OpenClaw: Zalo webhook rate limiting could be bypassed before secret validation
### Summary The Zalo webhook handler applied request rate limiting only after webhook authentication succeeded. Requests with an invalid secret returned `401` but did not count against the rate limiter, allowing repeated secret guesses without triggering `429`. ### Impact This made brute-force guessing materially easier for weak but policy-compliant webhook secrets. Once the secret was guessed, an attacker could submit forged Zalo webhook traffic. ### Affected versions `openclaw` `<= 2026.3.11` ### Patch Fixed in `openclaw` `2026.3.12`. Rate limiting now applies before successful authentication is required, closing the pre-auth brute-force gap. Users should update to `2026.3.12` or later and prefer strong webhook secrets.
describes (1)
Related CVEs.
| ID | severity | exploitable | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-34505US | — | — | ||
OpenClaw before 2026.3.12 applies rate limiting only after successful webhook authentication, allowing attackers to bypass rate limits and brute-force webhook secrets. Attackers ca… | ||||
references
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclawPACKAGE
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/f96ba87f033a14183fa0ede912df3a592eef55ffWEB
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/44173WEB
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/releases/tag/v2026.3.12WEB
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-5m9r-p9g7-679cWEB
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-34505ADVISORY
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-webhook-rate-limiting-bypass-via-pre-authentication-secret-validationWEB
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