CVE-2026-27545: OpenClaw: Node system.run approval bypass via parent-symlink cwd rebind

Summary

For host=node executions, approval context could be bypassed after approval-time by rebinding a writable parent symlink in cwd while preserving the visible cwd string.

Affected Packages / Versions

• Package: openclaw (npm)
• Affected: <= 2026.2.25
• Fixed: >= 2026.2.26 (planned next npm release)

Impact

A command approved for one filesystem location could execute from a different location if a mutable parent symlink changed between approval and execution.

Fix

• Added immutable approval-time plan preparation (system.run.prepare) and systemRunPlanV2 canonical fields (argv, cwd, agentId, sessionKey).
• Enforced canonical plan values through approval request storage and forwarding-time sanitization.
• Rejected mutable parent-symlink path components during approval-plan building to block symlink rebind bypass.
• Follow-up refactors centralized command catalogs and approval context/error handling to reduce future drift.

Fix Commit(s)

• 78a7ff2d50fb3bcef351571cb5a0f21430a340c1
• d82c042b09727a6148f3ca651b254c4a677aff26
• d06632ba45a8482192792c55d5ff0b2e21abb0a7
• 4e690e09c746408b5e27617a20cb3fdc5190dbda
• 4b4718c8dfce2e2c48404aa5088af7c013bed60b

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to the planned next release (2026.2.26). Once npm [email protected] is published, publish this advisory directly without further version-field edits.

OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.