GHSA-9q2p-vc84-2rwm OpenClaw: system.run allow-always persistence included shell-commented payload tails
Attackers can bypass allowlist security controls in OpenClaw by using shell comments to hide malicious command tails from persistence analysis.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is GHSA-9q2p-vc84-2rwm?
GHSA-9q2p-vc84-2rwm is a vulnerability in openclaw, published on 9 Mar 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
OpenClaw's system.run allowlist analysis did not honor POSIX shell comment semantics when deriving allow-always persistence entries.
A caller in security=allowlist mode who received an allow-always decision could submit a shell command whose tail was commented out at runtime, for example by using an unquoted # before a chained payload. The runtime shell would execute only the pre-comment portion, but allowlist persistence could still analyze and store the non-executed tail as a trusted follow-up command.
Latest published npm version: 2026.3.2
Fixed on main on March 7, 2026 in 939b18475d734ed75173f59507e3ebbdfe1992b7 by teaching shell tokenization and chain/pipeline analysis to stop at unquoted shell comments, so allow-always persistence now tracks only commands that the shell can actually execute. Normal real chained commands and quoted # literals continue to work.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected versions:
<= 2026.3.2 - Patched version:
>= 2026.3.7
Fix Commit(s)
939b18475d734ed75173f59507e3ebbdfe1992b7
Release Process Note
npm 2026.3.7 was published on March 8, 2026. This advisory is fixed in the released package.
Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
Which versions are affected by GHSA-9q2p-vc84-2rwm?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including openclaw.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
openclaw npm | All versions | 2026.3.7 |
openclaw npm | All versions | 2026.3.7 |
How do I fix GHSA-9q2p-vc84-2rwm?
Upgrade openclaw to 2026.3.7 or later.
Is GHSA-9q2p-vc84-2rwm being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of GHSA-9q2p-vc84-2rwm in the wild and no public exploit code.