CVE-2026-42429
OpenClaw before 2026.4.8 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the gateway plugin HTTP authentication mechanism that escalates identity-bearing operator.read requests to runtime operator.write permissions.
Does this matter?
Lower severity and a low EPSS score (0.24%). Track it; it rarely justifies an emergency change on its own.
Description
OpenClaw before 2026.4.8 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the gateway plugin HTTP authentication mechanism that escalates identity-bearing operator.read requests to runtime operator.write permissions. Attackers can exploit this by sending read-scoped requests through the gateway auth route to gain unauthorized write access to runtime operations.
- CVSS 4.0
- 6.0 MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/M
- EPSS
- 0.24% probability · 15th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-863
- Affected
- openclaw/openclaw
- Source
- disclosure@vulncheck.com
References
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/d7c3210cd6f5fdfdc1beff4c9541673e814354d5Patch
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-4f8g-77mw-3rxcVendor Advisory
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-privilege-escalation-via-gateway-plugin-http-authenticationThird Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.