CVE-2026-22176 OpenClaw has a Command Injection via unescaped environment assignments in Windows Scheduled Task script generation
Attackers can execute arbitrary commands on Windows systems by injecting shell metacharacters into environment variables used in OpenClaw scheduled task scripts.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-22176?
CVE-2026-22176 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw, published on 19 Mar 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.19 contain a command injection vulnerability in Windows Scheduled Task script generation where environment variables are written to gateway.cmd using unquoted set KEY=VALUE assignments, allowing shell metacharacters to break out of assignment context. Attackers can inject arbitrary commands through environment variable values containing metacharacters like &, |, ^, %, or ! to achieve command execution when the scheduled task script is generated and executed.
Weakness: CWE-78
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-22176?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including openclaw. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
openclaw npm | All versions | 2026.2.19 |
openclaw npm | All versions | 2026.2.19 |
Products include Openclaw Openclaw.
How do I fix CVE-2026-22176?
Upgrade openclaw to 2026.2.19 or later.
Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.
Is CVE-2026-22176 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-22176 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Openclaw Openclaw
- CVE-2026-28363 Security feature bypass in OpenClaw
- CVE-2026-30741 Code injection in n/a
- CVE-2026-33579 OpenClaw < 2026.3.28 - Privilege Escalation via Missing Caller Scope Validation in Device Pair Approval
- CVE-2026-32922 OpenClaw < 2026.3.11 - Privilege Escalation via Unvalidated Scope in device.token.rotate
- CVE-2026-32978 OpenClaw < 2026.3.11 - Approval Bypass via Unrecognized Script Runners
Sources
Also known as GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph, MINI-7wx6-987j-4q5v, MINI-g4q2-h2qj-2gc6.