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OpenClaw device re-pairing scope containment bypass
CVE-2026-53852 is a scope containment bypass vulnerability in OpenClaw before version 2026.4.25. The flaw resides in the device re-pairing routine, specifically the processRepairingRequest logic used by re-pairing endpoints including /api/device/repair and /api/v1/auth/repairing. When an authenticated operator submits a re-pairing request with an empty or otherwise falsy scope parameter, the vulnerable authorization logic validates scopes only if requestedScopes exists and has a length greater than zero. If the scope set is empty, the containment check is skipped and the device's previously activeScopes are retained instead of being reduced to the explicitly requested set. This fail-open behavior can preserve or restore broader permissions than intended during re-pairing.
What it means and what to do now: patch path, interim mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Successful exploitation allows an authenticated low-privileged operator to bypass intended scope containment and retain or restore broader device session scopes than they should be able to grant. This can enable unauthorized actions from otherwise restricted device sessions, with confidentiality and integrity impact. The provided CVSS v3.1 vector is AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N, indicating network-reachable exploitation with low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and no direct availability impact.
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Until patching, disable the affected re-pairing feature if it is not required. Revoke unexpected or suspicious device sessions and require fresh pairing for affected devices. As additional hardening, keep channel and tool allowlists narrow and avoid sharing a single Gateway between mutually untrusted users. Restrict access to the re-pairing endpoints and monitor for empty-scope re-pairing requests or anomalous scope retention during device reauthorization.
Patch, then assume compromise.
Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.4.25 or later. The fixed logic normalizes missing or falsy requestedScopes to an empty list, validates all requested scopes against device.allowedScopes, and explicitly assigns device.activeScopes to the exact resulting scope set even when that set is empty. Unauthorized requested scopes should cause the operation to fail with a scope containment violation error.
No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
1 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.