Affected: OpenClaw

OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.26 contain an approval bypass vulnerability in system.run execution that allows attackers to execute commands from unintended filesystem locations by rebinding writable parent symlinks in the current working directory after approval. An attacker can modify mutable parent symlink path components between approval and execution time to redirect command execution to a different location while preserving the visible working directory string.

Affected: npm: openclaw

## 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 `openclaw@2026.2.26` is published, publish this advisory directly without further version-field edits.

OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.