OpenClaw's system.run approval TOCTOU via mutable symlink cwd target on node host

Summary

In openclaw@2026.2.24, approval-bound system.run on node hosts could be influenced by mutable symlink cwd targets between approval and execution.

Details

Approval matching on the gateway validated command/argv and binding fields, including cwd, as provided text. Node execution later used runtime cwd resolution. A symlinked cwd could therefore be retargeted after approval and before spawn.

OpenClaw's trust model does not treat one shared gateway as a multi-tenant adversarial boundary, but approval integrity is still a security boundary for operator-reviewed command execution.

Affected Packages / Versions

• Package: openclaw (npm)
• Affected: <= 2026.2.24
• Patched: >= 2026.2.25

Fix Commit(s)

• f789f880c934caa8be25b38832f27f90f37903db

Remediation

The fix adds defense-in-depth hardening for approval-bound node execution:

• reject symlink cwd paths for approval-bound system.run
• canonicalize path-like executable argv before spawn
• bind CLI approval requests to exact commandArgv

Release Process Note

Patched version is pre-set to the release (2026.2.25). Advisory published with npm release 2026.2.25.

OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.