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CVE-2026-28473 — openclaw

Fix: openclaw/openclaw@efe2a46

CVE-2026-28473 is a CWE-863 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.

OpenClaw < 2026.2.2 - Authorization Bypass via /approve Chat Command

Also known asGHSA-mqpw-46fh-299h
Published
Mar 5, 2026
Updated
Aug 12, 2026
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Sep 21, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

  • CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-28473.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
0.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs21th percentile — riskier than 21% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.

133other npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream
openclawnpm
2.7Mdownloads / week

Description

Summary

What this means (plain language)

If you give a client “chat/write” access to the gateway (operator.write) but you do not intend to let that client approve exec requests (operator.approvals), affected versions could still let that client approve/deny a pending exec approval by sending the /approve chat command.

This is mainly relevant for shared or multi-client setups where different tokens are intentionally scoped differently. Single-operator installs are typically less impacted.

Technical summary

A gateway client authenticated with a device token scoped only to operator.write (without operator.approvals) could approve/deny pending exec approval requests by sending a chat message containing the built-in /approve command.

exec.approval.resolve is correctly scoped to operator.approvals for direct RPC calls, but the /approve command path invoked it via an internal privileged gateway client.

Affected Packages / Versions

  • openclaw (npm): < 2026.2.2

Fix

  • Fixed in openclaw 2026.2.2.
  • Fix commit(s): efe2a464afcff55bb5a95b959e6bd9ec0fef086e.
  • Change: when /approve is invoked from gateway clients (webchat/internal channel), it now requires the requesting client to have operator.approvals (or operator.admin).

Workarounds

  • Upgrade to openclaw >= 2026.2.2.
  • If you cannot upgrade: avoid issuing write-only device tokens to untrusted clients; disable text commands (commands.text=false) or restrict access to the webchat/control UI.

References

  • Fix: src/auto-reply/reply/commands-approve.ts
  • Coverage: src/auto-reply/reply/commands-approve.test.ts

Release Process Note

This advisory is kept in draft; once the fixed npm versions are available, it can be published without further edits.

Thanks @yueyueL for reporting.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
📦npmopenclawall versions2026.2.2npm install openclaw@2026.2.2

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for openclaw, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update openclaw to 2026.2.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-28473 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

  4. How O3 protects you

    O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2026-28473 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Tailored to CVE-2026-28473. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

## Summary ### What this means (plain language) If you give a client “chat/write” access to the gateway (`operator.write`) but you do not intend to let that client approve exec requests (`operator.approvals`), affected versions could still let that client approve/deny a pending exec approval by sending the `/approve` chat command. This is mainly relevant for shared or multi-client setups where different tokens are intentionally scoped differently. Single-operator installs are typically less impacted. ### Technical summary A gateway client authenticated with a device token scoped only to `
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2026-28473 in your dependencies?

O3 Security finds CVE-2026-28473 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.

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CVE-2026-28473: openclaw | O3 Security