OpenClaw 2026.3.1 < 2026.3.2 - Approval Integrity Bypass via system.run argv Rewriting

@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Security/Node exec approvals: preserve shell/dispatch-wrapper argv semantics during approval hardening so approved wrapper commands (for example `env sh -c ...`) cannot drift into a different runtime command shape, and add regression coverage for both approval-plan generation and approved runtime execution paths. Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
 - Sandbox/Bootstrap context boundary hardening: reject symlink/hardlink alias bootstrap seed files that resolve outside the source workspace and switch post-compaction `AGENTS.md` context reads to boundary-verified file opens, preventing host file content from being injected via workspace aliasing. Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
 - Browser/Security output boundary hardening: replace check-then-rename output commits with root-bound fd-verified writes, unify install/skills canonical path-boundary checks, and add regression coverage for symlink-rebind race paths across browser output and shared fs-safe write flows. Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
 - Gateway/Security hardening: tie loopback-origin dev allowance to actual local socket clients (not Host header claims), add explicit warnings/metrics when `gateway.controlUi.dangerouslyAllowHostHeaderOriginFallback` accepts websocket origins, harden safe-regex detection for quantified ambiguous alternation patterns (for example `(a|aa)+`), and bound large regex-evaluation inputs for session-filter and log-redaction paths.

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+  buildSystemRunApprovalPlan,
+  hardenApprovedExecutionPaths,
+} from "./invoke-system-run-plan.js";
+
+describe("hardenApprovedExecutionPaths", () => {
+  it.runIf(process.platform !== "win32")(
+    "preserves shell-wrapper argv during approval hardening",
+    () => {
+      const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-shell-wrapper-"));
+      try {
+        const prepared = buildSystemRunApprovalPlan({
+          command: ["env", "sh", "-c", "echo SAFE"],
+          cwd: tmp,
+        });
+        expect(prepared.ok).toBe(true);
+        if (!prepared.ok) {
+          throw new Error("unreachable");
+        }
+        expect(prepared.plan.argv).toEqual(["env", "sh", "-c", "echo SAFE"]);
+        expect(prepared.cmdText).toBe("echo SAFE");
+      } finally {
+        fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    },
+  );
+
+  it.runIf(process.platform !== "win32")(
+    "preserves dispatch-wrapper argv during approval hardening",
+    () => {
+      const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-dispatch-wrapper-"));
+      try {
+        const hardened = hardenApprovedExecutionPaths({
+          approvedByAsk: true,
+          argv: ["env", "tr", "a", "b"],
+          shellCommand: null,
+          cwd: tmp,
+        });
+        expect(hardened.ok).toBe(true);
+        if (!hardened.ok) {
+          throw new Error("unreachable");
+        }
+        expect(hardened.argv).toEqual(["env", "tr", "a", "b"]);
+      } finally {
+        fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    },
+  );
+
+  it.runIf(process.platform !== "win32")(
+    "pins direct PATH-token executable during approval hardening",
+    () => {
+      const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-direct-pin-"));
+      const binDir = path.join(tmp, "bin");
+      fs.mkdirSync(binDir, { recursive: true });
+      const link = path.join(binDir, "poccmd");
+      fs.symlinkSync("/bin/echo", link);
+      const expected = fs.realpathSync(link);
+      const oldPath = process.env.PATH;
+      process.env.PATH = `${binDir}${path.delimiter}${oldPath ?? ""}`;
+      try {
+        const hardened = hardenApprovedExecutionPaths({
+          approvedByAsk: true,
+          argv: ["poccmd", "SAFE"],
+          shellCommand: null,
+          cwd: tmp,
+        });
+        expect(hardened.ok).toBe(true);
+        if (!hardened.ok) {
+          throw new Error("unreachable");
+        }
+        expect(hardened.argv).toEqual([expected, "SAFE"]);
+      } finally {
+        if (oldPath === undefined) {
+          delete process.env.PATH;
+        } else {
+          process.env.PATH = oldPath;
+        }
+        fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    },
+  );
+});

@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ function hasMutableSymlinkPathComponentSync(targetPath: string): boolean {
 export function hardenApprovedExecutionPaths(params: {
   approvedByAsk: boolean;
   argv: string[];
+  shellCommand: string | null;
   cwd: string | undefined;
 }): { ok: true; argv: string[]; cwd: string | undefined } | { ok: false; message: string } {
   if (!params.approvedByAsk) {
@@ -115,7 +116,19 @@ export function hardenApprovedExecutionPaths(params: {
     return { ok: true, argv: params.argv, cwd: hardenedCwd };
   }
 
+  // Preserve shell-wrapper semantics. Rewriting argv[0] for wrappers can change
+  // runtime behavior (for example: env sh -c ... -> /bin/sh sh -c ...).
+  if (params.shellCommand !== null) {
+    return { ok: true, argv: params.argv, cwd: hardenedCwd };
+  }
+
   const resolution = resolveCommandResolutionFromArgv(params.argv, hardenedCwd);
+  // Preserve transparent wrapper semantics for approval-based execution.
+  // Pinning the effective executable while keeping wrapper argv shape can shift
+  // positional arguments and execute a different command than approved.
+  if ((resolution?.wrapperChain?.length ?? 0) > 0) {
+    return { ok: true, argv: params.argv, cwd: hardenedCwd };
+  }
   const pinnedExecutable = resolution?.resolvedRealPath ?? resolution?.resolvedPath;
   if (!pinnedExecutable) {
     return {
@@ -149,6 +162,7 @@ export function buildSystemRunApprovalPlan(params: {
   const hardening = hardenApprovedExecutionPaths({
     approvedByAsk: true,
     argv: command.argv,
+    shellCommand: command.shellCommand,
     cwd: normalizeString(params.cwd) ?? undefined,
   });
   if (!hardening.ok) {

@@ -478,6 +478,43 @@ describe("handleSystemRunInvoke mac app exec host routing", () => {
       fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
     }
   });
+
+  it.runIf(process.platform !== "win32")(
+    "preserves wrapper argv for approved env shell commands",
+    async () => {
+      const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-approved-wrapper-"));
+      const marker = path.join(tmp, "marker");
+      const attackerScript = path.join(tmp, "sh");
+      fs.writeFileSync(attackerScript, "#!/bin/sh\necho exploited > marker\n");
+      fs.chmodSync(attackerScript, 0o755);
+      const runCommand = vi.fn(async (argv: string[]) => {
+        if (argv[0] === "/bin/sh" && argv[1] === "sh" && argv[2] === "-c") {
+          fs.writeFileSync(marker, "rewritten");
+        }
+        return createLocalRunResult();
+      });
+      const sendInvokeResult = vi.fn(async () => {});
+      try {
+        await runSystemInvoke({
+          preferMacAppExecHost: false,
+          command: ["env", "sh", "-c", "echo SAFE"],
+          cwd: tmp,
+          approved: true,
+          security: "allowlist",
+          ask: "on-miss",
+          runCommand,
+          sendInvokeResult,
+        });
+        const runArgs = vi.mocked(runCommand).mock.calls[0]?.[0] as string[] | undefined;
+        expect(runArgs).toEqual(["env", "sh", "-c", "echo SAFE"]);
+        expect(fs.existsSync(marker)).toBe(false);
+        expectInvokeOk(sendInvokeResult);
+      } finally {
+        fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    },
+  );
+
   it("denies ./sh wrapper spoof in allowlist on-miss mode before execution", async () => {
     const marker = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `openclaw-wrapper-spoof-${process.pid}-${Date.now()}`);
     const runCommand = vi.fn(async () => {

@@ -300,6 +300,7 @@ async function evaluateSystemRunPolicyPhase(
   const hardenedPaths = hardenApprovedExecutionPaths({
     approvedByAsk: policy.approvedByAsk,
     argv: parsed.argv,
+    shellCommand: parsed.shellCommand,
     cwd: parsed.cwd,
   });
   if (!hardenedPaths.ok) {