OpenClaw has exec allowlist/safeBins policy-runtime mismatch via env -S wrapper interpretation

Summary

tools.exec allowlist/safe-bins evaluation could diverge from runtime execution for wrapper commands using GNU env -S/--split-string semantics. This allowed policy checks to treat a command as a benign safe-bin invocation while runtime executed a different payload.

Affected Packages / Versions

• Package: openclaw (npm)
• Vulnerable versions: <= 2026.2.22-2 (latest currently published npm version)
• Patched version (released): 2026.2.23

Impact

An attacker able to influence tool command text (for example via untrusted prompt/content injection reaching an exec-capable flow) could bypass allowlist/safe-bins intent and execute unexpected commands.

Technical Details

Root cause was policy/runtime interpretation mismatch for dispatch wrappers:

• analysis resolved an effective executable from wrapper-unwrapped argv,
• execution could still run original wrapper argv semantics,
• safe-bin short-flag handling also allowed unknown short options in clusters.

Remediation

The fix hardens exec approvals to fail closed and enforce analysis/runtime parity:

• introduce wrapper execution planning with semantic-wrapper blocking,
• carry planned effectiveArgv + policyBlocked metadata through resolution,
• evaluate allowlist/safe-bins against planned argv,
• enforce canonical rebuilt shell command from planned argv for allowlist auto-paths,
• use planned argv for node-host/mac exec-host invocation paths,
• reject unknown short safe-bin flags,
• add regression tests for semantic env wrappers and parity fixtures.

Fix Commit(s)

• a1c4bf07c6baad3ef87a0e710fe9aef127b1f606

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to the released version (2026.2.23). Patched in 2026.2.23 and published.

OpenClaw thanks @jiseoung for reporting.