CVE-2026-35650
Openclaw ≤ 2026.3.22
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/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:XSummary
CVE-2026-35650 is a high-severity External Control of System or Configuration Setting (CWE-15) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 7.7 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable (T1574.007); ranked at the 40th 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 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — 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-2026-35650 is an environment variable override handling vulnerability in OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.3.22. The flaw stems from inconsistent sanitization paths that allow attackers to bypass the shared host environment policy. By supplying blocked or malformed override keys that evade validation, adversaries can execute arbitrary code while setting unintended environment variables, as classified under CWE-15. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Attackers with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this over the network (AV:N), though it requires high attack complexity (AC:H) and no user interaction (UI:N). In a shared host environment, such as multi-tenant systems, a low-privileged user could supply specially crafted environment variable overrides to slip past sanitization checks. Successful exploitation enables high-impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability violations (C:H/I:H/A:H), including arbitrary code execution under the application's context with manipulated environment variables.
Mitigation is addressed in OpenClaw version 2026.3.22 and later, with fixes detailed in GitHub commits 630f1479c44f78484dfa21bb407cbe6f171dac87 and 7abfff756d6c68d17e21d1657bbacbaec86de232. The official security advisory at GHSA-39pp-xp36-q6mg and VulnCheck's analysis recommend immediate upgrades to patched versions to resolve the inconsistent validation logic.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-21446
Vulnerability Data
OpenClaw before 2026.3.22 contains an environment variable override handling vulnerability that allows attackers to bypass the shared host environment policy through inconsistent sanitization paths. Attackers can supply blocked or malformed override keys that slip through inconsistent validation to execute arbitrary…
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code with unintended environment variables.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 4 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces approved authorizations for logical access to configuration resources so external parties cannot alter them.
Enforces documented access restrictions on all changes to system configuration, directly blocking unauthorized external control of settings.
Limits privileges to the minimum needed, reducing the set of users who can externally modify configuration.
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.
Hardened configuration baselines and change controls directly limit external manipulation of settings.
Formal change and exception management catches externally driven configuration alterations.
Least-privilege access policies reduce unauthorized external modification of configuration values.
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.
Configuration management directly prevents external tampering with system settings.
Access rights assignment determines who may change system settings.
Privileged access rights reduce the number of users who can alter configuration.
Information access restriction limits who can view or modify configuration data.
Change management enforces controlled, authorized modifications to settings.
Access control policies underpin the technical restrictions on configuration changes.