Executive brief
OpenClaw is a workflow automation platform used to manage and execute scripts and commands across infrastructure. Before version 2026.4.2, the system failed to validate certain Windows-compatible environment variable names in the same way during approval and execution, allowing attackers to inject environment variables that bypassed operator review. This could enable unauthorized modification of command behavior or execution of attacker-controlled binaries.
Technical details
The vulnerability is an approval bypass (CWE-178: improper handling of case sensitivity) in OpenClaw's system.run approval binding mechanism. The root cause is inconsistent environment variable key normalization between the approval and execution paths: Windows-compatible environment override keys are discarded during approval processing but accepted at execution time. An authenticated attacker can craft non-portable environment variable names that pass through approval undetected while being injected at runtime, bypassing operator review. The vulnerability affects OpenClaw npm versions ≤ 2026.4.1 and is fixed in version 2026.4.2 (commit b57b680).
Affected products
- OpenClaw OpenClaw <= 2026.4.1
Timeline
- 2026-04-02: disclosed
- 2026-04-02: patched: Fix released in version 2026.4.2, commit b57b680