Executive brief
OpenClaw is a build and execution platform that manages package dependencies and runtime environments. A flaw in its environment variable sanitization allows an attacker to override package manager settings, potentially redirecting dependency downloads to malicious servers and executing trojanized code during the build process.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a permissive allowlist (CWE-183) in OpenClaw's host environment sanitization logic (src/infra/host-env-security-policy.json and host-env-security.ts) that fails to block certain package-manager-related environment variables. An attacker can override these insufficiently-blocked variables to redirect package resolution and runtime bootstrap behavior to attacker-controlled infrastructure. The vulnerability requires user interaction (approval of an exec request) but no authentication and is network-reachable, allowing silent supply-chain redirection and execution of malicious dependencies. The vulnerability has been patched in version 2026.3.22 (commit 7abfff756d).
Affected products
- OpenClaw OpenClaw < 2026.3.22
Timeline
- 2026-03-31: disclosed
- 2026-03-22: patched: Version 2026.3.22 released with fix (commit 7abfff756d)