OpenClaw before 2026.8.1 Authentication Bypass via File URL

OpenClaw is a coding agent distributed as the npm package openclaw. In affected versions (2026.7.1 through 2026.7.2), alternate but valid file: URL spellings supplied over the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) were treated as relative paths and were incorrectly classified as reads scoped to the session working directory. When an operator connected openclaw acp client to an untrusted or compromised ACP peer, that peer could request a read of a file outside the session working directory without the approval prompt normally required for that path, resulting in disclosure of local file contents. The demonstrated impact is limited to file confidentiality; mutating and command-capable tool classes are not affected. This issue is fixed in OpenClaw 2026.8.1.