GHSA-5mx2-2mgw-x8rm CVE-2026-32896

OpenClaw: BlueBubbles beta plugin webhook auth hardening (remove passwordless fallback)

Medium npm

Severity: 0.0 / 10; Medium · CVSS 4.0
Exploit chance (EPSS): 0.25%; Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 16.96% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited: No; Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness: CWE-306 Missing Authentication for Critical Function
Fix: 2026.2.21; Upgrade openclaw to this version or later

Description

Summary

BlueBubbles webhook auth in the optional beta iMessage plugin allowed a passwordless fallback path. In some reverse-proxy/local routing setups, this could allow unauthenticated webhook events.

Affected Component and Scope

Component: extensions/bluebubbles webhook handler
Scope: only deployments using the optional BlueBubbles plugin where webhook password auth was not configured for incoming webhook events

Affected Packages / Versions

Package: openclaw/openclaw (npm)
Latest published npm version at triage time (2026-02-21): 2026.2.19-2
Affected structured range: <=2026.2.19-2
Fixed on main; planned patched release: 2026.2.21 (>=2026.2.21)

Details

The vulnerable implementation had multiple auth branches, including a passwordless fallback with loopback/proxy heuristics.

The fix now uses one authentication codepath:

inbound webhook token/guid must match channels.bluebubbles.password
webhook target matching is consolidated to shared plugin-sdk logic
BlueBubbles config validation now requires password when serverUrl is set

Impact

BlueBubbles is an optional beta iMessage plugin, and onboarding/channel-add flows already require a password. Practical exposure is mainly custom/manual configurations that omitted webhook password authentication.

Remediation

Upgrade to a release that includes this patch (>=2026.2.21, planned).
Ensure BlueBubbles webhook delivery includes a matching password (?password=<password> or x-password).

Fix Commit(s)

6b2f2811dc623e5faaf2f76afaa9279637174590
283029bdea23164ab7482b320cb420d1b90df806

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to the planned next release (2026.2.21) so once npm release is out, advisory publish can proceed without additional ticket edits.

OpenClaw thanks @zpbrent for reporting.

Affected versions

npm

Package	Vulnerable	Fixed in
openclaw	`< 2026.2.21`	`2026.2.21`

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

openclaw npm → `2026.2.21`

npm

npm install openclaw@2026.2.21

yarn

yarn add openclaw@2026.2.21

pnpm

pnpm add openclaw@2026.2.21

Severity breakdown

CVSS 4.0 0.0

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: High
Attack requirements: Present
Privileges required: None
User interaction: None
Confidentiality (vulnerable system): Low
Integrity (vulnerable system): Low
Availability (vulnerable system): None
Confidentiality (subsequent systems): None
Integrity (subsequent systems): None
Availability (subsequent systems): None

CVSS 3.1 4.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: High
Privileges required: None
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Weakness

CWE-306: Missing Authentication for Critical Function

The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.

How to prevent it

Architecture and Design: Divide the software into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Identify which of these areas require a proven user identity, and use a centralized authentication capability. Identify all potential communication channels, or other means of interaction with the software, to ensure that all channels are appropriately protected, including those channels that are assumed to be accessible only by authorized parties. Developers sometimes perform authentication at the primary channel, but open up a secondary channel that is assumed to be private. For example, a login mechanism may be listening on one network port, but after successful authentication, it may open up a second port where it waits for the connection, but avoids authentication because it assumes that only the authenticated party will connect to the port. In general, if the software or protocol allows a single session or user state to persist across multiple connections or channels, authentication and appropriate credential management need to be used throughout.
Architecture and Design: For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
Architecture and Design: Where possible, avoid implementing custom, "grow-your-own" authentication routines and consider using authentication capabilities as provided by the surrounding framework, operating system, or environment. These capabilities may avoid common weaknesses that are unique to authentication; support automatic auditing and tracking; and make it easier to provide a clear separation between authentication tasks and authorization tasks. In environments such as the World Wide Web, the line between authentication and authorization is sometimes blurred. If custom authentication routines are required instead of those provided by the server, then these routines must be applied to every single page, since these pages could be requested directly.
Architecture and Design: Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using libraries with authentication capabilities such as OpenSSL or the ESAPI Authenticator [REF-45].
Implementation, System Configuration, Operation: When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to require strong authentication for users who should be allowed to access the data [REF-1297] [REF-1298] [REF-1302].

References

Advisories

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32896

Packages

github.com/openclaw/openclaw

Timeline

Mar 3, 2026 Published
Sep 17, 2026 Last updated by the source
Oct 31, 2026 Latest EPSS score

Advisory	Severity	Why it's related
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GHSA-9c3v-684m-579c OpenClaw MCP SSE redirects could forward Authorization headers	Medium	Also affects openclaw
GHSA-f397-5vjw-v2c2 OpenClaw: Shell inline-command parsing could miss an allowlist check	High	Also affects openclaw
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