AI agent vulnerability · OpenClaw

CVE-2026-22172: OpenClaw: WebSocket shared-auth connections could self-declare elevated scopes

criticalCVSS 3.1 9.9GHSA-rqpp-rjj8-7wv8

Summary A logic flaw in the OpenClaw gateway WebSocket connect path allowed certain device-less shared-token or password-authenticated backend connections to keep client-declared scopes without server-side binding. A shared-authenticated client could present elevated scopes such as operator.admin even though those scopes were not tied to a device identity or an explicitly trusted Control UI path.

Published Mar 13, 2026 · Updated Mar 20, 2026

Affected packages

openclaw

Ecosystem: npm
Affected: <= 2026.3.11
Fixed in: 2026.3.12
Check: npm ls openclaw

Advisory details

From the GitHub Advisory Database (CC BY 4.0).

Summary

A logic flaw in the OpenClaw gateway WebSocket connect path allowed certain device-less shared-token or password-authenticated backend connections to keep client-declared scopes without server-side binding. A shared-authenticated client could present elevated scopes such as operator.admin even though those scopes were not tied to a device identity or an explicitly trusted Control UI path.

Impact

This crossed the intended authorization boundary and could let a shared-secret-authenticated backend client perform admin-only gateway operations.

Affected versions

openclaw <= 2026.3.11

Patch

Fixed in openclaw 2026.3.12. The gateway now clears unbound scopes for non-Control-UI shared-auth connections, and regression tests cover the device-less shared-auth path.

Credited to LUOYEcode.

References

How this page is made: the data panel comes from the GitHub Advisory Database, CISA’s KEV catalog, the NVD and FIRST EPSS, and updates twice a day. No analysis has been written for this entry yet. Methodology

More OpenClaw vulnerabilities

All OpenClaw entries