OpenClaw Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in Trusted Proxy Control UI

A privilege escalation vulnerability has been identified in OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.3.22. This vulnerability allows unauthenticated sessions to retain self-declared privileged scopes in the Control UI, bypassing necessary device identity verification. Exploitation involves using the trusted-proxy mechanism to maintain elevated permissions by declaring arbitrary scopes, creating a pathway for unauthorized access to privileged functions.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability allows for unauthorized retention of privileged scopes, enabling access to elevated permissions and associated functionalities within the application.

Reproduction

The vulnerability can be reproduced by connecting to the OpenClaw application via a trusted-proxy control UI session without a bound device identity. This can be done by declaring scopes that grant elevated permissions, such as 'operator.admin', while omitting device identity information. The absence of verification allows the session to retain the declared privileges, bypassing the normal requirements for device authentication.

Remediation

Users can upgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.3.22 or later to address this vulnerability.