GHSA-943q-mwmv-hhvh: OpenClaw Gateway /tools/invoke Tool Escalation + Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-943q-mwmv-hhvh",
  "modified" : "2026-03-02T23:32:22Z",
  "published" : "2026-03-02T23:32:22Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "OpenClaw: Gateway /tools/invoke tool escalation + ACP permission auto-approval",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\nOpenClaw Gateway exposes an authenticated HTTP endpoint (`POST /tools/invoke`) intended for invoking a constrained set of tools. Two issues could combine to significantly increase blast radius in misconfigured or exposed deployments:\n\n- The HTTP gateway layer did not deny high-risk session orchestration tools by default, allowing a caller with Gateway auth to invoke tools like `sessions_spawn` / `sessions_send` and pivot into creating or controlling agent sessions.\n- ACP clients could auto-approve permission requests for risky tools with insufficient user interaction/guardrails, reducing the friction that should normally prevent silent execution or mutation.\n\n## Impact\n\nIf the Gateway is reachable by an attacker and they obtain a valid Gateway token, they may be able to:\n\n- Escalate from single-tool invocation to spawning/controlling sessions and reach command execution capabilities depending on tool policy and runtime environment.\n- Perform cross-session message injection via `sessions_send`.\n- In ACP-integrated scenarios, obtain unintended approvals for non-read/search tool permissions.\n\n## CVSS\n\n- `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` (8.8)\n\n## Affected versions\n\n- `openclaw < 2026.2.14`\n\n## Fixed in\n\n- `openclaw >= 2026.2.14`\n\n## Remediation\n\nThe default behavior is now hardened:\n\n- PR #15390: deny high-risk tools over HTTP `/tools/invoke` by default (with `gateway.tools.{allow,deny}` overrides) and harden ACP permission handling.\n- Commit `bb1c3dfe1`: ACP clients now prompt for any non-read/search permission request (fail closed for mutating/execution/fetch operations).\n- Commit `539689a2f`: security audit warns when `gateway.tools.allow` re-enables default-denied HTTP tools, since this can increase RCE blast radius if the Gateway is reachable.\n- Commit `153a7644e`: ACP safe-kind inference is stricter to avoid accidental auto-approval due to substring matches (still auto-approves only confident `read/search`).\n\n## Mitigations / deployment guidance\n\n- Keep the Gateway loopback-only unless you have a strong reason not to: `gateway.bind=\"loopback\"` / `openclaw gateway run --bind loopback`.\n- Avoid exposing the Gateway directly to the public internet. Use an SSH tunnel or Tailscale to access a loopback-bound Gateway.\n- Treat opting in to default-denied HTTP tools (via `gateway.tools.allow`) as high-risk and audit such configurations carefully.\n\n## Credits\n\nOpenClaw thanks @aether-ai-agent for reporting this issue and contributing remediation work.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "openclaw"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2026.2.14"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-943q-mwmv-hhvh"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/15390"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/153a7644e"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/539689a2f"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/bb1c3dfe1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/ee31cd47b49f4b2f128a69a2a3745ca9db68b3be"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-78" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-02T23:32:22Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}