The vulnerability occurs when OpenClaw captures the bearer‑auth configuration at startup and never re‑resolves it for each request. This allows tokens that have been revoked after a SecretRef rotation to continue to be accepted by the Gateway’s HTTP and WebSocket handlers. The attacker can therefore gain unauthorized access to the gateway, leaking or manipulating data, and potentially pivot into backend services. The weakness is a misuse of configuration state persistence, classified as CWE‑672.

OpenClaw software versions before 2026.4.15, available for all platforms supported through the node.js stack. Versions after 2026.4.15 have the issue fixed.

The CVSS score of 9.2 marks this a high‑severity flaw. The EPSS score is unavailable, and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog. Attackers can exploit the flaw remotely by presenting a revoked bearer token over the gateway’s HTTP or WebSocket interface; no special privileges or internal access are required, implying a remote attack vector. The flaw persists as long as the gateway remains running with the stale configuration, making it a persistent risk until the application is updated or restarted.