Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-40045

Openclaw ≤ 2026.4.2

Public PoC
Published
21 April 2026
Modified
24 April 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 5.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:N/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:X
EPSS Score 0.0012 2th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-40045 is a medium-severity Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information (CWE-319) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 5.9 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Adversary-in-the-Middle (T1557); ranked at the 2th 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-17 (Remote Access) and SC-8 (Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A04:2025 Cryptographic Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

OpenClaw before 2026.4.2 accepts non-loopback cleartext ws:// gateway endpoints and transmits stored gateway credentials over unencrypted connections. Attackers can forge discovery results or craft setup codes to redirect clients to malicious endpoints, disclosing plaintext gateway credentials.

CWE(s)
CWE-319

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1557 Adversary-in-the-Middle Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to position themselves between two or more networked devices using an adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) technique to support follow-on behaviors such as [Network Sniffing](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Vulnerability enables credential interception by redirecting clients to attacker-controlled endpoints over cleartext connections (CWE-319).

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-41342Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
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CVE-2026-53817Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-28463Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-41408Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32923Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32021Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-41296Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32063Same product: Openclaw Openclaw

Affected Assets

openclaw
openclaw
≤ 2026.4.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SC-8 Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity
  • AC-17 Remote Access
  • SC-13 Cryptographic Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SC-8 Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity good match
prevent

Directly requires confidentiality and integrity protection for all transmitted sensitive data, blocking cleartext ws:// credential disclosure.

AC-17 Remote Access good match
prevent

Mandates encryption for remote access sessions, preventing acceptance of unencrypted gateway endpoints that carry credentials.

SC-13 Cryptographic Protection partial match
prevent

Requires cryptographic protection mechanisms that would eliminate plaintext transmission of gateway credentials.

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.

PR.DS-02 full match
prevents

Encryption of data-in-transit directly prevents cleartext transmission while the control also addresses integrity and availability.

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.

A.8.21 Security of network services mostly match
prevents

Specifying encryption and other security technology for network services prevents transmission of sensitive information in cleartext over potentially untrusted channels.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
prevents

Mandating cryptographic protection and stronger authentication on public networks stops the transmission of plaintext sensitive information.

A.6.7 Remote working partial match
mitigates

Specifying communications-security requirements and secure remote-access methods (including encryption expectations) prevents the transmission of sensitive data in cleartext over home or public networks.

A.7.12 Cabling security partial match
mitigates

Armoured conduits, electromagnetic shielding and locked enclosures make passive eavesdropping on unencrypted traffic traversing the cables more difficult, mitigating exposure of sensitive data in transit.

References