GHSA-rgw5-rvv9-x895: OpenClaw Pins brace-expansion 5.0.9

OpenClaw has merged a dependency correction after GitHub advisory GHSA-rgw5-rvv9-x895 classified a denial-of-service flaw in brace-expansion versions >=4.0.0 <5.0.9 as high severity.

The repository had pinned the workspace override to 5.0.8, inside that range. PR #118804 moves the exact override to 5.0.9 and refreshes the lockfile.

This is a main-branch fix. The supplied evidence does not identify which published OpenClaw packages, deployment modes or externally reachable inputs contain the vulnerable resolution. Installed-release operators should inspect the dependency actually shipped rather than assuming main’s pin describes their environment.

What the advisory changes

The upstream PR says the vulnerable expansion path could still create unbounded intermediate arrays, bypassing an earlier mitigation for CVE-2026-14257. OpenClaw’s security-fast gate therefore became red while the workspace override remained on 5.0.8.

The correction is deliberately narrow:

• exact workspace override 5.0.8 becomes 5.0.9;
• the lockfile is regenerated;
• no wildcard range or unrelated override drift is introduced; and
• an MCP oversized-catalog test is separated from wall-clock timeout sensitivity so the security proof remains deterministic.

Interpretation: this is dependency resolution work, not a code-level claim that every OpenClaw endpoint is remotely exploitable. Severity describes the package advisory; exposure depends on whether untrusted expansion input reaches the affected dependency in the deployed build.

Who should act

Prioritise verification if you:

• build OpenClaw from a main revision before PR #118804;
• maintain a fork that copied the 5.0.8 override;
• produce containers or frozen artifacts from the workspace lockfile;
• override brace-expansion independently downstream; or
• expose tooling that processes attacker-controlled glob or expansion-like input.

Do not upgrade the package in isolation without running the repository’s supported checks. Workspace overrides can affect transitive consumers with different compatibility expectations.

Safe verification

Against the exact source or packaged artifact you operate:

1. inspect the resolved dependency graph and lockfile rather than only package.json;
2. confirm no production resolution remains in >=4.0.0 <5.0.9;
3. rebuild from a clean dependency store using the supported package-manager workflow;
4. run the repository security and MCP validation gates;
5. exercise ordinary bounded expansion inputs to catch compatibility regressions; and
6. regenerate SBOM or provenance records for the patched artifact.

Avoid testing with unbounded production inputs. A denial-of-service proof belongs in an isolated, resource-limited fixture.

If you cannot update immediately

Reduce untrusted input reaching expansion consumers, apply process memory and execution limits, and monitor abnormal allocation or event-loop stalls. Those controls reduce impact but do not replace the fixed dependency.

Record the exact artifact digest and resolved package version in any exception. “OpenClaw main is fixed” is not sufficient evidence for an older binary or container.

Evidence and limits

The official merged PR and commit record establish OpenClaw’s vulnerable 5.0.8 override, the move to 5.0.9 and the related security-gate context. Direct GitHub extraction returned HTTP 403 and the configured search backend was unavailable, so advisory details beyond the upstream record were not independently extracted during this run.

OpenClaw Academy did not execute a denial-of-service proof, inspect a published package or map the dependency to every runtime entrypoint. Exposure analysis remains deployment-specific.

Collector IDs are 36434, 36296 and the merged commit a67c52611e5768ffe89dc2c4eea0cea0e26e34e6.

Bottom line

OpenClaw main no longer pins the advised brace-expansion 5.0.8 release. Source-build and fork operators should resolve 5.0.9 or later within the compatible supported range, rebuild the real artifact and verify the lockfile—not merely copy the new version number into a report.