Executive brief
OpenClaw is a widely-used Node.js library for agent-based systems. A flaw in its agent hook event handling allows externally supplied, untrusted input to be processed as trusted system events, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate agent behavior and access or modify sensitive operations with elevated privileges.
Technical details
The vulnerability is an improper input validation / trust boundary issue (CWE-269, CWE-345) in OpenClaw's agent hook dispatch mechanism. When processing hook events, the library failed to sanitize hook names and incorrectly marked externally supplied hook metadata as trusted system events before enqueueing them. This allows an attacker with network access to supply malicious hook metadata that is treated as internal trusted input, bypassing security controls. The fix, released in v2026.4.10, sanitizes hook names and explicitly marks agent hook system events as untrusted before processing. No authentication or special privileges are required to trigger this vulnerability.
Affected products
- OpenClaw openclaw < 2026.4.10
Timeline
- 2026-04-17: disclosed
- 2026-04-17: patched: Fixed in v2026.4.10 and later; latest npm release 2026.4.14 includes fix