Affected: OpenClaw

OpenClaw before 2026.3.23 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in the Canvas gateway where authorizeCanvasRequest() unconditionally allows local-direct requests without validating bearer tokens or canvas capabilities. Attackers can send unauthenticated loopback HTTP and WebSocket requests to Canvas routes to bypass authentication and gain unauthorized access.

Affected: npm: openclaw

## Summary Before `v2026.3.23`, Canvas and A2UI loopback requests could bypass Canvas bearer-or-capability authentication because `authorizeCanvasRequest(...)` treated `isLocalDirectRequest(...)` as an unconditional allow path.

## Affected Packages / Versions - Package: `openclaw` (npm) - Affected: `< 2026.3.23` - Fixed: `>= 2026.3.23` - Latest released tag checked: `v2026.3.23-2` (`630f1479c44f78484dfa21bb407cbe6f171dac87`) - Latest published npm version checked: `2026.3.23-2`

## Root Cause The vulnerable logic lived in `src/gateway/server/http-auth.ts`. `authorizeCanvasRequest(...)` returned `{ ok: true }` for local-direct requests before checking bearer authentication or an active node canvas capability, which meant unauthenticated loopback Canvas HTTP and WebSocket requests could succeed.

## Fix Commit(s) - `d5dc6b6573ae489bc7e5651090f4767b93537c9e` — `fix(gateway): require auth for canvas routes`

## Release Status The fix commit is contained in released tags `v2026.3.23` and `v2026.3.23-2`. The latest shipped tag and npm release both include the fix.

## Code-Level Confirmation - `src/gateway/server/http-auth.ts` no longer contains the local-direct early return in `authorizeCanvasRequest(...)`. - `src/gateway/server.canvas-auth.test.ts` adds the regression test `denies canvas HTTP/WS on loopback without bearer or capability by default`.

Thanks @smaeljaish771 for reporting.