Executive brief
OpenClaw is a webhook gateway platform that processes incoming webhooks through configurable transformation modules. An attacker with the ability to modify the webhook configuration can exploit a path traversal vulnerability to load and execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the gateway process, potentially compromising the entire webhook processing infrastructure and any data it accesses.
Technical details
The vulnerability exists in OpenClaw's hook transform module loading mechanism, which dynamically imports and executes JavaScript modules specified in the hooks configuration. The hooks.mappings[].transform.module path resolution previously accepted absolute paths and did not properly constrain relative paths, allowing attackers to escape the intended transforms directory via ".." traversal or absolute path references. An attacker with config-write access (through direct file modification or authenticated configuration mechanisms) can point a hook mapping to an arbitrary module on disk and execute code with gateway process privileges by triggering the corresponding hook endpoint. The fix (version 2026.2.14) now constrains all module loading to the OpenClaw transforms root directory (~/.openclaw/hooks/transforms) and rejects attempts to escape this directory through absolute paths or traversal sequences.
Affected products
- OpenClaw OpenClaw >= 2.0.0-beta3, <= 2026.2.13
Timeline
- 2026-03-03: disclosed
- 2026-02-14: patched: Fixed in version 2026.2.14