CVE-2026-45006: OpenClaw improper access control in gateway tool config operations

CVE-2026-45006 · Severity: high · CVSS 8.8 · Published 2026-05-11

OpenClaw is an AI agent framework. A security flaw in its gateway tool allows a compromised or malicious AI model to bypass safety restrictions and modify the system's core configuration. This could allow an attacker to gain persistent control over the system, change network behavior, or access sensitive credentials, with changes remaining in effect even after the service is restarted.

Technologies: openclaw (npm), Openclaw. Vendors: npm, Openclaw.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-45006 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-45006 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-45006?
High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.8, published 11 May 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
openclaw (npm) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=2026.4.23; Openclaw < 2026.4.23.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-45006?
Yes. openclaw (npm): upgrade to 2026.4.23 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-45006 attacked?
It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-45006?
Check whether you run openclaw (npm) or Openclaw at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • openclaw (npm): upgrade to 2026.4.23 or later
    npm install openclaw@2026.4.23

Technical details

An improper access control vulnerability (CWE-184/CWE-862) exists in OpenClaw's gateway tool due to an incomplete denylist used to protect sensitive configuration paths. The gateway tool's config.apply and config.patch operations are intended to have a model-to-operator trust boundary; however, because the configuration schema outgrew the manual denylist, sensitive subtrees remained writable. A compromised model or an attacker with low privileges can exploit this over the network to persist malicious modifications to command execution settings, network/proxy behaviors, and operator policies. The vulnerability is fixed in version 2026.4.23 by replacing the denylist with a fail-closed allowlist that only permits a narrow set of agent-tunable paths.

Affected products

  • openclaw openclaw < 2026.4.23

Identifiers

  • CVE-2026-45006
  • GHSA-cwj3-vqpp-pmxr

Timeline

  • 2026-04-23: patched: Fix committed to repository.
  • 2026-04-24: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published.
  • 2026-05-11: disclosed: CVE published to NVD.

References

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