Vulnerability · Published Apr 9, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck

CVE-2026-35639OpenClaw < 2026.3.22 - Privilege Escalation via device.pair.approve Scope Validation

High 8.8

In plain English

A high-severity security flaw in OpenClaw from OpenClaw. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.5% (higher than 41% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)8.8High

Exploit odds (30 days)0.5%top 59.4% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

OpenClaw before 2026.3.22 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the device.pair.approve method that allows an operator.pairing approver to approve pending device requests with broader operator scopes than the approver actually holds. Attackers can exploit insufficient scope validation to escalate privileges to operator.admin and achieve remote code execution on the Node infrastructure.

Affected packages & fixed versions

Ecosystem	Package	Fixed in	Advisory
npm	openclaw	2026.3.22	GHSA-hf68-49fm-59cq

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
OpenClaw	OpenClaw	0 – before 2026.3.22

Weakness: CWE-648 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-hf68-49fm-59cq) vendor-advisory
Patch Commit #1 patch
Patch Commit #2 patch
VulnCheck Advisory: OpenClaw < 2026.3.22 - Privilege Escalation via device.pair.approve Scope Validation third-party-advisory