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GHSA-CHM2-M3W2-WCXM: OpenClaw: The Case of the Mutable Identity Crisis

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OpenClaw: The Case of the Mutable Identity Crisis

Vulnerability ID: GHSA-CHM2-M3W2-WCXM
CVSS Score: 6.8
Published: 2026-02-17

A critical authorization bypass vulnerability in OpenClaw allows attackers to spoof authorized users via Google Chat. By exploiting a logic flaw in how the system handles 'users/' prefixes in allowlists, a new Google account recycling an old email address can inherit the privileges of the previous owner, granting full control over the AI assistant.

TL;DR

OpenClaw's Google Chat extension confused immutable IDs with mutable email addresses. If you allowed 'users/email@example.com', the system stripped the prefix and matched against the email field. If that email gets reassigned to a new account (different ID), the new user inherits access. Fixed in 2026.2.14 by strictly enforcing ID checks for prefixed entries.

⚠️ Exploit Status: POC

Technical Details

  • CWE ID: CWE-290 (Spoofing)
  • Attack Vector: Network
  • CVSS Score: 6.8 (Estimated)
  • Confidentiality: High
  • Integrity: High
  • Patch Status: Released (2026.2.14)

Affected Systems

  • OpenClaw Google Chat Extension
  • OpenClaw: < 2026.2.14 (Fixed in: 2026.2.14)

Code Analysis

Commit: c8424bf

fix(googlechat): strictly separate users/ prefix checks from raw email checks

export function isSenderAllowed(...) { ... const withoutPrefix = normalized.replace(/^(googlechat|google-chat|gchat):/i, ""); if (withoutPrefix.startsWith("users/")) { return normalizeUserId(withoutPrefix) === normalizedSenderId; } ... }
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Exploit Details

  • GitHub: Test case in fix commit demonstrates the spoofing logic

Mitigation Strategies

  • Strictly separate immutable ID checks from mutable email checks.
  • deprecate ambiguous configuration formats.
  • Prefer immutable identifiers (UUIDs/GUIDs) over mutable strings (emails/usernames) for authorization.

Remediation Steps:

  1. Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.2.14 or later.
  2. Review allowedUsers configuration arrays.
  3. Replace users/<email> entries with users/<numeric_id> for stronger security.
  4. If email matching is required, remove the users/ prefix from the configuration entry.

References

Read the full report for GHSA-CHM2-M3W2-WCXM on our website for more details including interactive diagrams and full exploit analysis.

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