OpenClaw < 2026.2.22 - Arbitrary Shell Execution via Unvalidated SHELL Environment Variable
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 29/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.19% (FIRST EPSS).
- Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- Fixed version: OpenClaw OpenClaw 2026.2.22.
Low priority for now. Upgrade to OpenClaw OpenClaw 2026.2.22 or later.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.22 contain an arbitrary shell execution vulnerability in shell environment fallback that trusts the unvalidated SHELL path from the host environment. An attacker with local environment access can inject a malicious SHELL variable to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the OpenClaw process.
- Published
- Mar 19, 2026
- Updated
- Jun 23, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.1% · 9th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-426
Report tools
Action score
29
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 29 / 40 · 7.3 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.1%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- total
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- —
- CNA · VulnCheck
- 7.3
- NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- A fix has been released
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| openclaw | openclaw | cpe:2.3:a:openclaw:openclaw |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- openclaw openclawbefore 2026.2.22
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (VulnCheck). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
OpenClaw OpenClaw
- 2026.2.22not affected
- before 2026.2.22affected · semver
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | openclaw | before 2026.2.22 | 2026.2.22 |
Same product
openclaw: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2026-25253OpenClaw (aka clawdbot or Moltbot) before 2026.1.29 obtains a gatewayUrl value from a query string and automatically makes a WebSocket conne42Plan
- CVE-2026-30741A remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in OpenClaw Agent Platform v2026.2.6 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a Request-Si39Monitor
- CVE-2026-43534OpenClaw < 2026.4.10 - Unsanitized External Input in Agent Hook Events37Monitor
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2026-32030Mar 19, 2026 · OpenClaw < 2026.2.19 - Sensitive File Disclosure via stageSandboxMedia Path Traversal32Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2026-32031Mar 19, 2026 · OpenClaw < 2026.2.26 - Authentication Bypass via Path Canonicalization Mismatch in /api/channels Gateway25Monitor
- Later →CVE-2026-32033Mar 19, 2026 · OpenClaw < 2026.2.24 - Path Traversal via @-prefixed Absolute Paths in Workspace Boundary Validation24Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| OpenClaw OpenClaw | 2026.2.22 | Vendor (CNA) |
| npm:openclaw | 2026.2.22 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
- Athul Jayaram (@athuljayaram)reporter
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
- CVE-2026-5381984 days apartOpenClaw < 2026.5.27 - Arbitrary Homebrew Executable Execution via Workspace .env Override34Monitor
- CVE-2026-320150 days apartOpenClaw 2026.1.21 < 2026.2.19 - PATH Hijacking Bypass in tools.exec.safeBins Allowlist Validation29Monitor
- CVE-2026-320160 days apartOpenClaw < 2026.2.22 - Path Traversal via Basename-Only Allowlist Matching on macOS29Monitor
- CVE-2026-320090 days apartOpenClaw < 2026.2.24 - Binary Hijacking via Static Default Trusted Directories in safeBins28Monitor
- CVE-2026-5384289 days apartOpenClaw < 2026.5.2 - Arbitrary Python Runtime Execution via CLOUDSDK_PYTHON Environment Variable28Monitor
- CVE-2026-5385889 days apartOpenClaw < 2026.5.2 - Arbitrary Runtime Dependency Loading via STATE_DIRECTORY Environment Variable28Monitor
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
- CVE-2026-320040 days apartOpenClaw < 2026.3.2 - Authentication Bypass via Encoded Path in /api/channels Route33Monitor
- CVE-2026-320360 days apartOpenClaw < 2026.2.26- Authentication Bypass via Encoded Dot-Segment Traversal in /api/channels33Monitor
- CVE-2026-320340 days apartOpenClaw < 2026.2.21 - Insecure Control UI Authentication over Plaintext HTTP24Monitor
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- Integrity
- Availability
- Attack vector
- Local
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- X
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-426 · Untrusted Search PathCVSS vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
nvd-secondary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
Show all references (2 more)Show less
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.