GHSA-7jx5-9fjg-hp4m is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) CWE-807 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw ACP client has permission auto-approval bypass via untrusted tool metadata
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-7jx5-9fjg-hp4m.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-7jx5-9fjg-hp4m plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 379,145 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
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.
openclawnpmDescription
Vulnerability Summary
The OpenClaw ACP client could auto-approve tool calls based on untrusted metadata and permissive name heuristics. A malicious or compromised ACP tool invocation could bypass expected interactive approval prompts for read-class operations.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package: npm
openclaw - Affected published versions:
<= 2026.2.22-2(latest published as of February 24, 2026 is2026.2.22-2) - Patched in code on
main:2026.2.23(released)
Technical Details
- Permission classification trusted incoming
toolCall.kindand heuristic name matching. - Non-core read-like names and spoofed kind metadata could reach auto-approve paths.
readoperations were not scoped strongly enough to cwd in all metadata/title forms.
Fix
- Require trusted core tool IDs for auto-approval and ignore untrusted
toolCall.kindas an authorization source. - Scope
readauto-approval to cwd-resolved paths. - Add stricter tool-name validation and regression coverage for spoofed kind and non-core read-like names.
Affected Functions
resolvePermissionRequestresolveToolNameForPermissionshouldAutoApproveToolCall
Fix Commit(s)
12cc754332f9a7c92e158ce7644aa22df79c090463dcd28ae0be2de1c75af09cc81841cebeec068f
Found using MCPwner
Thanks @nedlir for reporting.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.2.23npm install openclaw@2026.2.23 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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-7jx5-9fjg-hp4m 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-7jx5-9fjg-hp4m can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-7jx5-9fjg-hp4m. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-7jx5-9fjg-hp4m in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-7jx5-9fjg-hp4m across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.