Medium severity · published Mar 18, 2026
CVE-2026-22217
OpenClaw 2026.2.22 < 2026.2.23 - Arbitrary Binary Execution via $SHELL Environment Variable Trusted Prefix Fallback
6.1
CVSS
0.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
OpenClaw version 2026.2.22 prior to 2026.2.23 contains an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in shell-env that allows attackers to execute attacker-controlled binaries by exploiting trusted-prefix fallback logic for the $SHELL variable. An attacker can influence the $SHELL environment variable on systems with writable trusted-prefix directories such as /opt/homebrew/bin to execute arbitrary binaries in the OpenClaw process context.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
Low
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.1% · higher than 3% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
OP
OpenClaw · OpenClaw
2026.2.22 before 2026.2.23 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22217
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-22217
Patch
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/ff10fe8b91670044a6bb0cd85deb736a0ec8fb55
Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-p4wh-cr8m-gm6c
Third Party Advisory
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-arbitrary-binary-execution-via-shell-environment-variable-trusted-prefix-fallback
More from OpenClaw
9.9
CVE-2026-41329
OpenClaw < 2026.3.31 - Sandbox Bypass via Heartbeat Context Inheritance and senderIsOwner Escalation
9.9
CVE-2026-33579
OpenClaw < 2026.3.28 - Privilege Escalation via Missing Caller Scope Validation in Device Pair Approval
9.9
CVE-2026-32922
OpenClaw < 2026.3.11 - Privilege Escalation via Unvalidated Scope in device.token.rotate
9.9
CVE-2026-32048
OpenClaw < 2026.3.1 - Sandbox Escape via Cross-Agent sessions_spawn
9.9
CVE-2026-22172
OpenClaw < 2026.3.12 - Scope Elevation in WebSocket Shared-Auth Connections
