GitHub Advisoryadvisory · npm
GHSA-jwf4-8wf4-jf2m OpenClaw: BlueBubbles (optional plugin) pairing/allowlist mismatch when allowFrom is empty
MEDIUM
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-22170
- Ecosystem
- npm
- Packages
- openclaw
- Severity
- Moderate
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- Weaknesses
- CWE-863
- Reviewed
- 2026-03-04
Affected packages
• npm openclaw: < 2026.2.22 → fixed in 2026.2.22
Description
Summary
BlueBubbles is an optional OpenClaw channel plugin. A configuration-sensitive access-control mismatch allowed DM senders to be treated as authorized when `dmPolicy` was `pairing` or `allowlist` and `allowFrom` was empty/unset.
Severity Rationale (Medium)
Severity is set to medium because:
• this affects an optional plugin, not core messaging surfaces;
• many deployments use owner-controlled/private BlueBubbles identities with limited external reachability;
• practical exploitability depends on an untrusted sender being able to reach that specific BlueBubbles account identifier.
In typical personal/self-hosted BlueBubbles setups, the mapped Apple identity is single-owner and not broadly reachable, so this is usually low practical risk.
Risk is higher in deployments where the identifier is publicly reachable and/or agent tool permissions are broad.
Technical Details
1. BlueBubbles DM policy defaults to `pairing` (`dmPolicy ?? "pairing"`).
2. Effective allowlist can be empty (`effectiveAllowFrom`).
3. DM/reaction authorization called `isAllowedBlueBubblesSender(...)`.
4. That delegated to shared `isAllowedParsedChatSender(...)`, which previously returned `true` for empty allowlists.
5. Result: unknown senders could bypass intended pairing/allowlist gating when `allowFrom` was empty.
Affected Packages / Versions
• Package: `openclaw` (npm)
• Vulnerable versions: `<= 2026.2.21-2`
• Planned fixed version: `2026.2.22`
Fix
The shared parsed-chat allowlist helper now fails closed on empty allowlists, restoring expected BlueBubbles DM gating behavior. BlueBubbles inbound gating was also refactored to use one shared DM/group decision helper for both message and reaction paths to reduce future drift.
Fix Commit(s)
• `9632b9bcf032c5f2280c3103961fde912ab1f920`
• `2ba6de7eaad812e5e8603018e14e54e96bdd57dd`
• `51c0893673de8e5cea64e64351dbfa4680ba0dec`
• `4540790cb62412676f7b61cfc6e47443f84a251e`
OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-22170 OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.22 with the optional BlueBubbles plugin contain an access control bypass vulnerability where empty… vulnerability
Weakness · CWE (1)
- CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization weakness
References
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-jwf4-8wf4-jf2m web
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22170 advisory
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/2ba6de7eaad812e5e8603018e14e54e96bdd57dd web
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/4540790cb62412676f7b61cfc6e47443f84a251e web
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/51c0893673de8e5cea64e64351dbfa4680ba0dec web
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/9632b9bcf032c5f2280c3103961fde912ab1f920 web
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw package
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-bluebubbles-access-control-bypass-via-empty-allowfrom-configuration web