GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff: OpenClaw Scoped Chat.send Route Inheritance Could Vulnerability

HIGH
Share
CVSS 8.8
CWE-862 CWE-863
Published
Advisory Summary

GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) scoped chat.send route inheritance could vulnerability (CWE-862: Missing Authorization) affecting OpenClaw libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves scoped chat.send route inheritance could bypass admin command scope gates. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2026.5.18.

GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff at a Glance

CVE Identifier N/A
GHSA Identifier GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-862: Missing Authorization
Affected Product OpenClaw
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected OpenClaw dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

openclaw fixed: 2026.5.18 
npm install openclaw@2026.5.18
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

npm ls openclaw

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls openclaw

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of OpenClaw in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2026.5.18), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls openclaw command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-862: Missing Authorization, where the product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. In OpenClaw, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Summary Some internal command handlers require `operator.approvals` or `operator.admin` scopes. In affected releases, a scoped Gateway `chat.send` request delivered through an inherited external route could be evaluated as an external-channel command while still carrying the lower Gateway client scopes. This issue affects scoped Gateway clients. It does not apply to shared-secret bearer HTTP compatibility endpoints, which are documented as full operator surfaces under OpenClaw's trust model. ### Affected configurations This affects deployments where a scoped Gateway caller with `operator.write` can use `chat.send` with delivery into a session that has an inherited external delivery route. ### Impact Commands that should have required `operator.approvals` or `operator.admin` could run with only `operator.write` in this routed context. Affected command families included approval resolution and selected administrative commands such as plugin, config, MCP, allowlist, and ACP mutations. ### Patched Versions The first stable patched version is `2026.5.18`. ### Mitigations Upgrade to `openclaw@2026.5.18` or later. Before upgrading, avoid granting `operator.write` tokens to clients that can deliver commands into sessions with external routes unless those clients are trusted with admin-like command effects.

GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff Affected OpenClaw Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2026.5.18
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
openclaw
npm/openclaw
npm
< 2026.5.18
2026.5.18

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff
OpenClaw Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff?
GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff is a security vulnerability in OpenClaw involving Scoped chat.send route inheritance could bypass admin command scope gates under CWE-862: Missing Authorization.
Which OpenClaw versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2026.5.18 across affected packages: openclaw.
What version fixes GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff?
Upgrading to 2026.5.18 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is openclaw affected?
Yes, openclaw is affected in releases prior to 2026.5.18. Upgrade your dependency to 2026.5.18 or later.
What is the CVSS score of GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff?
GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff?
GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff is classified under CWE-862: Missing Authorization (The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.).
How can I check npm dependencies for GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls openclaw'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff",
  "modified" : "2026-07-02T16:06:00Z",
  "published" : "2026-07-02T16:06:00Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "OpenClaw: Scoped chat.send route inheritance could bypass admin command scope gates",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nSome internal command handlers require `operator.approvals` or `operator.admin` scopes. In affected releases, a scoped Gateway `chat.send` request delivered through an inherited external route could be evaluated as an external-channel command while still carrying the lower Gateway client scopes.\n\nThis issue affects scoped Gateway clients. It does not apply to shared-secret bearer HTTP compatibility endpoints, which are documented as full operator surfaces under OpenClaw's trust model.\n\n### Affected configurations\n\nThis affects deployments where a scoped Gateway caller with `operator.write` can use `chat.send` with delivery into a session that has an inherited external delivery route.\n\n### Impact\n\nCommands that should have required `operator.approvals` or `operator.admin` could run with only `operator.write` in this routed context. Affected command families included approval resolution and selected administrative commands such as plugin, config, MCP, allowlist, and ACP mutations.\n\n### Patched Versions\n\nThe first stable patched version is `2026.5.18`.\n\n### Mitigations\n\nUpgrade to `openclaw@2026.5.18` or later. Before upgrading, avoid granting `operator.write` tokens to clients that can deliver commands into sessions with external routes unless those clients are trusted with admin-like command effects.",
  "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" : "2026.5.18"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-hw9r-h9mr-4jff"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-862", "CWE-863" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-07-02T16:06:00Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}