{"id":"GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q","aliases":[],"status":"published","title":"OpenClaw has exec allowlist/safeBins policy-runtime mismatch via env -S wrapper interpretation","description":"### Summary\n`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.\n\n### Affected Packages / Versions\n- Package: `openclaw` (npm)\n- Vulnerable versions: `\u003c= 2026.2.22-2` (latest currently published npm version)\n- Patched version (released): `2026.2.23`\n\n### Impact\nAn 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.\n\n### Technical Details\nRoot cause was policy/runtime interpretation mismatch for dispatch wrappers:\n- analysis resolved an effective executable from wrapper-unwrapped argv,\n- execution could still run original wrapper argv semantics,\n- safe-bin short-flag handling also allowed unknown short options in clusters.\n\n### Remediation\nThe fix hardens exec approvals to fail closed and enforce analysis/runtime parity:\n- introduce wrapper execution planning with semantic-wrapper blocking,\n- carry planned `effectiveArgv` + `policyBlocked` metadata through resolution,\n- evaluate allowlist/safe-bins against planned argv,\n- enforce canonical rebuilt shell command from planned argv for allowlist auto-paths,\n- use planned argv for node-host/mac exec-host invocation paths,\n- reject unknown short safe-bin flags,\n- add regression tests for semantic `env` wrappers and parity fixtures.\n\n### Fix Commit(s)\n- `a1c4bf07c6baad3ef87a0e710fe9aef127b1f606`\n\n### Release Process Note\n`patched_versions` is pre-set to the released version (`2026.2.23`). Patched in `2026.2.23` and published.\n\nOpenClaw thanks @jiseoung for reporting.","severity":{"version":"4.0","score":5.7,"vector":"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","level":"medium","from":"ghsa"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-436"],"published":"2026-03-03T22:23:45Z","modified":"2026-03-04T15:12:40Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"npm","package":"openclaw","fixed_in":["2026.2.23"],"sources":["ghsa","osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"npm","package":"openclaw","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"2026.2.23"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"npm","package":"openclaw","ranges":[{"type":"SEMVER","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"2026.2.23"}]}]}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/a1c4bf07c6baad3ef87a0e710fe9aef127b1f606","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q"},{"url":"https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw","tags":["package"]}],"sources":{"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q","title":"OpenClaw has exec allowlist/safeBins policy-runtime mismatch via env -S wrapper interpretation","description":"### Summary\n`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.\n\n### Affected Packages / Versions\n- Package: `openclaw` (npm)\n- Vulnerable versions: `\u003c= 2026.2.22-2` (latest currently published npm version)\n- Patched version (released): `2026.2.23`\n\n### Impact\nAn 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.\n\n### Technical Details\nRoot cause was policy/runtime interpretation mismatch for dispatch wrappers:\n- analysis resolved an effective executable from wrapper-unwrapped argv,\n- execution could still run original wrapper argv semantics,\n- safe-bin short-flag handling also allowed unknown short options in clusters.\n\n### Remediation\nThe fix hardens exec approvals to fail closed and enforce analysis/runtime parity:\n- introduce wrapper execution planning with semantic-wrapper blocking,\n- carry planned `effectiveArgv` + `policyBlocked` metadata through resolution,\n- evaluate allowlist/safe-bins against planned argv,\n- enforce canonical rebuilt shell command from planned argv for allowlist auto-paths,\n- use planned argv for node-host/mac exec-host invocation paths,\n- reject unknown short safe-bin flags,\n- add regression tests for semantic `env` wrappers and parity fixtures.\n\n### Fix Commit(s)\n- `a1c4bf07c6baad3ef87a0e710fe9aef127b1f606`\n\n### Release Process Note\n`patched_versions` is pre-set to the released version (`2026.2.23`). Patched in `2026.2.23` and published.\n\nOpenClaw thanks @jiseoung for reporting.","status":"published","published":"2026-03-03T22:23:45Z","modified":"2026-03-03T22:23:47Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":5.7,"vector":"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","level":"medium"}],"cwes":["CWE-436"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:39:30.031684Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q","title":"OpenClaw has exec allowlist/safeBins policy-runtime mismatch via env -S wrapper interpretation","description":"### Summary\n`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.\n\n### Affected Packages / Versions\n- Package: `openclaw` (npm)\n- Vulnerable versions: `\u003c= 2026.2.22-2` (latest currently published npm version)\n- Patched version (released): `2026.2.23`\n\n### Impact\nAn 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.\n\n### Technical Details\nRoot cause was policy/runtime interpretation mismatch for dispatch wrappers:\n- analysis resolved an effective executable from wrapper-unwrapped argv,\n- execution could still run original wrapper argv semantics,\n- safe-bin short-flag handling also allowed unknown short options in clusters.\n\n### Remediation\nThe fix hardens exec approvals to fail closed and enforce analysis/runtime parity:\n- introduce wrapper execution planning with semantic-wrapper blocking,\n- carry planned `effectiveArgv` + `policyBlocked` metadata through resolution,\n- evaluate allowlist/safe-bins against planned argv,\n- enforce canonical rebuilt shell command from planned argv for allowlist auto-paths,\n- use planned argv for node-host/mac exec-host invocation paths,\n- reject unknown short safe-bin flags,\n- add regression tests for semantic `env` wrappers and parity fixtures.\n\n### Fix Commit(s)\n- `a1c4bf07c6baad3ef87a0e710fe9aef127b1f606`\n\n### Release Process Note\n`patched_versions` is pre-set to the released version (`2026.2.23`). Patched in `2026.2.23` and published.\n\nOpenClaw thanks @jiseoung for reporting.","status":"published","published":"2026-03-03T22:23:45Z","modified":"2026-03-04T15:12:40.779472Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":5.7,"vector":"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","level":"medium"}],"cwes":["CWE-436"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:40.657155Z"}]}}