Executive brief
OpenClaw, a tool used for managing development workspaces and installer flows, is vulnerable to a configuration override flaw. An attacker can create a malicious workspace that, when opened by a user, overrides critical system settings to manipulate how the software updates or installs components. This could allow an attacker to redirect software updates to malicious sources or alter the application's trusted behavior.
Technical details
OpenClaw before version 2026.4.20 contains a vulnerability classified as an Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs (CWE-184). The application fails to restrict the 'OPENCLAW_' environment variable namespace within workspace-specific '.env' files. A local attacker can provide a malicious workspace that, when processed, overrides internal runtime-control variables such as 'OPENCLAW_GIT_DIR'. This can be used to hijack source-update or installer flows to execute arbitrary logic or redirect file operations. Exploitation requires a user to interact with or run OpenClaw from an attacker-controlled workspace. The issue is fixed in version 2026.4.20 by explicitly blocking all 'OPENCLAW_*' keys from untrusted workspace dotenv files.
Affected products
- OpenClaw openclaw < 2026.4.20
Timeline
- 2026-04-21: advisory: Original advisory GHSA-hxvm-xjvf-93f3 published
- 2026-05-06: disclosed: CVE-2026-44114 assigned
- 2026-05-11: patched: Fix released in version 2026.4.20