How severe is GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q?

No CVSS score has been assigned to GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q?

GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q affects the following packages: openclaw (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q?

Update openclaw to 2026.2.23 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q in my npm dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for openclaw, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How does O3 Security protect against GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q?

O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Is GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

When was GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q was published on March 3, 2026 and was last updated on March 4, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦 npm

Not in CISA KEV

GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q — openclaw

Fix: openclaw/openclaw@a1c4bf0

GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q is a security vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.

OpenClaw has exec allowlist/safeBins policy-runtime mismatch via env -S wrapper interpretation

Published

Mar 3, 2026

Updated

Mar 4, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Mar 4, 2026 · OSV.dev, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.

133other npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream

openclawnpm

2.7Mdownloads / week

Description

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.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`openclaw`	all versions	2026.2.23`npm install openclaw@2026.2.23`

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for openclaw, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update openclaw to 2026.2.23 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Tailored to GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

### 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-capab

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q in your dependencies?

O3 Security finds GHSA-796m-2973-wc5q across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.

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