Executive Summary

CVE-2026-41331 is a resource consumption vulnerability in OpenClaw versions before 2026.3.31 related to Telegram audio preflight transcription. Unauthorized senders in Telegram group chats can trigger the transcription process without proper authorization because the system does not enforce allowlist checks early enough. This means attackers can initiate transcription operations before authorization is verified, causing unnecessary use of system resources or billing charges.

The vulnerability arises from insufficient enforcement of sender authorization, allowing unauthorized group senders to cause the system to process audio transcription requests. The issue was fixed by adding a check that only allows authorized senders to trigger audio preflight transcription.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to excessive consumption of system resources or unexpected billing costs because unauthorized users can repeatedly trigger audio transcription operations without permission. Although it does not directly expose data or compromise the host, the unauthorized use of resources can degrade system performance and increase operational expenses.

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Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate CVE-2026-41331, you should update OpenClaw to version 2026.3.31 or later, where the vulnerability has been fixed.

The fix involves gating the Telegram audio preflight transcription feature based on sender authorization, ensuring that only authorized senders can trigger transcription processing.

• Apply the patch or upgrade to OpenClaw 2026.3.31 which includes the authorization check for audio preflight transcription.
• Verify that the configuration option `commands.useAccessGroups` is enabled to enforce sender authorization.
• Monitor your system logs for unauthorized transcription attempts, which the patched version logs with reasons such as "no-mention".

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Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify any direct impact of CVE-2026-41331 on compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

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Detection Guidance

The vulnerability involves unauthorized Telegram group senders triggering audio preflight transcription before authorization checks, causing resource consumption. Detection would focus on identifying unauthorized transcription requests or unusual audio preflight transcription activity from group senders.

Since the vulnerability is related to the OpenClaw application's handling of Telegram audio preflight transcription, monitoring logs for transcription attempts from unauthorized senders or unexpected transcription triggers can help detect exploitation.

Specific commands are not provided in the available resources. However, general approaches include:

• Review OpenClaw application logs for entries indicating audio preflight transcription triggered by group senders without proper authorization.
• Use network monitoring tools to detect unusual or excessive API calls or network traffic related to Telegram audio transcription features.
• If OpenClaw logs include reasons for transcription denial (e.g., "no-mention" logged when unauthorized senders are blocked), search logs for absence or presence of such entries to identify unauthorized attempts.

For precise commands or detection scripts, further details from OpenClaw's logging or monitoring setup would be needed, which are not provided in the current resources.

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