking the application's version endpoint or configuration
  2. Confirm the installed version falls within the vulnerable range: >= 2026.3.22 and < 2026.6.6
  3. Plan an upgrade to version 2026.6.6 or later, ensuring to review release notes for any changes
  4. Before upgrading, perform a full backup of the OpenClaw configuration and data directory
  5. Schedule a maintenance window to minimize service disruption
  6. Execute the upgrade process following standard deployment procedures for your environment
  7. After upgrade, verify the application starts successfully and all services are operational
  8. Test the WhatsApp sender allowlist functionality to confirm the authorization bypass is remediated - verify that group IDs no longer satisfy elevated sender allowlist requirements
Caveat Review release notes for version 2026.6.6 to check for any breaking changes in WhatsApp integration or authorization behavior; exercise caution if custom allowlist configurations exist

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

Fix this in Openclaw Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,820
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2026-62196 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