GHSA-9868-vxmx-w862 OpenClaw's system.run allowlist bypass via shell line-continuation command substitution

• npm openclaw: < 2026.2.22 → fixed in 2026.2.22

Summary In OpenClaw `system.run` allowlist mode, shell-wrapper analysis could be bypassed by splitting command substitution as `$\\` + newline + `(` inside double quotes. Analysis treated the payload as allowlisted (for example `/bin/echo`), while shell runtime folded the line continuation into `$(...)` and executed non-allowlisted subcommands. Affected Packages / Versions • Package: npm `openclaw` • Latest published affected version: `2026.2.21-2` • Affected range: `<=2026.2.21-2` • Patched version (planned next release): `2026.2.22` Impact In deployments that opt into `tools.exec.security=allowlist` (with `ask=on-miss` or `off`), this can bypass approval boundaries and lead to unintended command execution. Fix Commit(s) • `3f0b9dbb36c86e308267924c0d3d4a4e1fc4d1e9` Remediation • Upgrade to `2026.2.22` (or newer) when published. • Temporary mitigation: set `tools.exec.ask=always` or `tools.exec.security=deny`. Release Process Note `patched_versions` is pre-set to planned next release `2026.2.22`. After npm release is out, this advisory should be ready for direct publish without additional metadata edits. OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.