GHSA-r6qf-8968-wj9q is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) CWE-863 vulnerability in openclaw. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-r6qf-8968-wj9q is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
OpenClaw: system.run wrapper-depth boundary could skip shell approval gating
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
OpenClaw's system.run dispatch-wrapper handling applied different depth-boundary rules to shell-wrapper approval detection and execution planning.
With exactly four transparent dispatch wrappers such as repeated env invocations before /bin/sh -c, the approval classifier could stop treating the command as a shell wrapper at the depth boundary while execution planning still unwrapped through to the shell payload. In security=allowlist mode, that mismatch could skip the expected approval-required path for the shell wrapper invocation.
Latest published npm version: 2026.3.2
Fixed on main on March 7, 2026 in 2fc95a7cfc1eb9306356510b0251b6d51fb1c0b0 by keeping shell-wrapper classification active at the configured dispatch depth boundary and only failing closed beyond that boundary. This aligns approval gating with the execution plan. Legitimate shallow dispatch-wrapper usage continues to work.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected versions:
<= 2026.3.2 - Patched version:
>= 2026.3.7
Fix Commit(s)
2fc95a7cfc1eb9306356510b0251b6d51fb1c0b0
Release Process Note
npm 2026.3.7 was published on March 8, 2026. This advisory is fixed in the released package.
Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.3.7 |
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 2026.3.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-r6qf-8968-wj9q 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-r6qf-8968-wj9q 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-r6qf-8968-wj9q. 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-r6qf-8968-wj9q in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-r6qf-8968-wj9q across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.