| Component | OpenClaw |
| Severity | high (CVSS 8.8) |
| CVSS vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| Published (NVD) | 2026-05-05 |
| Last modified | 2026-06-17 |
| Affected versions | >= 2026.2.22, < 2026.4.12 read from the advisory text: NVD has not published CPE data yet |
| Fixed in | 2026.4.12 |
| Weakness | CWE-184 |
| CISA KEV | not listed |
NVD description
OpenClaw versions from 2026.2.22 before 2026.4.12 contain an insufficient shell-wrapper detection vulnerability allowing attackers to inject environment variable assignments at the argv level. Attackers can bypass exec preflight handling to manipulate high-risk shell variables like SHELLOPTS and PS4, affecting execution semantics and security controls.
What to do
- Upgrade OpenClaw to
2026.4.12or later. - Do not expose the component's API or UI to the internet without authentication in front of it.
Sources
- NVD: CVE-2026-42435
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/8f8492d172f4c5b4fd7dd9a47855ed620c8770ab
- https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-j6c7-3h5x-99g9
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-shell-wrapper-detection-bypass-via-environment-variable-assignment-injection
Read more
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