CVE-2026-44995 — openclaw
Fix: openclaw/openclaw@62fa507CVE-2026-44995 is a CWE-829 vulnerability in openclaw. A fix is available for openclaw — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenClaw < 2026.4.20 - Arbitrary Code Execution via MCP stdio Environment Variables
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-44995.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
openclawnpmDescription
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected versions:
< 2026.4.20 - Patched version:
2026.4.20
Impact
Workspace MCP stdio configuration could pass dangerous process-startup environment variables such as NODE_OPTIONS, LD_PRELOAD, or BASH_ENV to the spawned MCP server process. In a malicious workspace, this could make the MCP child load attacker-controlled code when the operator starts a session that uses that MCP server.
The impact is limited to local/workspace trust boundaries and requires the operator to run OpenClaw in a workspace containing the malicious MCP configuration. Severity is therefore medium, not high/critical.
Fix
OpenClaw now filters MCP stdio environment entries through the host environment safety denylist before spawning stdio MCP servers.
Fix commits:
62fa5071896e95edc7f67d1cebc70a2859e283af85d86ebc4bf3d2226d39d132a484f4f7a299fa1b
Release
Fixed in OpenClaw 2026.4.20.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.4.20npm install openclaw@2026.4.20 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for openclaw, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update openclaw to 2026.4.20 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-44995 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2026-44995 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2026-44995. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-44995 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2026-44995 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.