GHSA-v2ww-5rh7-2h5v — openclaw
HIGHGHSA-v2ww-5rh7-2h5v is a high-severity (CVSS 7.1) CWE-693 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw: Linux and macOS exec allowlists skipped configured argument patterns
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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-v2ww-5rh7-2h5v.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-v2ww-5rh7-2h5v by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 379,842 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
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
Summary
OpenClaw's exec allowlist supported optional argPattern entries to restrict the arguments accepted for an allowlisted executable. In affected releases, Linux and macOS gateways skipped argPattern checks and treated a matching executable path as sufficient to satisfy the allowlist.
This meant an operator could configure an allowlist entry that appeared to permit only a narrow argv shape, but OpenClaw would allow other argv for the same executable without an approval prompt when tools.exec.security was set to allowlist.
This issue is limited to direct enforcement of configured argPattern values. OpenClaw's exec approvals remain best-effort guardrails and do not attempt to semantically model every interpreter, loader, package script, shell feature, or transitive file a command may use.
Affected configurations
This affects OpenClaw gateway deployments that meet all of these conditions:
- the gateway runs on Linux or macOS
- exec is configured with
tools.exec.security: "allowlist" - at least one exec allowlist entry uses
argPattern - the allowlisted executable accepts security-relevant arguments or flags
Path-only allowlist entries are not additionally affected by this issue, because those entries intentionally allow any arguments for the matched executable. Windows was not affected by this specific bug because the affected code path already applied argPattern checks on Windows.
Impact
If an untrusted or lower-trust sender can influence a tool-enabled agent to call exec, they may be able to run disallowed arguments for an executable that the operator intended to restrict with argPattern. Depending on the executable, those arguments can cause host-side file access, network access, or command execution that should have required an approval prompt.
The practical impact depends on the operator's allowlist and channel exposure. Examples of higher-risk allowlisted executables include tools with interpreter, loader, subprocess, network, or plugin flags such as git, python, node, bash, find, tar, and ssh.
This is not a bypass of all exec approval semantics. It is a bypass of the direct argPattern predicate that the operator configured and that the exec tool description advertised as enforced at runtime.
Patched Versions
The first stable patched version is 2026.5.12.
Mitigations
Upgrade to [email protected] or later. Before upgrading, operators who use exec allowlist mode should review entries that combine an executable path with argPattern, especially for interpreter-like or subprocess-capable tools.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.5.12npm install openclaw@2026.5.12 |
Affected Products
openclawopenclawDetection & 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 2026.5.12 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-v2ww-5rh7-2h5v is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-v2ww-5rh7-2h5v in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.