CVE-2026-43566 — openclaw
Fix: openclaw/openclaw@31281bcCVE-2026-43566 is a CWE-184 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw 2026.4.7 < 2026.4.14 - Privilege Escalation via Untrusted Webhook Wake Events
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-2026-43566.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
Real-World Exposure
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.
openclawnpmDescription
Summary
Heartbeat owner downgrade missed untrusted webhook wake events.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw - Ecosystem: npm
- Affected versions:
>= 2026.4.7 < 2026.4.14 - Patched versions:
>= 2026.4.14
Impact
Heartbeat owner downgrade logic could skip webhook wake events carrying untrusted content, preserving owner-like execution context where the run should have been downgraded.
Technical Details
The fix includes wake and hook event reasons in owner-downgrade inspection and forces downgrade for untrusted hook wake events.
Fix
The issue was fixed in #66031. The first stable tag containing the fix is v2026.4.14, and [email protected] includes the fix.
Fix Commit(s)
31281bc92f55796817a92bc43f722cba1e77ab42- PR: #66031
Release Process Note
Users should upgrade to openclaw 2026.4.14 or newer. The latest npm release, 2026.4.14, already includes the fix.
Credits
Thanks to @zsxsoft, with sponsorship from @KeenSecurityLab and @qclawer for reporting this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | ≥ 2026.4.7&&< 2026.4.14 | 2026.4.14npm install openclaw@2026.4.14 |
Affected Products
openclawopenclawDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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.
Fix
Update openclaw to 2026.4.14 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-43566 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-43566 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.