CVE-2026-62211: Openclaw Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2026-62211 Overview

CVE-2026-62211 is a credential redaction bypass vulnerability affecting OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.6.1. The flaw resides in the trajectory export feature, where lower-trust callers can access data intended to remain within trusted boundaries. Attackers exploit misconfigured input paths or exposed feature accessibility to extract sensitive credentials through the export mechanism. The weakness is classified under [CWE-532: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File]. OpenClaw is distributed as a Node.js package, and exploitation requires local access with low privileges and user interaction.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation exposes credentials and sensitive data that OpenClaw's redaction logic is expected to strip from exported trajectories.

Affected Products

OpenClaw (Node.js package) — all versions before 2026.6.1
Deployments using the trajectory export feature
Environments where lower-trust callers can invoke export functionality

Discovery Timeline

2026-07-17 - CVE-2026-62211 published to NVD
2026-07-20 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-62211

Vulnerability Analysis

OpenClaw records agent trajectories that include prompts, tool calls, and intermediate results. The trajectory export feature is designed to sanitize these records by redacting credentials and secrets before writing them to disk or transmitting them downstream. In versions before 2026.6.1, the redaction pipeline can be bypassed through misconfigured input paths or by invoking the export functionality from contexts that should not have access to unfiltered data.

The result is that credentials embedded in trajectory data — API keys, tokens, or authentication material captured during agent execution — appear in exported artifacts in cleartext. The issue maps to [CWE-532], which covers insertion of sensitive information into logs or exported records. Exploitation requires local access and user interaction, and the confidentiality impact is high while integrity and availability are unaffected.

Root Cause

The root cause is incomplete trust boundary enforcement in the trajectory export path. The redaction logic does not apply uniformly across all export entry points, allowing lower-trust callers to bypass the sanitization layer. When the export feature is invoked through misconfigured accessibility paths, credential fields that should be masked are written verbatim into the output.

Attack Vector

An attacker with local, low-privileged access to a host running OpenClaw triggers the trajectory export feature through an exposed or misconfigured path. User interaction is required, which typically means the attacker coerces or waits for a legitimate user to invoke the export. Once the export runs without redaction, the resulting file contains credentials that the attacker can read and reuse against upstream services.

No verified proof-of-concept code is publicly available. Refer to the VulnCheck Advisory on OpenClaw and the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-j4cx-jvq7-79vm for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-62211

Indicators of Compromise

Trajectory export files containing cleartext strings matching credential patterns such as sk-, Bearer , AKIA, or ghp_
Unexpected invocations of the OpenClaw trajectory export feature by non-administrative users
Presence of OpenClaw package versions below 2026.6.1 in Node.js dependency manifests

Detection Strategies

Scan exported trajectory artifacts with secret-detection tools such as trufflehog or gitleaks to flag unredacted credentials
Audit Node.js package-lock.json and yarn.lock files across build systems for vulnerable OpenClaw versions
Correlate process telemetry for OpenClaw export commands with the user context and file destinations to identify unauthorized invocations

Monitoring Recommendations

Log every invocation of the trajectory export feature, including caller identity, source path, and output destination
Alert on read access to exported trajectory files by accounts outside the expected trust boundary
Monitor outbound transfers of trajectory export artifacts to file shares, cloud storage, or messaging platforms

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-62211

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.6.1 or later across all environments
Rotate any credentials that may have been captured in trajectory data prior to the upgrade
Restrict local access to hosts running OpenClaw to trusted operators only
Review historical trajectory exports for exposed secrets and treat them as compromised

Patch Information

The maintainers released a fix in OpenClaw 2026.6.1. Details are published in the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-j4cx-jvq7-79vm. Update the dependency in package.json and reinstall to pull the patched release.

Workarounds

Disable the trajectory export feature in configurations where it is not required
Enforce least-privilege on the OpenClaw process account so that only authorized users can invoke exports
Store trajectory outputs on access-controlled paths and remove world-readable permissions

bash

# Configuration example
npm install openclaw@^2026.6.1
npm ls openclaw