CVE-2026-35649
Openclaw ≤ 2026.3.22
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2026-35649 is a medium-severity Permissive List of Allowed Inputs (CWE-183) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 6.3 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 20th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-21444
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw before 2026.3.22 contains a settings reconciliation vulnerability that allows attackers to bypass intended deny-all revocations by exploiting empty allowlist handling. The vulnerability treats explicit empty allowlists as unset during reconciliation, silently undoing intended access control denials and restoring previously…
more
revoked permissions.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Logic flaw enables access control bypass for privilege restoration/escalation and direct exploitation of the vulnerable application.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly enforces the intended deny-all policy expressed via explicit empty allowlists, preventing the reconciliation logic from silently restoring revoked permissions.
Enforces least-privilege assignments so that any reconciliation error cannot re-grant previously revoked permissions beyond what is strictly required.
Requires strict configuration settings and validation of allow/deny lists during reconciliation, blocking the empty-list misinterpretation that bypasses denials.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly require rigorous allow-list design and testing that prevents permissive input validation.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect overly broad allow-lists, but does not inherently prevent their creation.
Application security requirements can mandate strict, minimal allow-lists and input validation rules that prevent overly permissive lists.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles require explicit, least-privilege input validation designs that directly address permissive allow-lists.
Secure coding standards enforce rigorous input validation and reject unsafe values, mitigating permissive allow-list weaknesses.
Configuration management can enforce validated input rules, yet does not directly address the design flaw of permissive lists.