CVE-2026-33579

critical

Description

OpenClaw before 2026.3.28 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the /pair approve command path that fails to forward caller scopes into the core approval check. A caller with pairing privileges but without admin privileges can approve pending device requests asking for broader scopes including admin access by exploiting the missing scope validation in extensions/device-pair/index.ts and src/infra/device-pairing.ts.

References

https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-privilege-escalation-via-missing-caller-scope-validation-in-device-pair-approval

https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/04/heres-why-its-prudent-for-openclaw-users-to-assume-compromise/

https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-hc5h-pmr3-3497

https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/e403decb6e20091b5402780a7ccd2085f98aa3cd

Details

Source: Mitre, NVD

Published: 2026-03-31

Updated: 2026-04-06

Risk Information

CVSS v2

Base Score: 9

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

Severity: High

CVSS v3

Base Score: 9.9

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Severity: Critical

CVSS v4

Base Score: 9.4

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

Severity: Critical

EPSS

EPSS: 0.0001