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Advisories

OpenClaw < 2026.5.20 - Privilege Escalation via Hook-Triggered CLI MCP Tool Authority

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severity
high
date
Affecting

  • OpenClaw < 2026.5.20

CWE
  • CWE-266 Incorrect Privilege Assignment
CVSS
8.7
CVSS V4 Vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Credit
cantinagen, Ellahi (@Ellahinator)
Description
OpenClaw before 2026.5.20 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where hook-triggered agent runs incorrectly receive owner-scoped MCP loopback authority instead of hook-appropriate scope. Attackers with a valid hook token can exploit the /hooks/agent endpoint to cause spawned CLI runtimes to access or invoke owner-only MCP tools, potentially executing privileged actions like persistent cron state modifications.

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