GHSA-9p38-94jf-hgjj

Suggest an improvement
Source
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9p38-94jf-hgjj
Import Source
https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/03/GHSA-9p38-94jf-hgjj/GHSA-9p38-94jf-hgjj.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/GHSA-9p38-94jf-hgjj
Aliases
  • CVE-2026-22179
Downstream
Published
2026-03-03T21:41:12Z
Modified
2026-03-19T18:47:22.965807Z
Severity
  • 7.5 (High) CVSS_V4 - CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N CVSS Calculator
Summary
OpenClaw has macOS `system.run` allowlist bypass via quoted command substitution
Details

Summary

In OpenClaw's macOS node-host path, system.run allowlist parsing in security=allowlist mode failed to reject command substitution tokens when they appeared inside double-quoted shell text.

Because of that gap, payloads like echo "ok $(id)" could be treated as allowlist hits (first executable token echo) while still executing non-allowlisted subcommands through shell substitution.

Affected Packages / Versions

  • Package: npm openclaw
  • Latest published affected version: 2026.2.21-2
  • Affected range: <= 2026.2.21-2
  • Patched version (planned next release): 2026.2.22

Notes: - Default installs are not affected (security=deny by default). - The issue requires opting into security=allowlist on the macOS node-host path.

Impact

Approval/authorization bypass in allowlist mode that can lead to unintended command execution on the node host.

Preconditions

  • Target uses macOS node-host / companion-app execution path.
  • Exec approvals set to security=allowlist.
  • Ask mode is on-miss or off.
  • Allowlist contains a benign executable used in a shell wrapper flow (for example /bin/echo).

Reproduction (example)

Use a shell-wrapper command where the visible executable is allowlisted but the quoted payload contains substitution:

  • command argv: /bin/sh -lc 'echo "ok $(/usr/bin/id > /tmp/openclaw-poc-rce)"'
  • allowlist pattern includes /bin/echo

Before the fix, allowlist analysis could resolve this as allowlisted while shell substitution still executed.

Remediation

  • Upgrade to 2026.2.22 (or newer) when released.
  • Temporary mitigation: set ask mode to always or set security mode to deny.

Fix Commit(s)

  • 90a378ca3a9ecbf1634cd247f17a35f4612c6ca6

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to planned next release 2026.2.22. After npm release is out, advisory can be published directly.

OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.

Database specific 
{
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "cwe_ids": [
        "CWE-78"
    ],
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-03-18T02:16:22Z",
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-03-03T21:41:12Z",
    "severity": "HIGH"
}
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
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected
Fixed
2026.2.22

Database specific

source 
"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/03/GHSA-9p38-94jf-hgjj/GHSA-9p38-94jf-hgjj.json"