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Medium

OpenClaw has allowlist exec-guard bypass via env -S

  • Disclosed: 03.03.2026
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 10:22

Summary

In allowlist mode, system.run guardrails could be bypassed through env -S, causing policy-analysis/runtime-execution mismatch for shell wrapper payloads.

Severity Rationale (Medium)

This issue is rated medium because it is a guardrail/policy bypass in OpenClaw's trusted-operator model, not an authentication boundary break.

  • Authenticated Gateway callers are trusted operators by design.
  • exec approvals/allowlists are operator safety controls.
  • The bug still weakens expected safety behavior and can enable unintended command execution when untrusted content influences tool input.

Affected Packages / Versions

  • Package: openclaw (npm)
  • Vulnerable versions: <= 2026.2.22-2
  • Patched versions: >= 2026.2.23

Latest published npm version checked during triage: 2026.2.22-2.

Technical Impact

When /usr/bin/env is allowlisted, env -S 'sh -c ...' could be treated as allowed non-wrapper argv while runtime still executes shell-wrapper semantics.

Fix Commit(s)

  • a1c4bf07c6baad3ef87a0e710fe9aef127b1f606 (core allowlist/runtime parity hardening)
  • 3f923e831364d83d0f23499ee49961de334cf58b (explicit env -S regressions)

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to >= 2026.2.23, so this advisory is now public.

OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
npm package openclaw < 2026.2.23 2026.2.23

References

CVSS score -
CVSS vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-184, CWE-193
Platform
npm
Package
openclaw
Disclosed
03.03.2026
Updated
11.10.2026 10:22

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-48wf-g7cp-gr3m - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: openclaw

All published vulnerabilities of this package (npm package), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (589) in the archive
Total entries
589
First → latest
02.2026 10.2026
Without a fix
9
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 20
  • High 215
  • Medium 300
  • Low 54

Disclosures per year

Severity:
  1. OpenClaw has allowlist exec-guard bypass via env -S this entry
    Medium CVE-2026-31992 < 2026.2.23 2026.2.23
  2. OpenClaw: Native command authorization could skip owner-command enforcement
    High CVE-2026-53828 < 2026.5.6 2026.5.6
  3. OpenClaw: PowerShell encoded-command aliases could miss exec allowlist checks
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-53836 < 2026.5.12 2026.5.12
  4. OpenClaw: Trusted retry endpoint checks could match hostname prefixes
    High CVE-2026-53839 < 2026.5.7 2026.5.7
  5. OpenClaw: Telegram interactive callbacks could skip commands.allowFrom
    High CVE-2026-53807 < 2026.5.6 2026.5.6
  6. OpenClaw: Matrix allowFrom could bind to mutable display names
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-53811 < 2026.5.7 2026.5.7
  7. OpenClaw: Paired nodes could forge exec lifecycle events without system.run provenance
    High · 7.2 CVE-2026-53816 < 2026.5.18 2026.5.18
  8. OpenClaw: Combined POSIX shell options could confuse exec revalidation
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-53806 < 2026.5.12 2026.5.12
  9. OpenClaw: Fake package roots could influence memory-core artifact loading
    High · 7.8 CVE-2026-53813 < 2026.4.25 2026.4.25
  10. OpenClaw: Workspace .env could override Homebrew executable selection for skill install flows
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-53819 < 2026.5.27 2026.5.27
  11. OpenClaw: QQBot pre-dispatch slash commands could skip allowFrom checks
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-53834 < 2026.4.27 2026.4.27
  12. OpenClaw: Non-owner chat senders could issue device-pairing bootstrap codes
    High · 8.3 CVE-2026-32905 < 2026.5.4 2026.5.4
  13. OpenClaw: QQBot admin commands could skip DM-only and allowFrom policy
    Critical CVE-2026-34507 < 2026.4.29 2026.4.29
  14. OpenClaw: Trusted-proxy Control UI WebSocket accepted client-declared scopes before pairing
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-53821 < 2026.5.18 2026.5.18
  15. OpenClaw: Slack allowFrom could bind to mutable display names
    High CVE-2026-53823 < 2026.5.3 2026.5.3
  16. OpenClaw: QQBot streaming command could mutate config without explicit allowFrom
    High · 7.7 CVE-2026-53833 < 2026.4.29 2026.4.29
  17. OpenClaw: Scoped chat.send route inheritance could bypass admin command scope gates
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-35674 < 2026.5.18 2026.5.18
  18. OpenClaw's POSIX node system.run safe-bin allowlist could be widened by shell expansion
    High · 7.1 CVE-2026-53831 < 2026.5.18 2026.5.18
  19. OpenClaw: QQBot native approval buttons did not enforce configured approver identity
    High · 8.0 CVE-2026-35630 < 2026.5.18 2026.5.18
  20. OpenClaw: Hook-triggered CLI runs could receive owner MCP tool authority
    High · 8.4 CVE-2026-53814 < 2026.5.20 2026.5.20
  21. OpenClaw: Control UI locality spoofing could mint a durable admin device token
    High · 8.0 CVE-2026-53817 < 2026.5.22 2026.5.22
  22. OpenClaw: Same-host trusted-proxy deployments could accept local forged identity headers
    High · 7.7 CVE-2026-53832 < 2026.5.18 2026.5.18
  23. OpenClaw's marketplace runtime extension metadata could point at unscanned payloads
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-53810 < 2026.5.18 2026.5.18
  24. OpenClaw: Shell wrapper argv could change between approval and execution
    High CVE-2026-53822 < 2026.5.18 2026.5.18
  25. OpenClaw: Exec approval display truncation could hide the command being approved
    High · 8.0 CVE-2026-53829 < 2026.5.18 2026.5.18
  26. OpenClaw: Message read actions could skip channel allowlist checks
    High · 6.5 CVE-2026-53815 < 2026.5.19 2026.5.19
  27. OpenClaw: Workspace-derived service PATH could influence trash command selection
    High · 7.1 CVE-2026-53865 < 2026.5.2 2026.5.2
  28. OpenClaw: Workspace .env STATE_DIRECTORY could influence bundled runtime dependency roots
    High · 7.1 CVE-2026-53858 < 2026.5.2 2026.5.2
  29. OpenClaw: Discord allowFrom could bind to mutable display names
    High · 8.1 CVE-2026-53849 < 2026.5.7 2026.5.7
  30. OpenClaw: Workspace .env npm_execpath could influence bundled runtime dependency install
    High · 7.1 CVE-2026-53846 < 2026.4.29 2026.4.29
  31. OpenClaw: Linux and macOS exec allowlists skipped configured argument patterns
    High · 7.1 CVE-2026-53853 < 2026.5.12 2026.5.12
  32. OpenClaw: Zalo allowFrom could bind to mutable display names
    High · 8.1 CVE-2026-53857 < 2026.5.3 2026.5.3
  33. OpenClaw: Shell positional parameters could weaken strict inline-eval checks
    High · 8.1 CVE-2026-53855 < 2026.4.2 2026.4.2
  34. OpenClaw: Workspace .env CLOUDSDK_PYTHON could influence Gmail setup gcloud execution
    High · 7.1 CVE-2026-53842 < 2026.5.2 2026.5.2
  35. OpenClaw: Shell inline-command parsing could miss an allowlist check
    High · 8.1 CVE-2026-53866 < 2026.5.12 2026.5.12
  36. OpenClaw: Pairing-scoped device session could restore revoked node token authority
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-53843 < 2026.5.26 2026.5.26
  37. OpenClaw: Host environment sanitizer missed two Node.js control variables
    High · 8.1 CVE-2026-53864 < 2026.5.26 2026.5.26
  38. OpenClaw: MCP Streamable HTTP redirects could forward configured custom headers to another origin
    High · 7.1 CVE-2026-53840 < 2026.5.12 2026.5.12
  39. OpenClaw's gateway config mutation guard allowed unsafe model-driven config writes
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-45006 < 2026.4.23 2026.4.23
  40. OpenClaw vulnerable to arbitrary code execution via attacker-controlled setup-api.js loaded from cwd during env-key resolution
    High · 7.8 CVE-2026-45004 < 2026.4.23 2026.4.23
  41. OpenClaw: MCP loopback owner context is derived from server-issued bearer tokens
    High · 7.8 CVE-2026-44118 < 2026.4.22 2026.4.22
  42. OpenClaw: Workspace dotenv could override runtime-control environment variables
    High · 7.8 CVE-2026-44114 < 2026.4.20 2026.4.20
  43. OpenClaw: Feishu webhook and card-action validation now fail closed
    Critical · 9.8 CVE-2026-44109 < 2026.4.15 2026.4.15
  44. OpenClaw: Gateway HTTP endpoints re-resolve bearer auth after SecretRef rotation
    Critical · 8.1 CVE-2026-43585 < 2026.4.15 2026.4.15
  45. OpenClaw: QQBot media tags could read arbitrary local files through reply text
    High CVE-2026-43533 < 2026.4.10 2026.4.10
  46. OpenClaw: busybox and toybox applet execution weakened exec approval binding
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-43530 >= 2026.2.23, < 2026.4.12 2026.4.12
  47. OpenClaw: Matrix profile config persistence was reachable from operator.write message tools
    High · 6.5 CVE-2026-42433 < 2026.4.10 2026.4.10
  48. OpenClaw: Sandboxed agents could escape exec routing via host=node override
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-42434 >= 2026.4.5, < 2026.4.10 2026.4.10
  49. OpenClaw: Workspace provider auth choices could auto-enable untrusted provider plugins
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-43569 < 2026.4.9 2026.4.9
  50. OpenClaw: Sandbox browser CDP relay could expose DevTools protocol on 0.0.0.0
    High CVE-2026-43581 < 2026.4.10 2026.4.10
  51. OpenClaw: Channel setup catalog lookups could include untrusted workspace plugin shadows
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-43571 < 2026.4.10 2026.4.10
  52. OpenClaw: Exec environment denylist missed high-risk interpreter startup variables
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-43584 < 2026.4.10 2026.4.10
  53. OpenClaw: Voice-call realtime WebSocket accepted oversized frames
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-42437 >= 2026.4.9, < 2026.4.10 2026.4.10
  54. OpenClaw: config.get redaction bypass through sourceConfig and runtimeConfig aliases
    High CVE-2026-43528 < 2026.4.14 2026.4.14
  55. OpenClaw: `fetchWithSsrFGuard` replays unsafe request bodies across cross-origin redirects
    High CVE-2026-40037 < 2026.4.8 2026.4.8
  56. OpenClaw: Node Pairing Reconnect Command Escalation Bypasses operator.admin Scope Requirement
    High · 7.8 CVE-2026-42432 < 2026.4.8 2026.4.8
  57. OpenClaw: HGRCPATH, CARGO_BUILD_RUSTC_WRAPPER, RUSTC_WRAPPER, and MAKEFLAGS missing from exec env denylist — RCE via build tool env injection (GHSA-cm8v-2vh9-cxf3 class)
    High CVE-2026-42427 < 2026.4.8 2026.4.8
  58. OpenClaw: Authenticated `/hooks/wake` and mapped `wake` payloads are promoted into the trusted `System:` prompt channel
    High ghsa-jf56-mccx-5f3f < 2026.4.8 2026.4.8
  59. OpenClaw: Lower-trust background runtime output is injected into trusted `System:` events, and local async exec completion misses the intended `exec-event` downgrade
    High ghsa-gfmx-pph7-g46x < 2026.4.8 2026.4.8
  60. OpenClaw: Gateway operator.write Can Reach Admin-Class Telegram Config and Cron Persistence via send
    High · 7.1 CVE-2026-41359 < 2026.3.28 2026.3.28
  61. OpenClaw Has Incomplete Fix for CVE-2026-4039: CLI Backend Environment Variable Injection via Workspace Config
    High · 7.8 CVE-2026-41384 < 2026.3.24 2026.3.24
Show more (20) Showing 61 of 236

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