GCVE Workshop - 22 September 2026 (14:00-18:00), Luxembourg Before The Vulnopticon Conference - Registration

BREW-OPENCLAW-CLI-CVE-20… (GHSA-VFFC-F7R7-RX2W)

Vulnerability from osv_homebrew – Published: 2026-08-13 17:21 – Updated: 2026-09-12 09:47 – Source website
VLAI
Summary
OpenClaw Improperly Neutralizes Line Breaks in systemd Unit Generation Enables Local Command Execution (Linux)
Details

Summary

A command injection vulnerability exists in OpenClaw’s Linux systemd unit generation path. When rendering Environment= entries, attacker-controlled values are not rejected for CR/LF, and systemdEscapeArg() uses an incorrect whitespace-matching regex. This allows newline injection to break out of an Environment= line and inject standalone systemd directives (for example, ExecStartPre=). On service restart, the injected command is executed, resulting in local arbitrary command execution (local RCE) under the gateway service user.

Details

The issue is in src/daemon/systemd-unit.ts:

  • renderEnvLines(...) builds:
  • Environment=${systemdEscapeArg(${key}=${value})}
  • No CR/LF validation is enforced for environment keys/values before writing unit lines.
  • systemdEscapeArg(...) uses:
  • /[\\s"\\\\]/
  • In this regex, \\s is interpreted as a literal backslash + s, not a whitespace character class. As a result, whitespace detection/quoting behavior is incorrect. Because systemd parses unit files line-by-line, a newline inside an environment value can inject an additional directive line. Example rendered output:
Environment=INJECT=ok
ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce

At restart time, systemd executes ExecStartPre, enabling command execution.

Relevant code path/components involved in exploitation chain: - src/daemon/systemd-unit.ts - src/commands/daemon-install-helpers.ts - src/config/env-vars.ts - src/config/zod-schema.ts

Trigger conditions: 1. Attacker can influence config.env.vars (directly or indirectly). 2. Install/reinstall path is invoked to write/update the unit. 3. Service restart occurs (systemctl --user restart ...).

PoC

Environment: Linux host with systemd user services enabled.

  1. Configure a malicious environment value in OpenClaw config (config.env.vars), including a newline and injected directive:
  2. Key: INJECT
  3. Value:
ok
ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce
  1. Install/reinstall the gateway service (fixed port as requested):
openclaw gateway install --port 15789 --force
  1. Inspect the generated user unit file (default path):
~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service

Verify that an injected standalone line exists:

ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce
  1. Reload and restart user service:
systemctl --user daemon-reload

systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway.service
  1. Confirm command execution side effect:
ls -l /tmp/oc15789_rce

Impact

This is a local command execution vulnerability in OpenClaw’s systemd unit generation during install/reinstall flows.

  • Type: Command injection via newline/directive injection in unit file generation.
  • Execution context: Runs with the same privileges as the OpenClaw gateway service user.
  • Affected users: Linux deployments using systemd user services where an attacker can control config.env.vars and trigger install/reinstall.

Fix Commit(s)

  • 61f646c41fb43cd87ed48f9125b4718a30d38e84
Severity
8.6 (High)
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/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": "2026.2.21"
      },
      "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\nA command injection vulnerability exists in OpenClaw\u2019s Linux systemd unit generation path.\nWhen rendering `Environment=` entries, attacker-controlled values are not rejected for CR/LF, and `systemdEscapeArg()` uses an incorrect whitespace-matching regex. This allows newline injection to break out of an `Environment=` line and inject standalone systemd directives (for example, `ExecStartPre=`). On service restart, the injected command is executed, resulting in local arbitrary command execution (local RCE) under the gateway service user.\n\n---\n\n### Details\nThe issue is in `src/daemon/systemd-unit.ts`:\n\n- `renderEnvLines(...)` builds:\n- `Environment=${systemdEscapeArg(`${key}=${value}`)}`\n- No CR/LF validation is enforced for environment keys/values before writing unit lines.\n- `systemdEscapeArg(...)` uses:\n- `/[\\\\s\"\\\\\\\\]/`\n- In this regex, `\\\\s` is interpreted as a literal backslash + `s`, not a whitespace character class.\nAs a result, whitespace detection/quoting behavior is incorrect.\nBecause systemd parses unit files line-by-line, a newline inside an environment value can inject an additional directive line. Example rendered output:\n\n```ini\nEnvironment=INJECT=ok\nExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce\n```\n\nAt restart time, systemd executes `ExecStartPre`, enabling command execution.\n\nRelevant code path/components involved in exploitation chain:\n- `src/daemon/systemd-unit.ts`\n- `src/commands/daemon-install-helpers.ts`\n- `src/config/env-vars.ts`\n- `src/config/zod-schema.ts`\n\nTrigger conditions:\n1. Attacker can influence `config.env.vars` (directly or indirectly).\n2. Install/reinstall path is invoked to write/update the unit.\n3. Service restart occurs (`systemctl --user restart ...`).\n\n---\n\n### PoC\nEnvironment: Linux host with systemd user services enabled.\n\n1. Configure a malicious environment value in OpenClaw config (`config.env.vars`), including a newline and injected directive:\n- Key: `INJECT`\n- Value:\n```text\nok\nExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce\n```\n\n2. Install/reinstall the gateway service (fixed port as requested):\n```bash\nopenclaw gateway install --port 15789 --force\n```\n\n3. Inspect the generated user unit file (default path):\n```bash\n~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service\n```\nVerify that an injected standalone line exists:\n```ini\nExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce\n```\n\n4. Reload and restart user service:\n```bash\nsystemctl --user daemon-reload\n```\n```bash\nsystemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway.service\n```\n\n5. Confirm command execution side effect:\n```bash\nls -l /tmp/oc15789_rce\n```\n---\n\n### Impact\nThis is a local command execution vulnerability in OpenClaw\u2019s systemd unit generation during install/reinstall flows.\n\n- **Type:** Command injection via newline/directive injection in unit file generation.\n- **Execution context:** Runs with the same privileges as the OpenClaw gateway service user.\n- **Affected users:** Linux deployments using systemd user services where an attacker can control `config.env.vars` and trigger install/reinstall.\n\n## Fix Commit(s)\n- `61f646c41fb43cd87ed48f9125b4718a30d38e84`",
  "id": "BREW-openclaw-cli-CVE-2026-32063",
  "modified": "2026-09-12T09:47:35Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T17:21:32Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-vffc-f7r7-rx2w"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32063"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/61f646c41fb43cd87ed48f9125b4718a30d38e84"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-command-injection-via-newline-in-systemd-unit-generation"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.3",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "OpenClaw Improperly Neutralizes Line Breaks in systemd Unit Generation Enables Local Command Execution (Linux)",
  "upstream": [
    "GHSA-vffc-f7r7-rx2w",
    "CVE-2026-32063"
  ]
}



Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.





Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.


Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.