GHSA-ccg8-46r6-9qgj OpenClaw's dispatch-wrapper depth-cap mismatch can bypass shell-wrapper approval gating in system.run allowlist mode

• npm openclaw: < 2026.2.24 → fixed in 2026.2.24

Summary A wrapper-depth parsing mismatch in `system.run` allowed nested transparent dispatch wrappers (for example repeated `/usr/bin/env`) to suppress shell-wrapper detection while still matching allowlist resolution. In `security=allowlist` + `ask=on-miss`, this could bypass the expected approval prompt for shell execution. Severity / Trust Model OpenClaw’s documented model treats authenticated gateway callers as trusted operators and exec approvals as operator guardrails. This issue is still a real approval-boundary bypass and is triaged as Medium in that model. Technical Details • Dispatch-wrapper unwrapping stopped at `MAX_DISPATCH_WRAPPER_DEPTH`. • Shell-wrapper extraction could return non-wrapper once depth was exhausted. • Allowlist resolution could still succeed on partially unwrapped argv beginning with `/usr/bin/env`. • Result: nested wrapper chains could execute `/bin/sh -c ...` without fresh approval in `allowlist` + `ask=on-miss`. Affected Packages / Versions • Package: `openclaw` (npm) • Latest published version at triage time: `2026.2.23` • Vulnerable versions: `= 2026.2.24` Fix Commit(s) • `57c9a18180c8b14885bbd95474cbb17ff2d03f0b` Verification • Added regression coverage for depth-overflow wrapper chains at resolution and `system.run` invocation layers. • Reproduced previous PoC behavior before fix, then confirmed denial after fix with `SYSTEM_RUN_DENIED: approval required`. Release Process Note `patched_versions` is pre-set to the planned next release (`2026.2.24`) so once npm publish is complete, advisory publication can proceed without additional version edits. OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting. Publication Update (2026-02-25) `[email protected]` is published on npm and contains the fix commit(s) listed above. This advisory now marks `>= 2026.2.24` as patched.