CVE-2026-43566

OpenClaw versions 2026.4.7 before 2026.4.14 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability where heartbeat owner downgrade logic skips webhook wake events carrying untrusted content. Attackers can exploit this by sending untrusted webhook wake events to preserve owner-like execution context when the run should have been downgraded.

OpenClaw versions 2026.4.7 before 2026.4.14 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability where heartbeat owner downgrade logic skips webhook wake events carrying untrusted content. Attackers can exploit this by sending untrusted webhook wake events to preserve owner-like execution context when the run should have been downgraded.

## Summary Heartbeat owner downgrade missed untrusted webhook wake events. ## Affected Packages / Versions - Package: `openclaw` - Ecosystem: npm - Affected versions: `>= 2026.4.7 < 2026.4.14` - Patched versions: `>= 2026.4.14` ## Impact Heartbeat owner downgrade logic could skip webhook wake events carrying untrusted content, preserving owner-like execution context where the run should have been downgraded. ## Technical Details The fix includes wake and hook event reasons in owner-downgrade inspection and forces downgrade for untrusted hook wake events. ## Fix The issue was fixed in #66031. The first stable tag containing the fix is `v2026.4.14`, and `openclaw@2026.4.14` includes the fix. ## Fix Commit(s) - `31281bc92f55796817a92bc43f722cba1e77ab42` - PR: #66031 ## Release Process Note Users should upgrade to `openclaw` 2026.4.14 or newer. The latest npm release, `2026.4.14`, already includes the fix. ## Credits Thanks to @zsxsoft, with sponsorship from @KeenSecurityLab and @qclawer for reporting this issue.

## Summary Heartbeat owner downgrade missed untrusted webhook wake events. ## Affected Packages / Versions - Package: `openclaw` - Ecosystem: npm - Affected versions: `>= 2026.4.7 < 2026.4.14` - Patched versions: `>= 2026.4.14` ## Impact Heartbeat owner downgrade logic could skip webhook wake events carrying untrusted content, preserving owner-like execution context where the run should have been downgraded. ## Technical Details The fix includes wake and hook event reasons in owner-downgrade inspection and forces downgrade for untrusted hook wake events. ## Fix The issue was fixed in #66031. The first stable tag containing the fix is `v2026.4.14`, and `openclaw@2026.4.14` includes the fix. ## Fix Commit(s) - `31281bc92f55796817a92bc43f722cba1e77ab42` - PR: #66031 ## Release Process Note Users should upgrade to `openclaw` 2026.4.14 or newer. The latest npm release, `2026.4.14`, already includes the fix. ## Credits Thanks to @zsxsoft, with sponsorship from @KeenSecurityLab and @qclawer for reporting this issue.