Vulnerability · Published May 6, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck

CVE-2026-43578OpenClaw 2026.3.31 < 2026.4.10 - Privilege Escalation via Missed Async Exec Completion Events in Heartbeat Owner Downgrade

Critical 9.1

In plain English

A critical-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 0.3% (higher than 21% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)9.1Critical

Exploit odds (30 days)0.3%top 78.5% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

OpenClaw versions 2026.3.31 before 2026.4.10 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability where heartbeat owner downgrade detection misses local background async exec completion events. Attackers can exploit this by providing untrusted completion content to leave a run in a more privileged context than intended.

Affected packages & fixed versions

Ecosystem	Package	Fixed in	Advisory
npm	openclaw	2026.4.10	GHSA-g375-h3v6-4873

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
OpenClaw	OpenClaw	2026.3.31 – before 2026.4.10

Weakness: CWE-184 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

References

GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-g375-h3v6-4873) vendor-advisory
Patch Commit patch
VulnCheck Advisory: OpenClaw 2026.3.31 < 2026.4.10 - Privilege Escalation via Missed Async Exec Completion Events in Heartbeat Owner Downgrade third-party-advisory