CVE-2026-45223Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Admin escalation via accepted user-token claim

Published May 11, 2026 · Updated May 11, 2026

Authentication bypass in OpenClaw Foundation Crabbox before 0.9.0 allows remote authenticated users to gain coordinator administrator access. The verifyUserToken() function accepts an HMAC-signed user-token payload containing admin: true, and authenticateRequest() propagates that claim as administrator status. Exploitation requires the shared non-admin token to serve as the session-signing key and grants access to global lease, pool, image, and release controls.

CVSS severity7.7
High
EPSS probability0.38%
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 Foundation Crabbox before 0.9.0 allows remote authenticated users to gain coordinator administrator access. The verifyUserToken() function accepts an HMAC-signed user-token payload containing admin: true, and authenticateRequest() propagates that claim as administrator status. Exploitation requires the shared non-admin token to serve as the session-signing key and grants access to global lease, pool, image, and release controls.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-45223
Published
May 11, 2026
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
OpenClaw Foundation
Product
Crabbox
Classifications
CWE-290, CAPEC-21, T1068
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 11, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 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 <0.9.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

OpenClaw Foundation · Crabboxversion=0 <0.9.0

Published CVSS scores

7.7VulnCheckCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
8.8VulnCheckCVSS:3.1/AV:N/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)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-290Authentication Bypass by Spoofing
CAPEC-21Exploitation of Trusted Identifiers
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

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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