Security brief

OpenClaw gateway-link flaw could expose tokens even on loopback-only deployments

REVIEW

CVE-2026-25253 involved an automatic WebSocket connection to an attacker-selected gateway URL.

Published 29 Oct 2026 · Material update 31 Jan 2026 — last time the underlying evidence changed · Evidence: high

What happened

The OpenClaw advisory describes a Control UI flaw that trusted a gateway URL from a query string and connected automatically. The connection included a stored gateway token, allowing a crafted link to send it to an attacker-controlled endpoint.

An attacker with that token could access the victim’s gateway and invoke privileged operations. Loopback-only listening did not remove the demonstrated risk because the victim’s browser initiated the outbound connection.

The advisory lists the clawdbot npm package through 2026.1.28 as affected and 2026.1.29 as fixed. Use a maintained release, review suspicious gateway connections and rotate tokens if exposure is suspected. The historical fix is a minimum for this issue, not a guarantee against later vulnerabilities.

Read the original source.

Next step

Update to a maintained release and investigate possible gateway-token exposure.

What we know

Fixed for this issue
2026.1.29.

What remains unknown

Open question
The sources reviewed do not establish whether your deployment was exploited.

Source references

Technical details

CVE
CVE-2026-25253