Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-28470 is a critical-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 9.2 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked at the 39th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-28470, published on 2026-03-05, is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8, CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) in OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.2. It manifests as an exec approvals allowlist bypass, which requires the feature to be enabled, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary commands through command substitution syntax. Specifically, attackers can embed unescaped $() constructs or backticks inside double-quoted strings to circumvent the allowlist protections. The issue is categorized under CWE-78 (OS Command Injection).
The vulnerability is exploitable by unauthenticated remote attackers requiring no user interaction and low attack complexity. Exploitation allows bypassing the exec approvals mechanism to run unauthorized commands on the affected system, resulting in high impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Mitigation guidance from advisories, including the GitHub security advisory (GHSA-3hcm-ggvf-rch5) and Vulncheck, points to upgrading to OpenClaw 2026.2.2. The fixing commit (d1ecb46076145deb188abcba8f0699709ea17198) on the OpenClaw GitHub repository addresses the bypass by properly handling command substitution in double-quoted strings.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-9916
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.2 contain an exec approvals (must be enabled) allowlist bypass vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands by injecting command substitution syntax. Attackers can bypass the allowlist protection by embedding unescaped $() or backticks inside…
more
double-quoted strings to execute unauthorized commands.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.2.5V1.2.8V15.2.5
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing or incorrect command sanitization during development.
Input validation directly neutralizes or rejects special characters that would otherwise alter OS command structure.
Least privilege reduces the permissions available to any process that could be subverted by injected commands.
Least functionality restricts available OS commands and interpreters, limiting the blast radius of injection.
Secure engineering principles require proper neutralization of untrusted input before command construction.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.
Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.