Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-42435

Public PoC
Published
05 May 2026
Modified
17 June 2026
CVSS Score v4 8.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/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:X
EPSS Score 0.0041 34th percentile
Risk Priority 39 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-42435 is a high-severity Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs (CWE-184) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 34th 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 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-2026-42435 is an insufficient shell-wrapper detection vulnerability affecting OpenClaw versions from 2026.2.22 before 2026.4.12. The flaw enables attackers to inject environment variable assignments at the argv level, bypassing exec preflight handling and allowing manipulation of high-risk shell variables such as SHELLOPTS and PS4. This impacts execution semantics and security controls. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and maps to CWE-184.

Attackers with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this over the network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). Exploitation bypasses shell-wrapper protections, enabling manipulation of shell variables to alter execution behavior, achieve high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H), and undermine security controls.

Mitigation is addressed in OpenClaw version 2026.4.12 and later, as evidenced by the fixing commit at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/8f8492d172f4c5b4fd7dd9a47855ed620c8770ab. Additional details are provided in the GitHub security advisory at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-j6c7-3h5x-99g9 and the VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openclaw-shell-wrapper-detection-bypass-via-environment-variable-assignment-injection.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

OpenClaw versions from 2026.2.22 before 2026.4.12 contain an insufficient shell-wrapper detection vulnerability allowing attackers to inject environment variable assignments at the argv level. Attackers can bypass exec preflight handling to manipulate high-risk shell variables like SHELLOPTS and PS4, affecting execution…

more

semantics and security controls.

CWE(s)
CWE-184

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 →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-48557Shared CWE-184
CVE-2026-41392Shared CWE-184
CVE-2026-44115Shared CWE-184
CVE-2026-53861Shared CWE-184
CVE-2023-45593Shared CWE-184
CVE-2026-71259Shared CWE-184
CVE-2025-67716Shared CWE-184
CVE-2026-34430Shared CWE-184
CVE-2026-33139Shared CWE-184
CVE-2026-54513Shared CWE-184

Affected Assets

—
OpenClaw
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V3.5.2
  • V4.4.2
  • V16.2.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

SI-10 requires validity checks on inputs, which structurally replaces incomplete deny-lists with complete allow-list or sanitization logic.

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 complete, positive input validation instead of incomplete denylists.

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 can discover missing input checks, but does not prevent the weakness during development.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can mandate complete input validation rules, but the control itself does not prescribe how to build those rules.

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

Secure architecture principles include robust input validation design, yet the control is broader than this single weakness.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly require exhaustive allow-lists or complete deny-lists for inputs, addressing the root cause of incomplete disallowed-input lists.

References