How severe is GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728?

GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 has a CVSS score of 9.4/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728?

GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 affects the following packages: openclaw (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728?

Update openclaw to 2026.3.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 in my npm dependencies?

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.

How do I mitigate GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728?

GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.5%, placing it in the 42th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728?

GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 is classified as CWE-266 (CWE-266). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 was published on March 13, 2026 and was last updated on April 6, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦

📦 npm

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

OpenClaw: Plugin subagent routes could bypass gateway authorization with synthetic admin scopesGHSA-xw77-45gv-p728

CRITICAL

GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.4) CWE-266 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Also known asCVE-2026-32916

Published

Mar 13, 2026

Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
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 GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs42th percentile — riskier than 42% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

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

2.9Mdownloads / week

Description

Summary

In affected versions of openclaw, the plugin subagent runtime dispatched gateway methods through a synthetic operator client that always carried broad administrative scopes. Plugin-owned HTTP routes using auth: "plugin" could therefore trigger admin-only gateway actions without normal gateway authorization.

Impact

This is a critical authorization bypass. An external unauthenticated request to a plugin-owned route could reach privileged subagent runtime methods and perform admin-only gateway actions such as deleting sessions, reading session data, or triggering agent execution.

Affected Packages and Versions

Package: openclaw (npm)
Affected versions: >= 2026.3.7, < 2026.3.11
Fixed in: 2026.3.11

Technical Details

The new plugin subagent runtime preserved neither the original caller's auth context nor least-privilege scope. Instead, it executed gateway dispatches through a fabricated operator client with administrative scopes, which was reachable from plugin-owned routes that intentionally bypass normal gateway auth so plugins can perform their own webhook verification.

Fix

OpenClaw now preserves real authorization boundaries for plugin subagent calls instead of dispatching them through synthetic admin scopes. The fix shipped in [email protected].

Workarounds

Upgrade to 2026.3.11 or later.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`openclaw`	≥ 2026.3.7&&< 2026.3.11	2026.3.11`npm install openclaw@2026.3.11`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

openclawopenclaw

≥ 2026.3.7 && < 2026.3.11

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

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.
Fix
Update openclaw to 2026.3.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xw77-45gv-p728 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

## Summary In affected versions of `openclaw`, the plugin subagent runtime dispatched gateway methods through a synthetic operator client that always carried broad administrative scopes. Plugin-owned HTTP routes using `auth: "plugin"` could therefore trigger admin-only gateway actions without normal gateway authorization. ## Impact This is a critical authorization bypass. An external unauthenticated request to a plugin-owned route could reach privileged subagent runtime methods and perform admin-only gateway actions such as deleting sessions, reading session data, or triggering agent executio