CVE-2026-22177
OpenClaw's config env vars allowed startup env injection into service runtime
Description
### Summary OpenClaw allowed dangerous process-control environment variables from `env.vars` (for example `NODE_OPTIONS`, `LD_*`, `DYLD_*`) to flow into gateway service runtime environments, enabling startup-time code execution in the OpenClaw process context. ### Details `collectConfigEnvVars()` accepted unfiltered keys from config and those values were merged into the daemon install environment in `buildGatewayInstallPlan()`. Before the fix, startup-control variables were not blocked in this path. ### Affected Packages / Versions - Package: `openclaw` (npm) - Latest published affected version: `2026.2.19-2` (published February 19, 2026) - Affected range (structured): `<=2026.2.19-2 || =2026.2.19` - Patched version (pre-set for next release): `>= 2026.2.21` ### Fix Commit(s) - `2cdbadee1f8fcaa93302d7debbfc529e19868ea4` ### Release Process Note `patched_versions` is pre-set to the planned next release (`2026.2.21`). Once that npm release is published, this advisory is ready to publish without further content edits. OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
How to fix CVE-2026-22177
To remediate CVE-2026-22177, upgrade the affected package to a fixed version below.
- —upgrade to 2026.2.21 or later
Is CVE-2026-22177 being exploited?
Low — EPSS is 0.0%, meaning exploitation activity has not been observed at scale.
Affected packages (1)
- from 0, < 2026.2.21
CVSS scores
| Source | Version | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| osv | CVSS 4.0 | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| osv | CVSS 3.1 | HIGH8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |