Vulnerability Database

328,409

Total vulnerabilities in the database

OpenClaw Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via Node Invoke Approval Bypass in Gateway

Summary

A remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in the gateway-to-node invocation path allowed an authenticated gateway client to bypass node-host exec approvals by injecting internal control fields into node.invoke parameters.

Affected Component

  • Gateway method: node.invoke for node command system.run
  • Node host runner: exec approval gating for system.run

Impact

If an attacker can authenticate to a gateway (for example via a leaked/shared gateway token or a paired device token with operator.write), they could execute arbitrary commands on connected node hosts that support system.run. This can lead to full compromise of developer workstations, CI runners, and servers running the node host.

Technical Details

The gateway forwarded user-controlled params to node hosts without sanitizing internal approval fields. The node host treated params.approved === true and/or params.approvalDecision as sufficient to skip the approval workflow.

Fix

Patched in OpenClaw 2026.2.14.

  • Commits:
    • 318379cdb8d045da0009b0051bd0e712e5c65e2d
    • a7af646fdab124a7536998db6bd6ad567d2b06b0
    • c1594627421f95b6bc4ad7c606657dc75b5ad0ce
    • 0af76f5f0e93540efbdf054895216c398692afcd
  • Gateway strips untrusted approval control fields from system.run user input.
  • Gateway only re-attaches approval flags when params.runId references a valid exec.approval.request record and the request context matches. Approval IDs are bound to the requesting device identity (stable across reconnects), preventing replay by other clients.
  • Gateway forwards only an allowlisted set of system.run parameters, preventing future control-field smuggling.

Mitigations

  • Upgrade to 2026.2.14 or later.
  • Restrict access to the gateway (do not expose it to untrusted networks/users).
  • Rotate gateway credentials if you suspect token/password exposure.
  • Disable remote command execution on nodes by blocking system.run at the gateway (gateway.nodes.denyCommands) and/or by configuring node exec security to deny.

Credits

OpenClaw thanks @222n5 for reporting this issue.

CVSS v3:

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

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

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.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

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.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.