OpenClaw has hook auth rate limiter bypass via IPv4-mapped IPv6 client key variants
Date: 2026-03
Affected: npm/openclaw
Attack vector: dos
Category: vulnerability-disclosure
Severity: Medium
CWE: CWE-770

## Vulnerability The hook authentication throttle keyed failed attempts by raw socket `remoteAddress` text. IPv4 and IPv4-mapped IPv6 forms of the same client (for example `1.2.3.4` and `::ffff:1.2.3.4`) were treated as different clients, allowing separate rate-limit buckets. ## Impact An attacker could split failed hook-auth attempts across both address forms and effectively double the brute-force budget from 20 to 40 attempts per 60-second window. ## Affected Components - `src/gateway/server-http.ts` - `src/gateway/auth-rate-limit.ts` ## Affected Packages / Versions - Package: `openclaw` (npm) - Vulnerable versions: `<= 2026.2.21-2` - Patched version (planned next release): `2026.2.22` ## Remediation Centralize and reuse canonical client-IP normalization for auth rate-limiting, and use that canonical key for hook auth throttling. ## Fix Commit(s) - `3284d2eb227e7b6536d543bcf5c3e320bc9d13c5` ## Release Process Note `patched_versions` is pre-set to the planned next release (`2026.2.22`) so once npm release `2026.2.22` is published, this advisory can be published directly. OpenClaw thanks @aether-ai-agent for reporting.


Mitigations:

Architectural layers (MAESTRO):