Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-4039

Openclaw ≤ 2026.2.21

Published
12 March 2026
Modified
16 March 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/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:X
EPSS Score 0.0032 24th percentile
Risk Priority 32 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-4039 is a medium-severity Injection (CWE-74) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 24th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

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-2026-4039 is a code injection vulnerability affecting OpenClaw version 2026.2.19-2, specifically in the applySkillConfigenvOverrides function of the Skill Env Handler component. The issue, linked to CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command) and CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code), was published on 2026-03-12 and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L).

An attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. Manipulation of the affected function enables code injection, resulting in limited impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Advisories recommend upgrading the affected component to OpenClaw version 2026.2.21-beta.1, which resolves the issue via patch commit 8c9f35cdb51692b650ddf05b259ccdd75cc9a83c. Details are available in the GitHub security advisory GHSA-82g8-464f-2mv7, the project repository, release notes, and VulDB entry ctiid.350651.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability was determined in OpenClaw 2026.2.19-2. This vulnerability affects the function applySkillConfigenvOverrides of the component Skill Env Handler. Executing a manipulation can lead to code injection. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. Upgrading to version 2026.2.21-beta.1 is…

more

able to resolve this issue. This patch is called 8c9f35cdb51692b650ddf05b259ccdd75cc9a83c. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

CWE(s)
CWE-74CWE-94

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1221 Template Injection Stealth
Adversaries may create or modify references in user document templates to conceal malicious code or force authentication attempts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1659 Content Injection Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access and continuously communicate with victims by injecting malicious content into systems through online network traffic.
attack.mitre.org →
T1674 Input Injection Execution
Adversaries may simulate keystrokes on a victim’s computer by various means to perform any type of action on behalf of the user, such as launching the command interpreter using keyboard shortcuts, typing an inline script to be executed,…
attack.mitre.org →
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-24764Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2026-30741Same product: Openclaw Openclaw
CVE-2025-12266Shared CWE-74, CWE-94
CVE-2026-6125Shared CWE-74, CWE-94
CVE-2026-5562Shared CWE-74, CWE-94
CVE-2026-71320Shared CWE-74, CWE-94
CVE-2026-7703Shared CWE-74, CWE-94
CVE-2025-3563Shared CWE-74, CWE-94
CVE-2024-13187Shared CWE-74, CWE-94
CVE-2023-24539Shared CWE-74, CWE-94

Affected Assets

openclaw
openclaw
≤ 2026.2.21

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.1
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation finds code paths that accept and execute externally influenced strings.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

SI-10 directly requires validation of information inputs to reject malformed or special-element content before it reaches downstream parsers.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match

Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.

SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools partial match

Requiring documented secure development standards and tools enforces use of safe code-generation APIs and escaping.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and output encoding that prevent injection flaws.

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches injection vulnerabilities before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging supports detection of injection attempts but does not prevent the weakness.

A.8.16 Monitoring activities partial match
finds

Monitoring activities can identify active injection attacks after they occur.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and output encoding that directly prevent injection flaws.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection attacks in software design.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce injection surfaces but do not prescribe specific neutralization techniques.

References