GHSA-3C6J-HQ33-3JV4
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-07-02 17:12 – Updated: 2026-07-02 17:12Summary
OpenClaw nodes send lifecycle events back to the gateway. In affected releases, a paired node could send an exec lifecycle event that was accepted without enough provenance tying it to an authorized system.run request.
This issue affects the node event boundary. It does not allow an unauthenticated caller to reach the gateway; the attacker must already control a paired node connection.
Affected configurations
This affects deployments with a paired node where that node can send crafted node.event messages to the gateway and the target agent/session can process exec lifecycle events.
Impact
A malicious or compromised paired node could make the gateway treat attacker-supplied event data as an exec lifecycle result. In the vulnerable flow, that could steer the target session into an exec-event path that exposed capabilities the reduced node surface should not have provided.
The issue is a missing provenance check for node-originated lifecycle events.
Patched Versions
The first stable patched version is 2026.5.18.
Mitigations
Upgrade to openclaw@2026.5.18 or later. Pair nodes only from trusted environments, and remove/re-pair nodes that may have been compromised.
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "npm",
"name": "openclaw"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "2026.5.18"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-53816"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-284",
"CWE-862",
"CWE-863"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-07-02T17:12:03Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2026-06-11T21:16:23Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "### Summary\n\nOpenClaw nodes send lifecycle events back to the gateway. In affected releases, a paired node could send an exec lifecycle event that was accepted without enough provenance tying it to an authorized `system.run` request.\n\nThis issue affects the node event boundary. It does not allow an unauthenticated caller to reach the gateway; the attacker must already control a paired node connection.\n\n### Affected configurations\n\nThis affects deployments with a paired node where that node can send crafted `node.event` messages to the gateway and the target agent/session can process exec lifecycle events.\n\n### Impact\n\nA malicious or compromised paired node could make the gateway treat attacker-supplied event data as an exec lifecycle result. In the vulnerable flow, that could steer the target session into an exec-event path that exposed capabilities the reduced node surface should not have provided.\n\nThe issue is a missing provenance check for node-originated lifecycle events.\n\n### Patched Versions\n\nThe first stable patched version is `2026.5.18`.\n\n### Mitigations\n\nUpgrade to `openclaw@2026.5.18` or later. Pair nodes only from trusted environments, and remove/re-pair nodes that may have been compromised.",
"id": "GHSA-3c6j-hq33-3jv4",
"modified": "2026-07-02T17:12:03Z",
"published": "2026-07-02T17:12:03Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-3c6j-hq33-3jv4"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53816"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-exec-lifecycle-event-forgery-via-paired-node"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
},
{
"score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
"type": "CVSS_V4"
}
],
"summary": "OpenClaw: Paired nodes could forge exec lifecycle events without system.run provenance"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.