steipete/security-triage

Security Triage

Use when reviewing OpenClaw security advisories, drafts, or GHSA reports.

Goal: high-confidence maintainers' triage without over-closing real issues or shipping unnecessary regressions.

Close Bar

Close only if one of these is true:

• duplicate of an existing advisory or fixed issue
• invalid against shipped behavior
• out of scope under SECURITY.md
• fixed before any affected release/tag

Do not close only because main is fixed. If latest shipped tag or npm release is affected, keep it open until released or published with the right status.

Required Reads

Before answering:

1. Read SECURITY.md.
2. Read the GHSA body with gh api /repos/openclaw/openclaw/security-advisories/<GHSA>.
3. Inspect the exact implicated code paths.
4. Verify shipped state:
   • git tag --sort=-creatordate | head
   • npm view openclaw version --userconfig "$(mktemp)"
   • git tag --contains <fix-commit>
   • if needed: git show <tag>:path/to/file
5. Search for canonical overlap:
   • existing published GHSAs
   • older fixed bugs
   • same trust-model class already covered in SECURITY.md

Review Method

For each advisory, decide:

• close
• keep open
• keep open but narrow

Check in this order:

1. Trust model
   • Is the prerequisite already inside trusted host/local/plugin/operator state?
   • Does SECURITY.md explicitly call this class out as out of scope or hardening-only?
2. Shipped behavior
   • Is the bug present in the latest shipped tag or npm release?
   • Was it fixed before release?
3. Exploit path
   • Does the report show a real boundary bypass, not just prompt injection, local same-user control, or helper-level semantics?
   • If data only moves between trusted workspace-memory files called out in SECURITY.md, do not treat "injection markers" alone as a security bug.
   • In that case, frame sanitization as optional hardening only if it preserves expected memory workflows.
4. Functional tradeoff
   • If a hardening change would reduce intended user functionality, call that out before proposing it.
   • Prefer fixes that preserve user workflows over deny-by-default regressions unless the boundary demands it.

Response Format

When preparing a maintainer-ready close reply:

1. Print the GHSA URL first.
2. Then draft a detailed response the maintainer can post.
3. Include:
   • exact reason for close
   • exact code refs
   • exact shipped tag / release facts
   • exact fix commit or canonical duplicate GHSA when applicable
   • optional hardening note only if worthwhile and functionality-preserving

Keep tone firm, specific, non-defensive.

Clipboard Step

After drafting the final post body, copy it:

pbcopy <<'EOF'
<final response>
EOF

Tell the user that the clipboard now contains the proposed response.

Useful Commands

gh api /repos/openclaw/openclaw/security-advisories/<GHSA>
gh api /repos/openclaw/openclaw/security-advisories --paginate
git tag --sort=-creatordate | head -n 20
npm view openclaw version --userconfig "$(mktemp)"
git tag --contains <commit>
git show <tag>:<path>
gh search issues --repo openclaw/openclaw --match title,body,comments -- "<terms>"
gh search prs --repo openclaw/openclaw --match title,body,comments -- "<terms>"

Decision Notes

• “fixed on main, unreleased” is usually not a close.
• “needs attacker-controlled trusted local state first” is usually out of scope.
• “same-host same-user process can already read/write local state” is usually out of scope.
• “trusted workspace memory promotes/reindexes trusted workspace memory” is usually out of scope unless it crosses a documented boundary.
• “helper function behaves differently than documented config semantics” is usually invalid.
• If only the severity is wrong but the bug is real, keep it open and narrow the impact in the reply.