Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify any direct impact of this vulnerability on compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

Useful 0 Not Useful 0

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-42432 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in OpenClaw versions before 2026.4.8. It allows previously paired nodes to reconnect using commands capable of executing privileged operations without requiring the usual operator.admin scope or re-pairing authentication.

This means an attacker who has access to a previously paired node can bypass security restrictions and execute privileged commands on the local assistant system, effectively escalating their privileges.

Useful 0 Not Useful 0

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to unauthorized execution of privileged commands on the local assistant system, potentially compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system.

• Attackers can bypass authentication mechanisms intended to restrict command execution.
• Previously paired nodes can be exploited to gain elevated privileges without operator approval.
• The system's security boundaries can be breached, allowing malicious actions that could disrupt normal operations or leak sensitive information.

Useful 0 Not Useful 0

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, you should upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.4.8 or later, where the issue has been fixed.

This update addresses the privilege escalation vulnerability by enforcing proper operator.admin scope requirements during node pairing reconnect commands.

Useful 0 Not Useful 0