OpenClaw Gateway: RCE and Privilege Escalation from operator.pairing to operator.admin via device.pair.approve

Summary

device.pair.approve allowed an operator.pairing approver to approve a pending device request for broader operator scopes than the approver actually held.

Affected Packages / Versions

• Package: openclaw (npm)
• Affected: < 2026.3.22
• Fixed: >= 2026.3.22
• Latest released tag checked: v2026.3.23-2 (630f1479c44f78484dfa21bb407cbe6f171dac87)
• Latest published npm version checked: 2026.3.23-2

Fix Commit(s)

• fc2d29ea926f47c428c556e92ec981441228d2a4

Release Status

The fix shipped in v2026.3.22 and remains present in v2026.3.23 and v2026.3.23-2.

Code-Level Confirmation

• src/gateway/server-methods/devices.ts now threads caller scopes into device.pair.approve.
• src/infra/device-pairing.ts now rejects requested operator scopes that exceed the approver-held operator scope set.

OpenClaw thanks @zpbrent for reporting.