CVE-2026-44995
Published: 11 May 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-44995 is a medium-severity Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere (CWE-829) vulnerability in Openclaw Openclaw. Its CVSS base score is 5.4 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked at the 1.9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as AI Agent Protocols and Integrations; in the Protocol-Specific Risks risk domain.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-29140
Vulnerability details
OpenClaw before 2026.4.20 contains an improper environment variable validation vulnerability in MCP stdio server configuration that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code. Malicious workspace configurations can pass dangerous startup variables like NODE_OPTIONS, LD_PRELOAD, or BASH_ENV to spawned MCP server processes,…
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enabling code injection when operators start sessions using those servers.
- CWE(s)
AI Security AnalysisAI
- AI Category
- AI Agent Protocols and Integrations
- Risk Domain
- Protocol-Specific Risks
- OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
- None mapped
- Classification Reason
- Matched keywords: mcp
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Vulnerability enables arbitrary code execution via unsafe env vars (LD_PRELOAD, BASH_ENV, NODE_OPTIONS) passed to spawned processes, directly facilitating command/script execution and dynamic linker hijacking.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Limiting P2P file sharing technology reduces inclusion of functionality or resources from untrusted external control spheres.
Enforcing installation policies prevents users from including functionality obtained from untrusted control spheres.
The inventory process requires identifying and recording the origin of all components, making inclusion of functionality from untrusted control spheres easier to detect during reviews.
Requiring approval and monitoring of maintenance tools prevents inclusion and execution of functionality obtained from untrusted sources.
Unowned portable devices represent untrusted control spheres; the prohibition prevents inclusion of functionality or data from such sources.
Strategy mandates assessment of third-party components and suppliers, directly reducing inclusion of functionality from untrusted control spheres.
Procedures can mandate supply-chain vetting and restrictions on functionality obtained from untrusted third-party or external control spheres.
Requires use of trusted sources and provenance tracking, tangibly limiting inclusion of functionality from untrusted control spheres.