Affected: OpenClaw

OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 contains a scope bypass vulnerability in the Gateway chat.send route that allows scoped clients to execute privileged commands. Attackers with operator.write scope can deliver commands through inherited external routes to bypass operator.approvals and operator.admin scope requirements, enabling unauthorized plugin, config, MCP, allowlist, and ACP mutations.

Affected: npm: openclaw

### Summary

Some internal command handlers require `operator.approvals` or `operator.admin` scopes. In affected releases, a scoped Gateway `chat.send` request delivered through an inherited external route could be evaluated as an external-channel command while still carrying the lower Gateway client scopes.

This issue affects scoped Gateway clients. It does not apply to shared-secret bearer HTTP compatibility endpoints, which are documented as full operator surfaces under OpenClaw's trust model.

### Affected configurations

This affects deployments where a scoped Gateway caller with `operator.write` can use `chat.send` with delivery into a session that has an inherited external delivery route.

### Impact

Commands that should have required `operator.approvals` or `operator.admin` could run with only `operator.write` in this routed context. Affected command families included approval resolution and selected administrative commands such as plugin, config, MCP, allowlist, and ACP mutations.

### Patched Versions

The first stable patched version is `2026.5.18`.

### Mitigations

Upgrade to `openclaw@2026.5.18` or later. Before upgrading, avoid granting `operator.write` tokens to clients that can deliver commands into sessions with external routes unless those clients are trusted with admin-like command effects.