Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/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:XCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). EPSS scores by FIRST (EPSS SIG), generated by Empirical Security. Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-41404 is a high-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 7.7 (High).
Operationally, ranked at the 27th 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-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-41404 is an incomplete scope-clearing vulnerability in the trusted-proxy authentication mode of OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.3.31. This issue, mapped to CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization), allows for operator.admin privilege escalation by enabling attackers to declare operator scopes on non-Control-UI clients, where those self-declared scopes persist on identity-bearing authentication paths. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its network accessibility, low attack complexity, and significant impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Low-privileged users (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability remotely without user interaction. By leveraging non-Control-UI clients to declare unauthorized operator scopes, attackers cause these scopes to bypass proper clearing mechanisms in trusted-proxy authentication, persisting them along authentication paths tied to identities and enabling escalation to operator.admin privileges.
Mitigation is addressed in OpenClaw 2026.3.31 and later versions via a patch in GitHub commit 8b88b927cb0747ad24d95b07d35682bf85dc5b0e. Additional details are provided in the GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-g374-mggx-p6xc) and VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-operator-admin-privilege-escalation-via-trusted-proxy-authentication.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-26111
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw before 2026.3.31 contains an incomplete scope-clearing vulnerability in trusted-proxy authentication mode that allows operator.admin privilege escalation. Attackers can exploit this by declaring operator scopes on non-Control-UI clients, allowing self-declared scopes to persist on identity-bearing authentication paths and escalate privileges.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-3 directly requires correct enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally preventing incorrect checks.
AC-24 ensures access-control decisions are made and applied consistently, reducing the chance of an incorrect authorization result.
A reference monitor that is always invoked and tamper-proof forces every authorization decision through a verified, correct path.
Least-privilege assignments shrink the set of authorizations that must be checked correctly, limiting exposure to flawed checks.
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.5.18's provisioning, revocation, review and adjustment of access rights (incl. before role changes/termination, with segregation and owner approval) directly stops incorrect authorization decisions from being exploitable in the vast majority of cases; the bounded remainder is incorrectness inside the authorization logic itself (e.g. flawed conditional or missing check) rather than rights that were wrongly granted.
A.8.3 directly mandates restricting access to information per policies via configuration, identity/group controls, isolation, and dynamic techniques that enforce correct authorization decisions, addressing most but not all slices of CWE-863 (e.g., remainder in non-access-decision authorization errors like timing or environmental factors).
Requiring consistency between access rights and classification plus formal approval steps ensures that the authorization logic correctly distinguishes between entities that should and should not be granted access.
Hardening callouts derived
DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.
- No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-863, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.