Openclaw cli: OpenClaw Telegram webhook request bodies were read before secret validation, enabling unauthenticated resource exhaustion (CVE-2026-32980)
Description
OpenClaw CLI versions up to 2026.3.12 contain a vulnerability where Telegram webhook request bodies are read and buffered before validating the secret token. This allows unauthenticated attackers to cause resource exhaustion by forcing the server to process large request bodies unnecessarily. The issue is fixed in version 2026.3.13, which performs secret validation before reading the request body.
CVSS v3.1
Score 7.5high
Affected software
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AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
OpenClaw CLI versions <= 2026.3.12 have a flaw in the Telegram webhook listener where the server reads and buffers the entire JSON request body before validating the 'x-telegram-bot-api-secret-token' header. Because secret validation occurs after body reading, unauthenticated callers can trigger resource exhaustion by sending large payloads, causing memory and CPU usage due to JSON parsing. The vulnerability affects the standalone Telegram webhook listener in 'src/telegram/webhook.ts'. The fix in version 2026.3.13 changes the logic to validate the secret header first and reject unauthorized requests with a 401 status before any body processing occurs.
Potential Impact
An unauthenticated attacker can cause a denial-of-service condition by exhausting server resources such as memory and CPU through repeated large webhook requests. There is no confidentiality or integrity impact, but availability is affected due to resource exhaustion.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade to openclaw version 2026.3.13 or later, which validates the Telegram webhook secret token before reading the request body and rejects unauthorized requests immediately. This fix prevents unauthenticated resource exhaustion attacks on the webhook endpoint.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Osv Id
- BREW-openclaw-cli-CVE-2026-32980
- Osv Schema Version
- 1.7.3
- Ecosystems
- ["Homebrew"]
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
Threat ID: 6ac245b312601ec6a3166b37
Added to database: 10/04/2026, 12:25:23 UTC
Last enriched: 10/04/2026, 12:58:34 UTC
Last updated: 10/04/2026, 16:08:37 UTC
Views: 2
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