CVE-2026-28478
Published: 05 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-28478 is a high-severity Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (CWE-770) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application Exhaustion Flood (T1499.003); ranked at the 33.0th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Likely Mitigating ControlsAI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
This control implements explicit throttling on session allocation, addressing the weakness of allocating resources without limits.
Plan testing exercises resource allocation limits and throttling during simulated failures, directly addressing weaknesses that allow unbounded resource use.
Contingency plan updates ensure recovery strategies address unbounded resource allocation, making it harder for attackers to exploit lack of throttling to cause prolonged outages.
Provides continuity when unbounded resource allocation at the primary site leads to exhaustion and downtime.
Alternate services allow operations to continue when primary allocation of resources lacks limits or throttling.
Explicit planning of security-related actions requires defining limits, windows, and resource allocations, making allocation without throttling far less likely.
Measures of performance include tracking allocation behavior and throttling effectiveness, reducing the window for resource exhaustion attacks.
Imposes an inactivity-based limit on network resource allocation, throttling the number of concurrently held connections.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Vulnerability enables remote unauthenticated memory exhaustion via oversized/slow webhook payloads, directly mapping to Application Exhaustion Flood (T1499.003).
NVD Description
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.13 contain a denial of service vulnerability in webhook handlers that buffer request bodies without strict byte or time limits. Remote unauthenticated attackers can send oversized JSON payloads or slow uploads to webhook endpoints causing memory…
more
pressure and availability degradation.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-28478 is a denial-of-service vulnerability affecting OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.13, published on 2026-03-05. The issue resides in the webhook handlers, which buffer request bodies without strict byte or time limits, enabling memory exhaustion. It is rated 7.5 on the CVSS v3.1 scale (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) and maps to CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling).
Remote unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability by sending oversized JSON payloads or slow uploads to webhook endpoints. Successful exploitation leads to memory pressure and degradation of service availability, potentially causing the application to crash or become unresponsive.
Advisories and the associated patch recommend upgrading to OpenClaw version 2026.2.13 or later, where the fix is implemented via commit 3cbcba10cf30c2ffb898f0d8c7dfb929f15f8930. Additional details are available in the GitHub security advisory GHSA-q447-rj3r-2cgh and VulnCheck's analysis at vulncheck.com.
Details
- CWE(s)