Summary
OpenClaw affected by iMessage remote attachment SCP hardening (strict host-key checks and remoteHost validation)
Remote iMessage attachment fetches used SCP with trust-on-first-use host-key behavior and accepted unvalidated remote host tokens.
Before the fix:
- SCP used
StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-newin the remote attachment path. channels.imessage.remoteHostwas not validated as a strict SSH host token.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Latest published npm version currently affected:
2026.2.17 - Vulnerable range (structured field):
<= 2026.2.17 - Patched version (pre-set for next release):
>= 2026.2.19
Fix Commit(s)
- Pushed to
main: 49d0def6d1e88f002026b1d2a35aa615d48a751a
OpenClaw thanks @allsmog for reporting.
Impact
In remote iMessage deployments that use SCP attachment fetching, a first-connection MITM/DNS-poisoning scenario could cause the wrong host key to be trusted. Unsafe remote host token values could also alter SCP argument semantics.
Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host. Typical impact: code execution in the application's environment.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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The fix hardens remote attachment SSH/SCP handling by:
- requiring
StrictHostKeyChecking=yesfor SCP and SSH tunnel paths, - adding strict
remoteHostnormalization/validation, - adding
--argument barrier for SCP remote source parsing, - validating
channels.imessage.remoteHostin config schema, - rejecting unsafe auto-detected host tokens at runtime.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is GHSA-2MC2-G238-722J? GHSA-2MC2-G238-722J is a medium-severity OS command injection vulnerability in openclaw (npm), affecting versions <= 2026.2.17. It is fixed in 2026.2.19. Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host.
- Which versions of openclaw are affected by GHSA-2MC2-G238-722J? openclaw (npm) versions <= 2026.2.17 is affected.
- Is there a fix for GHSA-2MC2-G238-722J? Yes. GHSA-2MC2-G238-722J is fixed in 2026.2.19. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is GHSA-2MC2-G238-722J exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-2MC2-G238-722J is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether GHSA-2MC2-G238-722J is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix GHSA-2MC2-G238-722J? Upgrade
openclawto 2026.2.19 or later.