Executive brief
OpenClaw is a Node.js bot framework that integrates with Telegram messaging. When Telegram webhook mode is enabled without a configured secret, the application accepts unauthenticated HTTP requests and trusts attacker-supplied message data. An attacker can forge Telegram messages to impersonate authorized users and execute privileged commands, potentially gaining unauthorized control over the bot and any connected systems.
Technical details
This is an authentication bypass and authorization failure (CWE-285, CWE-345) in OpenClaw's Telegram webhook handler. When the webhookSecret configuration is missing or empty, the webhook endpoint accepts unauthenticated POST requests and trusts the attacker-controlled JSON payload without validating the X-Telegram-Bot-Api-Secret-Token header. An attacker with network access to the webhook endpoint can spoof message.from.id and chat.id fields to impersonate allowlisted senders and execute bot commands. The vulnerability affects versions ≤2026.1.30 and is patched in ≥2026.2.1. Remediation includes mandatory webhook secret configuration and defense-in-depth fixes (binding to loopback, runtime validation, request size limits).
Affected products
- OpenClaw OpenClaw <=2026.1.30
Timeline
- 2026-02-17: disclosed
- 2026-02-20: patched: Version 2026.2.1 released