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BREW-OPENCLAW-CLI-CVE-20… (GHSA-2FGQ-7J6H-9RM4)

Vulnerability from osv_homebrew – Published: 2026-08-13 17:21 – Updated: 2026-09-12 09:47 – Source website
VLAI
Summary
OpenClaw has system.run shell-wrapper env injection via SHELLOPTS/PS4 can bypass allowlist intent (RCE)
Details

Summary

system.run allowed SHELLOPTS + PS4 environment injection to trigger command substitution during bash -lc xtrace expansion before the allowlisted command body executed.

Affected Packages / Versions

  • Package: openclaw (npm)
  • Affected: <= 2026.2.21-2 (includes latest published npm version at triage time)
  • Patched (planned next release): 2026.2.22

Impact

In allowlist mode, an attacker who can invoke system.run with request-scoped env could execute additional shell commands outside the intended allowlisted command body.

Root Cause

Host exec env sanitization blocked startup-file vectors (BASH_ENV, ENV, etc.) but did not block SHELLOPTS/PS4. For shell wrappers (bash|sh|zsh ... -c/-lc), request env overrides were passed through and bash evaluated PS4 under xtrace, enabling command substitution.

Fix

  • Block SHELLOPTS and PS4 in host exec env sanitizers (Node + macOS).
  • For shell wrappers (bash|sh|zsh ... -c/-lc), reduce request-scoped env overrides to an explicit allowlist (TERM, LANG, LC_*, COLORTERM, NO_COLOR, FORCE_COLOR).
  • Add regression tests for TS and macOS paths.

Fix Commit(s)

  • e80c803fa887f9699ad87a9e906ab5c1ff85bd9a

Release Process Note

patched_versions is pre-set to the planned next release (2026.2.22). Once npm release 2026.2.22 is published, advisory publication is a final state action only.

Severity Rationale

This advisory is rated medium because exploitation requires a caller that can already invoke system.run with request-scoped env.

Under OpenClaw's documented trust model (SECURITY.md), authenticated Gateway callers are treated as trusted operators, and adversarial multi-operator / prompt-injection scenarios are out of scope.

The bug remains a real allowlist-intent bypass, but it does not cross a separate trust boundary in the documented deployment assumptions.

OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.

Severity
6.6 (Medium)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.5 (High)
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
References
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "fix": "bump",
        "range_state": "fixed",
        "upstream_fixed_in": "2026.2.22"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Homebrew",
        "name": "openclaw-cli",
        "purl": "pkg:brew/openclaw-cli"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2026.7.1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "confidence": "high",
    "source": "matched",
    "strategy": "registry",
    "upstream_evidence": [
      {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "key": "pkg:npm/openclaw@2026.9.4",
        "name": "openclaw",
        "strategy": "registry",
        "subject_version": "2026.9.4"
      }
    ]
  },
  "details": "### Summary\n`system.run` allowed `SHELLOPTS` + `PS4` environment injection to trigger command substitution during `bash -lc` xtrace expansion before the allowlisted command body executed.\n\n### Affected Packages / Versions\n- Package: `openclaw` (npm)\n- Affected: `\u003c= 2026.2.21-2` (includes latest published npm version at triage time)\n- Patched (planned next release): `2026.2.22`\n\n### Impact\nIn `allowlist` mode, an attacker who can invoke `system.run` with request-scoped `env` could execute additional shell commands outside the intended allowlisted command body.\n\n### Root Cause\nHost exec env sanitization blocked startup-file vectors (`BASH_ENV`, `ENV`, etc.) but did not block `SHELLOPTS`/`PS4`. For shell wrappers (`bash|sh|zsh ... -c/-lc`), request env overrides were passed through and `bash` evaluated `PS4` under `xtrace`, enabling command substitution.\n\n### Fix\n- Block `SHELLOPTS` and `PS4` in host exec env sanitizers (Node + macOS).\n- For shell wrappers (`bash|sh|zsh ... -c/-lc`), reduce request-scoped env overrides to an explicit allowlist (`TERM`, `LANG`, `LC_*`, `COLORTERM`, `NO_COLOR`, `FORCE_COLOR`).\n- Add regression tests for TS and macOS paths.\n\n### Fix Commit(s)\n- `e80c803fa887f9699ad87a9e906ab5c1ff85bd9a`\n\n### Release Process Note\n`patched_versions` is pre-set to the planned next release (`2026.2.22`). Once npm release `2026.2.22` is published, advisory publication is a final state action only.\n\n### Severity Rationale\nThis advisory is rated **medium** because exploitation requires a caller that can already invoke `system.run` with request-scoped `env`.\n\nUnder OpenClaw\u0027s documented trust model (`SECURITY.md`), authenticated Gateway callers are treated as trusted operators, and adversarial multi-operator / prompt-injection scenarios are out of scope.\n\nThe bug remains a real allowlist-intent bypass, but it does not cross a separate trust boundary in the documented deployment assumptions.\n\nOpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.",
  "id": "BREW-openclaw-cli-CVE-2026-32003",
  "modified": "2026-09-12T09:47:34Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T17:21:32Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-2fgq-7j6h-9rm4"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32003"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/e80c803fa887f9699ad87a9e906ab5c1ff85bd9a"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-remote-code-execution-via-shellopts-ps4-environment-injection-in-system-run"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.3",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "OpenClaw has system.run shell-wrapper env injection via SHELLOPTS/PS4 can bypass allowlist intent (RCE)",
  "upstream": [
    "GHSA-2fgq-7j6h-9rm4",
    "CVE-2026-32003"
  ]
}



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