OpenClaw: Leaf subagents could steer sibling sessions across sandbox boundaries

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Description

Summary

In affected versions of openclaw, sandboxed leaf subagents could still access the subagents control surface and resolve against the parent requester scope instead of remaining confined to their own session tree.

Impact

A low-privilege sandboxed leaf worker could steer or kill a sibling run owned by the same requester and cause that sibling to execute with its own broader tool policy. This is a sandbox and session-scope boundary bypass.

Affected Packages and Versions

  • Package: openclaw (npm)
  • Affected versions: <= 2026.3.8
  • Fixed in: 2026.3.11

Technical Details

Leaf subagents retained the subagents tool, and subagent control requests were authorized against the parent requester scope rather than the caller's own spawned descendants. The control path prevented only self-targeting, not cross-sibling steering.

Fix

OpenClaw now removes subagents control access from leaf subagents by default, scopes subagent control to the caller's own descendants, and rejects steer and kill requests that target runs outside that descendant tree. The fix shipped in [email protected].

Workarounds

Upgrade to 2026.3.11 or later.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2026-03-13 15:47:34 UTC
Updated
2026-03-13 15:47:35 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2026-03-13 15:47:34 UTC

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
8.8 3.1 —
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-4w7m-58cg-cmff ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management

Credits

  • tdjackey (reporter)

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
npm openclaw < 2026.3.11 2026.3.11 —

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence