What is CVE-2026-42435?

CVE-2026-42435 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openclaw, classified under Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2026-05-05.

How severe is CVE-2026-42435?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Openclaw

CVE-2026-42435

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.

Published 2026-05-05 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.007 (52.7th percentile), scored 2026-09-30.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 53rd percentile — 52.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.007 · change: +0.003

Affected products

Openclaw — versions 2026.2.22, 2026.4.12

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-184 — Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs

References

github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-j6c7-3h5x-99g9 (vendor-advisory)
github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/8f8492d172f4c5b4fd7dd9a47855ed620c8770ab (patch)
www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-shell-wrapper-detection-bypass-via-enviro… (third-party-advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-42435?: CVE-2026-42435 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openclaw, classified under Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2026-05-05.
How severe is CVE-2026-42435?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.