Is this vulnerability remotely exploitable?

Yes, if the OpenClaw gateway's WebSocket endpoint is accessible from untrusted networks (such as the internet or a shared corporate network), attackers can potentially exploit this issue remotely by initiating crafted WebSocket connections.

What level of access does an attacker need to exploit this?

An attacker only needs network access to the gateway's WebSocket interface. No valid credentials or pre-established device pairing are required if the endpoint is reachable, because the flaw treats any auth.token field as sufficient.

What is the safest general fix pattern for this issue?

The safest pattern is to enforce strict, centralized authentication for all connection types: - Always validate auth.token values using secure verification routines. - Ensure that device identity and pairing checks are mandatory and cannot be bypassed. - Deny all access by default when token verification fails or device identity is absent.

Severity:

HIGH RISK

(8.1)

Missing Authentication Enforcement (CWE-306) in OpenClaw Gateway WebSocket Handshake

CVE-2026-28472

Published:

Mar 5, 2026

Status:

Received

Summary

Affected Context

Exploit Preconditions

Why This Happens

Potential Impact

General Mitigation Guidance

How Teams Detect Issues Like This

Frequently Asked Questions

Source

NDV

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Vulnerability Type

Category:

Authentication Bypass

CWE:

CWE-306

Impact:

Unauthorized Operator Access / Authentication Bypass

Severity:

HIGH RISK

(8.1)

CVSS Version:

3.1

Vulnerability Type

Category:

Authentication Bypass

CWE:

CWE-306

Impact:

Unauthorized Operator Access / Authentication Bypass

Severity:

HIGH RISK

(8.1)

CVSS Version:

3.1

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Ask AI for summary of CodeAnt

Missing Authentication Enforcement (CWE-306) in OpenClaw Gateway WebSocket Handshake

Summary

Affected Context

Exploit Preconditions

Why This Happens

Potential Impact

General Mitigation Guidance

How Teams Detect Issues Like This

Frequently Asked Questions

Source

Recent Vulnerabilities

CRITICAL RISK

CRITICAL

(9.9)

Command Injection in MCP Stdio Configuration Validation (CWE-78) in WeKnora

CRITICAL RISK

CRITICAL

(9.9)

SQL Injection via PostgreSQL Array/Row Expressions (CWE-89) in WeKnora Query Engine

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Catch This CVE While Code Is Being Written

Ship clean & secure code faster

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