CVE-2026-22177: OpenClaw · External Control of System or Configuration Setting
Affects OpenClawSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.9 Medium : upgrade to 2026.2.21 when convenient.
Data as of 8 Nov 2026, 14:19 UTC
Thin evidence
One scorer or none| CNA (VulnCheck) | CVSS 4.0 | 6.9 |
|---|---|---|
| CNA (VulnCheck) | CVSS 3.1 | 6.1 |
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
- Automatable
- Attackers cannot reliably automate steps 1–4 of the kill chain
- Technical impact
- Limited control over the software or limited information exposure
CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-03-18.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 2026.2.21
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 8 Nov 2026.
What to do
Upgrade OpenClaw to 2026.2.21.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| OpenClawOpenClaw | Affected
| Fixed in
|
npmOpenClawpkg:npm/OpenClawOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
Description
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.21 fail to filter dangerous process-control environment variables from config env.vars, allowing startup-time code execution. Attackers can inject variables like NODE_OPTIONS or LD_* through configuration to execute arbitrary code in the OpenClaw gateway service runtime context.
References
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-8fmp-37rc-p5g7 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-w9j9-w4cp-6wgr (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/2cdbadee1f8fcaa93302d7debbfc529e19868ea4 (opens in a new tab)
- vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-environment-variable-injection-via-config-env-vars (opens in a new tab)