OpenClaw's Signal reaction-only status events could, in limited cases, be enqueued before access checks

Summary

In a narrow Signal reaction-notification path, reaction-only inbound events could enqueue a status event before sender access checks were applied.

Affected Packages / Versions

• Package: openclaw (npm)
• Affected: <= 2026.2.24 (latest published at patch time)
• Fixed: 2026.2.25

Details

In the affected flow (src/signal/monitor/event-handler.ts), reaction-only handling could return after enqueueSystemEvent(...) before DM/group authorization checks were evaluated for that sender.

This behavior was limited to reaction-only inbound events with reaction notifications enabled. In that case, a sender not authorized for normal DM flow could still queue a Signal reaction status line for that session.

The fix applies shared DM/group access checks before reaction notification enqueue. Pairing behavior for normal DM messages is unchanged.

Impact

• Limited to Signal reaction-only inbound events.
• Could add an unauthorized reaction status line to agent context for affected sessions.
• Did not directly enable normal DM delivery or direct host command execution.

Fix Commit(s)

• 2aa7842adeedef423be7ce283a9144b9f1a0a669

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to 2026.2.25 so once npm release is out, advisory publish can proceed directly.

OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.