CVE-2026-44118

Owner-gated MCP access via spoofed header

Published May 6, 2026 · Updated May 6, 2026

Authentication bypass in OpenClaw before 2026.4.22 allows local users to access owner-gated MCP operations with a non-owner token. The loopback MCP request handler trusted the caller-controlled x-openclaw-sender-is-owner header instead of deriving owner status from the authenticated bearer class. Exploitation requires a non-owner loopback bearer and permits the local client to invoke tools reserved for the owner.

CVSS severity8.5
High
EPSS probability0.11%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Authentication bypass in OpenClaw before 2026.4.22 allows local users to access owner-gated MCP operations with a non-owner token. The loopback MCP request handler trusted the caller-controlled x-openclaw-sender-is-owner header instead of deriving owner status from the authenticated bearer class. Exploitation requires a non-owner loopback bearer and permits the local client to invoke tools reserved for the owner.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-44118
Published
May 6, 2026
Updated
May 6, 2026
Vendor
OpenClaw Foundation
Product
OpenClaw
Classifications
CWE-290
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 6, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 6, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <2026.4.22

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

OpenClaw Foundation · OpenClawversion=0 <2026.4.22

Published CVSS scores

8.5VulnCheckCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
7.8VulnCheckCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-290Authentication Bypass by Spoofing

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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