Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-53854

Access Control in Openclaw ≤ 2026.4.25

Public PoCAccess Control
Published
16 June 2026
Modified
18 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 6.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/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 0.0024 16th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-53854 is a medium-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 6.0 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 16th 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-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

OpenClaw before 2026.4.25 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in internal and webchat command authentication that allows senders to inherit wildcard ownerAllowFrom state across channel boundaries. Attackers can exploit this by sending commands on affected internal or webchat paths to execute…

more

owner-style command behavior outside intended channel scope, potentially bypassing access controls.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
Why these techniques?

Direct privilege escalation via authorization bypass in command handling (CWE-863).

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-32915Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-41344Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32906Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-41371Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-53828Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-42432Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32918Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-32042Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-41367Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-33577Same product: Openclaw Openclaw

Affected Assets

openclaw
openclaw
≤ 2026.4.25

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces authorization decisions on commands so that ownerAllowFrom state cannot be inherited across channel boundaries.

prevent

Enforces information-flow policies between distinct channels, blocking unintended propagation of wildcard owner privileges.

prevent

Limits granted privileges so that even a bypassed ownerAllowFrom check yields only the minimal rights needed for each channel.

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.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining, enforcing, and reviewing access authorizations and least privilege directly prevents incorrect authorization 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.

prevents

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.

prevents

Enforcing policy-driven approval and role-change reviews stops incorrect or stale authorization decisions from remaining in effect after job changes or terminations.

prevents

By tying access rights to identity, device, location and classification, the control reduces the likelihood that an authorization decision will be based on an incorrect or bypassed policy.

References