Executive brief
OpenClaw is a messaging platform configuration library used to manage authorization policies for group and direct-message communications. A flaw in its allowlist logic allows sender IDs that were approved only for direct messages (via "DM pairing") to incorrectly bypass group-level access controls, enabling unauthorized users to send messages to restricted groups when administrators intended to restrict access only to explicitly approved group members.
Technical details
The vulnerability is an authorization scope mismatch (CWE-863) in OpenClaw's group allowlist composition logic. The root cause is that group sender authorization checks inadvertently inherited entries from the DM pairing-store, which was designed solely for direct-message approval. Under the default DM pairing policy, a sender approved only for direct messages could match and satisfy group allowlist checks. The vulnerability requires low privilege access (authenticated user) and affects the LINE configuration context. Patches in versions 2026.2.26 and later isolate group allowlist composition from pairing-store entries and centralize shared allowlist logic to preserve DM-only semantics.
Affected products
- OpenClaw openclaw <= 2026.2.25
Timeline
- 2026-03-12: disclosed
- 2026-02-26: patched: Fix commits 8bdda7a651c21e98faccdbbd73081e79cffe8be0 and 892a9c24b0f6118729ab5b5f5499b1a7e792dd15 on main; release 2026.2.26 planned