Executive brief
OpenClaw is a gateway credential management tool used to handle authentication tokens and passwords for local and remote access. A misconfiguration in versions up to 2026.3.8 could allow the system to fall back to remote credentials when local authentication references fail to resolve, potentially exposing the system to using unintended credential sources and bypassing intended local authentication boundaries.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a credential fallback logic error (CWE-636: Failing Open) in OpenClaw's local gateway helper credential resolution. When configured local gateway.auth.token or gateway.auth.password SecretRefs are unavailable (fail to resolve), the system incorrectly treats them as unset and falls back to remote credentials in local mode, rather than failing closed. This occurs because the fallback logic makes decisions based on resolved credential values rather than whether the input was actually configured. An attacker with local access and low privileges can exploit misconfigured local auth references to cause CLI and helper paths to select incorrect credential sources. The vulnerability is local-only, requires high attack complexity, and affects confidentiality but not integrity or availability. The fix, released in OpenClaw 2026.3.11, separates the tracking of input configuration from resolution success.
Affected products
- OpenClaw OpenClaw before 2026.3.11
Timeline
- 2026-03-12: disclosed: Original advisory GHSA-qvr7-g57c-mrc7 published
- 2026-03-31: disclosed: Duplicate advisory GHSA-vm29-7mq3-9jrg published
- 2026-03-11: patched: Fix released in OpenClaw 2026.3.11
- 2026-04-07: other: Duplicate advisory GHSA-vm29-7mq3-9jrg withdrawn