Executive brief
OpenClaw is a Node.js plugin platform that handles HTTP requests for various channel endpoints. A mismatch in how the gateway authentication layer and plugin handlers process URL paths allows attackers to bypass authentication and access plugin APIs that should require authorization, potentially exposing sensitive data or enabling unauthorized modifications.
Technical details
The vulnerability is an authentication bypass (CWE-288) arising from path canonicalization mismatch between the gateway auth guard and plugin routing handlers. The gateway guard checks raw requestPath patterns exactly (/api/channels and /api/channels/*), but if a plugin handler applies transformations like decodeURIComponent() or toLowerCase(), requests with uppercase paths (/API/channels) or percent-encoded slashes (/api/channels%2F...) bypass the auth check while being interpreted as protected routes by the plugin. Attack vector is network-based with high complexity. The impact is confidentiality and integrity compromise (CVSS 3.1: 5.3 base). Fixed in version 2026.2.26; all prior versions up to 2026.2.25 are affected.
Affected products
- OpenClaw OpenClaw <= 2026.2.25
Timeline
- 2026-03-12: disclosed: GHSA published
- 2026-02-26: patched: Fixed in version 2026.2.26