# CVE-2026-27486: OpenClaw: Process Safety - Unvalidated PID Kill via SIGKILL in Process Cleanup

> Attackers on shared hosts can terminate unrelated processes via pattern matching in OpenClaw CLI cleanup, causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 21 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 24 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jfv4-h8mc-jcp8

## What is CVE-2026-27486?

CVE-2026-27486 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw, published on 21 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant. In versions 2026.2.13 and below of the OpenClaw CLI, the process cleanup uses system-wide process enumeration and pattern matching to terminate processes without verifying if they are owned by the current OpenClaw process. On shared hosts, unrelated processes can be terminated if they match the pattern. The CLI runner cleanup helpers can kill processes matched by command-line patterns without validating process ownership. This issue has been fixed in version 2026.2.14.

Weakness: CWE-283 (Unverified Ownership)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-27486?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including openclaw. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `openclaw` | npm | All versions | 2026.2.14 |
| `openclaw` | npm | All versions | 2026.2.14 |

Products: Openclaw Openclaw.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-27486?

Upgrade openclaw to 2026.2.14 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-27486 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-27486 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Openclaw Openclaw

- [CVE-2026-28363](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-28363/): Security feature bypass in OpenClaw (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2026-30741](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-30741/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-33579](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33579/): OpenClaw < 2026.3.28 - Privilege Escalation via Missing Caller Scope Validation in Device Pair Approval (critical 9.4)
- [CVE-2026-32922](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32922/): OpenClaw < 2026.3.11 - Privilege Escalation via Unvalidated Scope in device.token.rotate (critical 9.4)
- [CVE-2026-32978](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32978/): OpenClaw < 2026.3.11 - Approval Bypass via Unrecognized Script Runners (critical 9.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-27486 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-27486 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw, published on 21 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-27486 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- openclaw (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 2026.2.14
- openclaw (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 2026.2.14

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27486/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27486/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-27486
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-27486
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-27486

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27486/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.