Vulnerability Database

328,409

Total vulnerabilities in the database

OpenClaw: Node-host approvals could show misleading shell payloads instead of the executed argv

Summary

In affected versions of openclaw, node-host system.run approvals could display only an extracted shell payload such as jq --version while execution still ran a different outer wrapper argv such as ./env sh -c 'jq --version'.

Impact

This is an approval-integrity bug. An attacker who could place or select a local wrapper binary and induce a wrapper-shaped command could get local code executed after the operator approved misleading command text.

Affected Packages and Versions

  • Package: openclaw (npm)
  • Affected versions: <= 2026.3.8
  • Fixed in: 2026.3.11

Technical Details

Wrapper resolution normalized executables by basename and extracted inner shell payload text for approval display, while execution still preserved the full wrapper argv. Approval storage and UI therefore showed text that did not match the exact command OpenClaw would execute.

Fix

OpenClaw now binds approvals to the exact executed argv and keeps extracted shell payload text only as secondary preview data. The fix shipped in openclaw@2026.3.11.

Workarounds

Upgrade to 2026.3.11 or later.

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Unknown
  • Score:
  • AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Frequently Asked Questions

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CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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