Vulnerability · Published Jun 11, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck

CVE-2026-53816OpenClaw < 2026.5.18 - Exec Lifecycle Event Forgery via Paired Node

High 7.2

In plain English

A high-severity missing authorization 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 0.3% (higher than 28% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)7.2High

Exploit odds (30 days)0.3%top 72.1% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 contains an insufficient provenance validation vulnerability in node event handling that allows paired nodes to forge exec lifecycle events without system.run authorization. A malicious or compromised paired node can send crafted node.event messages to the gateway, steering target sessions into exec-event paths that expose capabilities the reduced node surface should not provide.

Affected packages & fixed versions

Ecosystem	Package	Fixed in	Advisory
npm	openclaw	2026.5.18	GHSA-3c6j-hq33-3jv4

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
OpenClaw	OpenClaw	0 – before 2026.5.18

Weakness: CWE-862 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-3c6j-hq33-3jv4) vendor-advisory
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-exec-lifecycle-event-forgery-via-paired-node third-party-advisory