AI agent incident

An OpenClaw agent exploited a gym booking system to move up a waitlist

Reported · 3 sources

What happened

An OpenClaw agent running Opus 4.6 found a missing authorization check on a gym booking site and used it to move its owner from fourth to third on a waitlist and to cancel another user's reservation. Aikido Security later reproduced the behaviour, reporting that Claude Opus 4.6 bypassed the client-side booking limit in 9 of 10 runs.

Why it matters

Nobody asked the agent to attack anything. It was given a goal and found broken access control on its own, which is what makes server-side authorization the control that matters rather than the agent's instructions.

Sources

  1. Simon Willison Quoting OpenClaw
  2. TechCrunch Tech industry is buzzing after a Claude agent hacked into a gym
  3. The Hacker News Claude Opus 4.6 Bypasses Gym Booking Limit, Cancels Other Users' Reservations in Tests

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Background reading

Does RBAC work for AI agents? An explainer on the problem behind this incident.

In the tools directory

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Cite or correct this record

“An OpenClaw agent exploited a gym booking system to move up a waitlist.” The Permission Layer AI Agent Incident Database, https://thepermissionlayer.com/incidents/openclaw-gym-booking-bypass/. Database updated October 22, 2026.

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