CVE-2026-32916
Authorization Bypass in OpenClaw Plugin Enables Remote Privilege Escalation
Publication date: 2026-03-31
Last updated on: 2026-04-02
Assigner: VulnCheck
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| openclaw | openclaw | From 2026.3.7 (inc) to 2026.3.11 (exc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-266 | A product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
How does this vulnerability affect compliance with common standards and regulations (like GDPR, HIPAA)?:
CVE-2026-32916 allows remote unauthenticated attackers to perform privileged gateway actions such as session deletion and agent execution without proper authorization. This unauthorized access to sensitive operations can lead to breaches of confidentiality and integrity of data.
Such unauthorized access and potential data manipulation or deletion could negatively impact compliance with common standards and regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, which require strict controls over access to sensitive data and systems to protect privacy and ensure data integrity.
Therefore, if exploited, this vulnerability could result in violations of regulatory requirements related to access control, data protection, and auditability.
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
CVE-2026-32916 is an authorization bypass vulnerability in OpenClaw versions before 2026.3.11. The issue occurs because plugin subagent routes execute gateway methods using a synthetic operator client that has broad administrative privileges. This means that remote, unauthenticated attackers can send requests to plugin-owned routes that invoke privileged runtime.subagent methods without proper authorization.
As a result, attackers can perform high-privilege actions such as deleting sessions and executing agents, bypassing normal security controls. The root cause is improper privilege assignment and authorization checks in the subagent runtime, which uses a fabricated operator client instead of preserving the original caller's authentication context.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
This vulnerability can have serious impacts because it allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to perform privileged gateway actions without authorization.
- Attackers can delete active sessions, potentially disrupting legitimate user activity.
- Attackers can execute agents, which may lead to unauthorized code execution or manipulation of system behavior.
- Confidentiality and integrity of the system can be compromised due to unauthorized access and actions.
The vulnerability has a high severity score (CVSS 7.7), indicating significant risk if exploited.
How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?
This vulnerability involves unauthorized remote unauthenticated requests to plugin-owned routes invoking runtime.subagent methods with broad administrative privileges. Detection would involve monitoring network traffic for suspicious HTTP requests targeting plugin-owned routes that call runtime.subagent.* methods without proper authentication.
Since the vulnerability exploits plugin routes that execute privileged gateway actions, you can detect attempts by inspecting logs or using network monitoring tools to identify requests to these routes.
Specific commands are not provided in the available resources, but general approaches include:
- Using network packet capture tools (e.g., tcpdump or Wireshark) to filter HTTP requests to plugin-owned routes.
- Checking application or gateway logs for unauthorized or unauthenticated calls to runtime.subagent methods.
- Using curl or similar HTTP clients to test plugin routes for unauthorized access, e.g., sending requests without authentication headers to plugin-owned endpoints and observing if privileged actions are executed.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
The primary mitigation is to upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.3.11 or later, where the vulnerability has been fixed by modifying the subagent runtime to propagate the real gateway client’s authentication context and restrict unauthenticated plugin-route access to non-admin scopes.
If upgrading immediately is not possible, avoid exposing plugin-owned public routes that call runtime.subagent.* methods unless strict authentication and authorization are implemented.
Additionally, review and restrict plugin routes to ensure they do not allow unauthenticated or unauthorized access to privileged gateway actions.