diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 40f69d69545..48aa146b799 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Signal/RPC: guard malformed Signal RPC JSON responses with a clear status-scoped error and add regression coverage for invalid JSON responses. (#22995) Thanks @adhitShet.
 - Gateway/Subagents: guard gateway and subagent session-key/message trim paths against undefined inputs to prevent early `Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'trim')` crashes during subagent spawn and wait flows.
 - Agents/Workspace: guard `resolveUserPath` against undefined/null input to prevent `Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'trim')` crashes when workspace paths are missing in embedded runner flows.
 - Auth/Profiles: keep active `cooldownUntil`/`disabledUntil` windows immutable across retries so mid-window failures cannot extend recovery indefinitely; only recompute a backoff window after the previous deadline has expired. This resolves cron/inbound retry loops that could trap gateways until manual `usageStats` cleanup. (#23516, #23536) Thanks @arosstale.
diff --git a/src/signal/client.test.ts b/src/signal/client.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..939784428ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/signal/client.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+const fetchWithTimeoutMock = vi.fn();
+const resolveFetchMock = vi.fn();
+
+vi.mock("../infra/fetch.js", () => ({
+  resolveFetch: (...args: unknown[]) => resolveFetchMock(...args),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../infra/secure-random.js", () => ({
+  generateSecureUuid: () => "test-id",
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../utils/fetch-timeout.js", () => ({
+  fetchWithTimeout: (...args: unknown[]) => fetchWithTimeoutMock(...args),
+}));
+
+import { signalRpcRequest } from "./client.js";
+
+type ErrorWithCause = Error & { cause?: unknown };
+
+describe("signalRpcRequest", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+    resolveFetchMock.mockReturnValue(vi.fn());
+  });
+
+  it("returns parsed RPC result", async () => {
+    fetchWithTimeoutMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(
+      new Response(
+        JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: "2.0", result: { version: "0.13.22" }, id: "test-id" }),
+        {
+          status: 200,
+        },
+      ),
+    );
+
+    const result = await signalRpcRequest<{ version: string }>("version", undefined, {
+      baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8080",
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ version: "0.13.22" });
+  });
+
+  it("throws a wrapped error when RPC response JSON is malformed", async () => {
+    fetchWithTimeoutMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(new Response("not-json", { status: 502 }));
+
+    const err = (await signalRpcRequest("version", undefined, {
+      baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:8080",
+    }).catch((error: unknown) => error)) as ErrorWithCause;
+
+    expect(err).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+    expect(err.message).toBe("Signal RPC returned malformed JSON (status 502)");
+    expect(err.cause).toBeInstanceOf(SyntaxError);
+  });
+});