CVE-2026-100562 in OpenClaw
Summary
by MITRE • 09/26/2026
OpenClaw versions before 2026.8.1 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability in the sessions.create endpoint that allows operator.write callers to modify session configurations reserved for operator.admin scope. Attackers with write-scoped credentials can change existing session model, provider, thinking level, and auth-profile settings to redirect traffic and bypass administrative access controls.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/26/2026
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.8.1 are affected by a critical authorization bypass vulnerability located within the sessions.create endpoint of its application programming interface. This flaw stems from an insufficiently enforced role-based access control mechanism that fails to validate whether the caller possesses administrative privileges when attempting to modify specific session configuration parameters. Specifically, while the system correctly restricts certain high-level operations to users with operator.admin scope, it erroneously permits operators holding only operator.write credentials to alter critical session attributes such as the underlying model provider, thinking level configurations, and authentication profile settings. This discrepancy in permission enforcement allows a lower-privileged user to effectively escalate their influence over the application's runtime behavior without possessing the requisite administrative rights.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-269, which classifies Improper Privilege Management, as well as CWE-862, Missing Authorization, because the software does not perform an adequate check for appropriate permissions before allowing state-changing operations on sensitive resources. From a tactical perspective, this flaw facilitates unauthorized configuration changes that can be leveraged to redirect traffic or manipulate how sessions are processed by the backend systems. An attacker with write-scoped credentials can exploit this gap to inject malicious configurations into active or newly created sessions, potentially leading to data exfiltration, service disruption, or further lateral movement within the infrastructure if these misconfigured sessions interact with other trusted services.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant because it undermines the fundamental security boundary between standard operators and administrators. By modifying session models and authentication profiles, an attacker can force the system to route requests through compromised endpoints or utilize less secure processing paths that may expose sensitive data logs or internal network topology information. Furthermore, altering thinking levels or provider settings could lead to resource exhaustion attacks if misconfigured parameters trigger excessive computational loads, resulting in denial of service conditions for legitimate users. The ability to bypass administrative controls also means that audit trails and security monitoring mechanisms relying on role-based segmentation may fail to detect these unauthorized modifications accurately, complicating incident response efforts.
To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations must immediately upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.8.1 or later where the authorization logic for the sessions.create endpoint has been corrected to strictly enforce operator.admin requirements for all configuration-altering operations. In environments where immediate patching is not feasible, network-level controls should be implemented to restrict access to the affected API endpoints exclusively to trusted administrative IP ranges if possible. Additionally, security teams should review existing audit logs for any anomalous session creation events initiated by write-scoped accounts that involve changes to model providers or authentication profiles, as these may indicate active exploitation attempts. Regular penetration testing focused on role-based access control validation is also recommended to identify similar privilege escalation paths in other parts of the application architecture.