GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph
OpenClaw has a Command Injection via unescaped environment assignments in Windows Scheduled Task script generation
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.
Blast Radius
Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.
openclawnpmDescription
Summary
A command injection vulnerability existed in Windows Scheduled Task script generation for OpenClaw. Environment values were written into gateway.cmd using unquoted set KEY=VALUE, which allowed Windows shell metacharacters in config-provided environment variables to break out of assignment context.
Affected Packages / Versions
- Package:
openclaw(npm) - Affected versions:
<= 2026.2.17 - Patched version:
>= 2026.2.19 - Latest published vulnerable version at review time (2026-02-19):
2026.2.17
Practical Risk Context
For a single-user, localhost-only setup on a personally controlled machine, practical risk is typically low.
This issue becomes materially relevant when configuration or environment values are sourced from less-trusted inputs, for example:
- shared/team config templates,
- copied config snippets,
- setup scripts, automation, or repos that write config,
- any workflow where another party can influence env values before
gateway install/reinstall.
In those scenarios, it provides a reliable config-to-command-execution path when the scheduled task script is generated and run.
Details
On Windows, gateway service installation writes a helper batch script and then registers it via Scheduled Task (schtasks).
Before the fix, env lines were rendered as set KEY=VALUE in src/daemon/schtasks.ts, so values containing metacharacters (for example &, |, ^, %, !) could alter command behavior in cmd.exe.
The fix now renders quoted assignments (set "KEY=VALUE") with explicit escaping for cmd metacharacters, updates parser compatibility for quoted assignments, and adds regression tests for metacharacter handling and round-trip parsing.
Fix Commit(s)
dafe52e8cf1a041d898cfb304a485fa05e5f58fb
OpenClaw thanks @tdjackey for reporting.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | openclaw | all versions | 2026.2.19 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for openclaw. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update openclaw to 2026.2.19 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.