RCE in Openclaw
CVE-2026-22176
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.19 contain a command injection vulnerability in Windows Scheduled Task script generation where environment variables are written to gateway.cmd using unquoted set KEY=VALUE assignments, allowing shell metacharacters to break out of assignment context. Attackers can inject arbitrary commands through environment variable values containing metacharacters like &, |, ^, %, or ! to achieve command execution when the scheduled task script is generated and executed.
Vulnerability class: Command Injection (OS Command Injection)
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 6.1 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.006 (48.5th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 48th percentile — 48.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.006 · newest: 0.006 · change: 0.000
Affected products
- Openclaw — versions 0, 2026.2.19
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph (vendor-advisory, Mitigation, Vendor Advisory, third-party-advisory)
- github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/dafe52e8cf1a041d898cfb304a485fa05e5f58fb (Patch, patch)
- www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-command-injection-via-unescaped-environme… (Third Party Advisory, third-party-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-22176?
- CVE-2026-22176 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openclaw, classified under OS Command Injection. CVSS score: 6.1/10. Published 2026-03-19.
- How severe is CVE-2026-22176?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.1 out of 10.