# CVE-2026-41301: OpenClaw 2026.3.22 < 2026.3.31 - Forged Nostr DM Pairing State Creation via Signature Verification Bypass

> An unauthenticated attacker can bypass signature verification to forge pairing requests, causing resource exhaustion and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 20 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-h43v-27wg-5mf9, MINI-9445-x2fm-ff49

## What is CVE-2026-41301?

CVE-2026-41301 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw, published on 20 Apr 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

OpenClaw versions 2026.3.22 before 2026.3.31 contain a signature verification bypass vulnerability in the Nostr DM ingress path that allows pairing challenges to be issued before event signature validation. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send forged direct messages to create pending pairing entries and trigger pairing-reply attempts, consuming shared pairing capacity and triggering bounded relay and logging work on the Nostr channel.

Weakness: CWE-347 (Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-41301?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including openclaw. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `openclaw` | npm | From 2026.3.22 | 2026.3.31 |
| `openclaw` | npm | From 2026.3.22 | 2026.3.31 |

Products: Openclaw Openclaw.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-41301?

Upgrade openclaw to 2026.3.31 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-41301 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-41301 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Openclaw Openclaw

- [CVE-2026-28363](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-28363/): Security feature bypass in OpenClaw (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2026-30741](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-30741/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-33579](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33579/): OpenClaw < 2026.3.28 - Privilege Escalation via Missing Caller Scope Validation in Device Pair Approval (critical 9.4)
- [CVE-2026-32922](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32922/): OpenClaw < 2026.3.11 - Privilege Escalation via Unvalidated Scope in device.token.rotate (critical 9.4)
- [CVE-2026-32978](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32978/): OpenClaw < 2026.3.11 - Approval Bypass via Unrecognized Script Runners (critical 9.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-41301 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-41301 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw, published on 20 Apr 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-41301 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- openclaw (npm): affected from 2026.3.22; fixed in 2026.3.31
- openclaw (npm): affected from 2026.3.22; fixed in 2026.3.31

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41301/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41301/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-41301
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41301
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-41301

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41301/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.