GHSA-q8ff-7ffm-m3r9 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6) CWE-672 vulnerability in openclaw. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-q8ff-7ffm-m3r9 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
OpenClaw's Webhooks SecretRef route secret remains valid after rotation/reload
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, a proxy for how much of the ecosystem is exposed.
openclawnpmDescription
Summary
OpenClaw webhooks allowed route secrets to be backed by SecretRef values, but cached the resolved secret for a route. After an operator rotated the underlying secret and ran openclaw secrets reload, the previous resolved webhook secret could remain valid until the plugin or gateway restarted.
Impact
An attacker who already had a previously valid webhook route secret could continue authenticating webhook requests after the operator rotated the secret and reloaded secrets. This weakened credential rotation for webhook routes and could allow continued invocation of the configured webhook task flow until restart.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclawon npm - Affected: versions before
2026.4.23 - Fixed:
2026.4.23 - Latest stable verified fixed:
[email protected], tagv2026.4.23
Fix
Webhook route authentication now resolves SecretRef-backed route secrets on each request. A rotated secret becomes effective after openclaw secrets reload without requiring a gateway or plugin restart, and the old secret is rejected.
Fix Commit(s)
36c4a372a0ad5dca8bfc0d93f7aab9c2f2de66fa(fix(webhooks): reload route secrets per request)
Severity
Severity remains medium. The attack requires possession of a previously valid route secret, but the stale credential can continue to authorize webhook actions after rotation.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.4.23 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for openclaw. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update openclaw to 2026.4.23 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-q8ff-7ffm-m3r9 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-q8ff-7ffm-m3r9 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-q8ff-7ffm-m3r9. 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-q8ff-7ffm-m3r9 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-q8ff-7ffm-m3r9 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.