OpenClaw before 2026.4.8 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the gateway plugin HTTP authentication mechanism that widens identity-bearing operator…

OpenClaw versions before 2026.4.8 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability in the gateway plugin HTTP authentication mechanism. The vulnerability allows attackers to escalate identity-bearing operator.read requests into runtime operator.write permissions. Attackers can exploit this by sending read-scoped requests through the gateway auth route to gain unauthorized write access to runtime operations. This represents a significant security flaw that bypasses intended access controls and allows unauthorized privilege escalation.