OpenClaw < 2026.2.25 - Unauthorized Reaction Status Event Enqueue via Access Check Bypass

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Security/Signal: enforce DM/group authorization before reaction-only notification enqueue so unauthorized senders can no longer inject Signal reaction system events under `dmPolicy`/`groupPolicy`; reaction notifications now require channel access checks first. This ships in the next npm release (`2026.2.25`). Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
 - Security/macOS beta onboarding: remove Anthropic OAuth sign-in and the legacy `oauth.json` onboarding path that exposed the PKCE verifier via OAuth `state`; this impacted the macOS beta onboarding path only. Anthropic subscription auth is now setup-token-only and will ship in the next npm release (`2026.2.25`). Thanks @zdi-disclosures for reporting.
 - Security/Nextcloud Talk: drop replayed signed webhook events with persistent per-account replay dedupe across restarts, and reject unexpected webhook backend origins when account base URL is configured. Thanks @aristorechina for reporting.
 - Security/Gateway: harden `agents.files` path handling to block out-of-workspace symlink targets for `agents.files.get`/`agents.files.set`, keep in-workspace symlink targets supported, and add gateway regression coverage for both blocked escapes and allowed in-workspace symlinks. Thanks @tdjackey for reporting.

@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ import {
   upsertChannelPairingRequest,
 } from "../../pairing/pairing-store.js";
 import { resolveAgentRoute } from "../../routing/resolve-route.js";
+import {
+  resolveDmGroupAccessDecision,
+  resolveEffectiveAllowFromLists,
+} from "../../security/dm-policy-shared.js";
 import { normalizeE164 } from "../../utils.js";
 import {
   formatSignalPairingIdLine,
@@ -366,15 +370,45 @@ export function createSignalEventHandler(deps: SignalEventHandlerDeps) {
     const quoteText = dataMessage?.quote?.text?.trim() ?? "";
     const hasBodyContent =
       Boolean(messageText || quoteText) || Boolean(!reaction && dataMessage?.attachments?.length);
+    const senderDisplay = formatSignalSenderDisplay(sender);
+    const storeAllowFrom =
+      deps.dmPolicy === "allowlist"
+        ? []
+        : await readChannelAllowFromStore("signal").catch(() => []);
+    const { effectiveAllowFrom: effectiveDmAllow } = resolveEffectiveAllowFromLists({
+      allowFrom: deps.allowFrom,
+      groupAllowFrom: deps.groupAllowFrom,
+      storeAllowFrom,
+      dmPolicy: deps.dmPolicy,
+    });
+    const effectiveGroupAllow = [...deps.groupAllowFrom, ...storeAllowFrom];
+    const resolveAccessDecision = (isGroup: boolean) =>
+      resolveDmGroupAccessDecision({
+        isGroup,
+        dmPolicy: deps.dmPolicy,
+        groupPolicy: deps.groupPolicy,
+        effectiveAllowFrom: effectiveDmAllow,
+        effectiveGroupAllowFrom: effectiveGroupAllow,
+        isSenderAllowed: (allowFrom) => isSignalSenderAllowed(sender, allowFrom),
+      });
+    const dmAccess = resolveAccessDecision(false);
+    const dmAllowed = dmAccess.decision === "allow";
 
     if (reaction && !hasBodyContent) {
       if (reaction.isRemove) {
         return;
       } // Ignore reaction removals
       const emojiLabel = reaction.emoji?.trim() || "emoji";
-      const senderDisplay = formatSignalSenderDisplay(sender);
       const senderName = envelope.sourceName ?? senderDisplay;
       logVerbose(`signal reaction: ${emojiLabel} from ${senderName}`);
+      const groupId = reaction.groupInfo?.groupId ?? undefined;
+      const groupName = reaction.groupInfo?.groupName ?? undefined;
+      const isGroup = Boolean(groupId);
+      const reactionAccess = resolveAccessDecision(isGroup);
+      if (reactionAccess.decision !== "allow") {
+        logVerbose(`Blocked signal reaction sender ${senderDisplay} (${reactionAccess.reason})`);
+        return;
+      }
       const targets = deps.resolveSignalReactionTargets(reaction);
       const shouldNotify = deps.shouldEmitSignalReactionNotification({
         mode: deps.reactionMode,
@@ -387,9 +421,6 @@ export function createSignalEventHandler(deps: SignalEventHandlerDeps) {
         return;
       }
 
-      const groupId = reaction.groupInfo?.groupId ?? undefined;
-      const groupName = reaction.groupInfo?.groupName ?? undefined;
-      const isGroup = Boolean(groupId);
       const senderPeerId = resolveSignalPeerId(sender);
       const route = resolveAgentRoute({
         cfg: deps.cfg,
@@ -430,7 +461,6 @@ export function createSignalEventHandler(deps: SignalEventHandlerDeps) {
       return;
     }
 
-    const senderDisplay = formatSignalSenderDisplay(sender);
     const senderRecipient = resolveSignalRecipient(sender);
     const senderPeerId = resolveSignalPeerId(sender);
     const senderAllowId = formatSignalSenderId(sender);
@@ -441,20 +471,15 @@ export function createSignalEventHandler(deps: SignalEventHandlerDeps) {
     const groupId = dataMessage.groupInfo?.groupId ?? undefined;
     const groupName = dataMessage.groupInfo?.groupName ?? undefined;
     const isGroup = Boolean(groupId);
-    const storeAllowFrom =
-      deps.dmPolicy === "allowlist"
-        ? []
-        : await readChannelAllowFromStore("signal").catch(() => []);
-    const effectiveDmAllow = [...deps.allowFrom, ...storeAllowFrom];
-    const effectiveGroupAllow = [...deps.groupAllowFrom, ...storeAllowFrom];
-    const dmAllowed =
-      deps.dmPolicy === "open" ? true : isSignalSenderAllowed(sender, effectiveDmAllow);
 
     if (!isGroup) {
-      if (deps.dmPolicy === "disabled") {
+      if (dmAccess.decision === "block") {
+        if (deps.dmPolicy !== "disabled") {
+          logVerbose(`Blocked signal sender ${senderDisplay} (dmPolicy=${deps.dmPolicy})`);
+        }
         return;
       }
-      if (!dmAllowed) {
+      if (dmAccess.decision === "pairing") {
         if (deps.dmPolicy === "pairing") {
           const senderId = senderAllowId;
           const { code, created } = await upsertChannelPairingRequest({
@@ -483,23 +508,20 @@ export function createSignalEventHandler(deps: SignalEventHandlerDeps) {
               logVerbose(`signal pairing reply failed for ${senderId}: ${String(err)}`);
             }
           }
-        } else {
-          logVerbose(`Blocked signal sender ${senderDisplay} (dmPolicy=${deps.dmPolicy})`);
         }
         return;
       }
     }
-    if (isGroup && deps.groupPolicy === "disabled") {
-      logVerbose("Blocked signal group message (groupPolicy: disabled)");
-      return;
-    }
-    if (isGroup && deps.groupPolicy === "allowlist") {
-      if (effectiveGroupAllow.length === 0) {
-        logVerbose("Blocked signal group message (groupPolicy: allowlist, no groupAllowFrom)");
-        return;
-      }
-      if (!isSignalSenderAllowed(sender, effectiveGroupAllow)) {
-        logVerbose(`Blocked signal group sender ${senderDisplay} (not in groupAllowFrom)`);
+    if (isGroup) {
+      const groupAccess = resolveAccessDecision(true);
+      if (groupAccess.decision !== "allow") {
+        if (groupAccess.reason === "groupPolicy=disabled") {
+          logVerbose("Blocked signal group message (groupPolicy: disabled)");
+        } else if (groupAccess.reason === "groupPolicy=allowlist (empty allowlist)") {
+          logVerbose("Blocked signal group message (groupPolicy: allowlist, no groupAllowFrom)");
+        } else {
+          logVerbose(`Blocked signal group sender ${senderDisplay} (not in groupAllowFrom)`);
+        }
         return;
       }
     }

@@ -378,6 +378,65 @@ describe("monitorSignalProvider tool results", () => {
     expect(events.some((text) => text.includes("Signal reaction added"))).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("blocks reaction notifications from unauthorized senders when dmPolicy is allowlist", async () => {
+    setReactionNotificationConfig("all", {
+      dmPolicy: "allowlist",
+      allowFrom: ["+15550007777"],
+    });
+    await receiveSingleEnvelope({
+      ...makeBaseEnvelope(),
+      reactionMessage: {
+        emoji: "✅",
+        targetAuthor: "+15550002222",
+        targetSentTimestamp: 2,
+      },
+    });
+
+    const events = getDirectSignalEventsFor("+15550001111");
+    expect(events.some((text) => text.includes("Signal reaction added"))).toBe(false);
+    expect(sendMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(upsertPairingRequestMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("blocks reaction notifications from unauthorized senders when dmPolicy is pairing", async () => {
+    setReactionNotificationConfig("own", {
+      dmPolicy: "pairing",
+      allowFrom: [],
+      account: "+15550009999",
+    });
+    await receiveSingleEnvelope({
+      ...makeBaseEnvelope(),
+      reactionMessage: {
+        emoji: "✅",
+        targetAuthor: "+15550009999",
+        targetSentTimestamp: 2,
+      },
+    });
+
+    const events = getDirectSignalEventsFor("+15550001111");
+    expect(events.some((text) => text.includes("Signal reaction added"))).toBe(false);
+    expect(sendMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(upsertPairingRequestMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("allows reaction notifications for allowlisted senders when dmPolicy is allowlist", async () => {
+    setReactionNotificationConfig("all", {
+      dmPolicy: "allowlist",
+      allowFrom: ["+15550001111"],
+    });
+    await receiveSingleEnvelope({
+      ...makeBaseEnvelope(),
+      reactionMessage: {
+        emoji: "✅",
+        targetAuthor: "+15550002222",
+        targetSentTimestamp: 2,
+      },
+    });
+
+    const events = getDirectSignalEventsFor("+15550001111");
+    expect(events.some((text) => text.includes("Signal reaction added"))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("notifies on own reactions when target includes uuid + phone", async () => {
     setReactionNotificationConfig("own", { account: "+15550002222" });
     await receiveSingleEnvelope({