GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q

Suggest an improvement
Source
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q
Import Source
https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/03/GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q/GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q
Downstream
Published
2026-03-03T22:23:45Z
Modified
2026-03-04T15:12:40Z
Severity
  • 5.7 (Medium) CVSS_V4 - CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N CVSS Calculator
Summary
OpenClaw has exec allowlist/safeBins policy-runtime mismatch via env -S wrapper interpretation
Details

Summary

tools.exec allowlist/safe-bins evaluation could diverge from runtime execution for wrapper commands using GNU env -S/--split-string semantics. This allowed policy checks to treat a command as a benign safe-bin invocation while runtime executed a different payload.

Affected Packages / Versions

  • Package: openclaw (npm)
  • Vulnerable versions: <= 2026.2.22-2 (latest currently published npm version)
  • Patched version (released): 2026.2.23

Impact

An attacker able to influence tool command text (for example via untrusted prompt/content injection reaching an exec-capable flow) could bypass allowlist/safe-bins intent and execute unexpected commands.

Technical Details

Root cause was policy/runtime interpretation mismatch for dispatch wrappers:

  • analysis resolved an effective executable from wrapper-unwrapped argv,
  • execution could still run original wrapper argv semantics,
  • safe-bin short-flag handling also allowed unknown short options in clusters.

Remediation

The fix hardens exec approvals to fail closed and enforce analysis/runtime parity:

  • introduce wrapper execution planning with semantic-wrapper blocking,
  • carry planned effectiveArgv + policyBlocked metadata through resolution,
  • evaluate allowlist/safe-bins against planned argv,
  • enforce canonical rebuilt shell command from planned argv for allowlist auto-paths,
  • use planned argv for node-host/mac exec-host invocation paths,
  • reject unknown short safe-bin flags,
  • add regression tests for semantic env wrappers and parity fixtures.

Fix Commit(s)

  • a1c4bf07c6baad3ef87a0e710fe9aef127b1f606

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to the released version (2026.2.23). Patched in 2026.2.23 and published.

OpenClaw thanks @jiseoung for reporting.

Database specific 
{
    "cwe_ids": [
        "CWE-436"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-03-03T22:23:45Z",
    "nvd_published_at": null,
    "severity": "MODERATE"
}
References

Affected packages

npm / openclaw

Package

Name
openclaw
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:npm/openclaw

Affected ranges

Type
SEMVER
Events
Introduced
0 Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected
Fixed
2026.2.23

Database specific

source 
"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/03/GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q/GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q.json"