CVE-2026-35627
Received Received - Intake
Pre-Auth Resource Exhaustion in OpenClaw Nostr Message Handling

Publication date: 2026-04-09

Last updated on: 2026-04-16

Assigner: VulnCheck

Description
OpenClaw before 2026.3.22 performs cryptographic and dispatch operations on inbound Nostr direct messages before enforcing sender and pairing policy validation. Attackers can trigger unauthorized pre-authentication computation by sending crafted DM messages, enabling denial of service through resource exhaustion.
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Meta Information
Published
2026-04-09
Last Modified
2026-04-16
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2026-04-10
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2026-35627
EUVD
EUVD-2026-21112
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
openclaw openclaw to 2026.3.22 (exc)
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Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-696 The product performs multiple related behaviors, but the behaviors are performed in the wrong order in ways that may produce resultant weaknesses.
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Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in OpenClaw versions before 2026.3.22. The software performs cryptographic and dispatch operations on inbound Nostr direct messages before it validates the sender and pairing policies. This means that attackers can send specially crafted direct messages that trigger unauthorized computations before authentication checks are done.

As a result, attackers can cause a denial of service by exhausting system resources through these pre-authentication computations.

Impact Analysis

The primary impact of this vulnerability is denial of service (DoS). Attackers can exploit it to consume system resources by sending crafted direct messages, which forces the system to perform expensive cryptographic operations before verifying the sender's legitimacy.

This can lead to resource exhaustion, potentially making the service unavailable or degraded for legitimate users.

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