CVE-2026-33574: OpenClaw's skills-install-download can be redirected outside the tools root by rebinding the validated base path

OpenClaw's skills download installer validated the intended per-skill tools root lexically, but later reused that mutable path while downloading and copying the archive into place. If a local attacker could rebind that tools-root path between validation and the final write, the installer could be redirected to write outside the intended tools directory.

The fix pins the canonical per-skill tools root immediately after validation and derives later download/copy paths from that canonical root, so rebinding the lexical path fails closed instead of redirecting the write.

Affected Packages / Versions

• Package: openclaw (npm)
• Latest published vulnerable version: 2026.3.7
• Affected range: <= 2026.3.7
• Fixed in released version: 2026.3.8

Fix Commit(s)

• 9abf014f3502009faf9c73df5ca2cff719e54639

Release Verification

• Verified fixed in GitHub release v2026.3.8 published on March 9, 2026.
• Verified npm view openclaw version resolves to 2026.3.8.
• Verified the release contains the regression test covering tools-root rebinding and that the test passes against the v2026.3.8 tree.

Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.