OpenClaw has encoded-path auth bypass in plugin `/api/channels` route classification

Summary (Updated March 2, 2026)

Encoded alternate-path requests could bypass plugin route auth checks for /api/channels/* due to canonicalization depth mismatch in vulnerable builds.

Affected Packages / Versions

• Package: openclaw (npm)
• Latest published vulnerable version: 2026.3.1
• Affected range: <= 2026.3.1
• Patched release: 2026.3.2 (patched_versions: >= 2026.3.2)

Technical Details

In affected versions, plugin auth-path classification and route-path canonicalization could diverge for deeply encoded slash variants (for example multi-encoded %2f). That mismatch allowed alternate encoded paths to evade protected-prefix auth checks while still resolving to /api/channels/... in plugin route handling.

The fix set hardens this class of issue by:

• canonicalizing route paths to a bounded fixpoint,
• failing closed on malformed or unresolved canonicalization depth,
• requiring explicit plugin-route auth contracts (no implicit auth default),
• enforcing route ownership/conflict guards for duplicate route registrations, and
• using shared webhook route lifecycle registration to avoid stale/conflicting route surfaces.

Affected Deployments

Deployments exposing plugin HTTP routes and relying on gateway auth for /api/channels/* protection.

Fix Commit(s)

• 93b07240257919f770d1e263e1f22753937b80ea
• 2fd8264ab03bd178e62a5f0c50d1c8556c17f12d
• d74bc257d8432f17e50b23ae713d7e0623a1fe0f
• 7a7eee920a176a0043398c6b37bf4cc6eb983eeb