CVE-2026-32032: OpenClaw — HIGH

OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.22 contain an arbitrary shell execution vulnerability in shell environment fallback that trusts the unvalidated SHELL path from the host environment. An attacker with local environment access can inject a malicious SHELL variable to execute arbitrary commands with...

Full CISO analysis pending enrichment.

What systems are affected?

Package	Ecosystem	Vulnerable Range	Patched
OpenClaw	pip	—	No patch
4 dependents 37% patched ~3d to patch Full package profile →

Do you use OpenClaw? You're affected.

How severe is it?

CVSS 3.1

7.8 / 10

EPSS

N/A

Exploitation Status

No known exploitation

Sophistication

N/A

What is the attack surface?

AV Local

AC Low

PR Low

UI None

S Unchanged

C High

I High

A High

What should I do?

No patch available

Monitor for updates. Consider compensating controls or temporary mitigations.

Which compliance frameworks are affected?

Compliance analysis pending. Sign in for full compliance mapping when available.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-32032?

OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.22 contain an arbitrary shell execution vulnerability in shell environment fallback that trusts the unvalidated SHELL path from the host environment. An attacker with local environment access can inject a malicious SHELL variable to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the OpenClaw process.

Is CVE-2026-32032 actively exploited?

No confirmed active exploitation of CVE-2026-32032 has been reported, but organizations should still patch proactively.

How to fix CVE-2026-32032?

No patch is currently available. Monitor vendor advisories for updates.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-32032?

CVE-2026-32032 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH).

What are the technical details?

Original Advisory

OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.22 contain an arbitrary shell execution vulnerability in shell environment fallback that trusts the unvalidated SHELL path from the host environment. An attacker with local environment access can inject a malicious SHELL variable to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the OpenClaw process.

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-426 Untrusted Search Path

CWE-426 — Untrusted Search Path: The product searches for critical resources using an externally-supplied search path that can point to resources that are not under the product's direct control.

[Architecture and Design, Implementation] Hard-code the search path to a set of known-safe values (such as system directories), or only allow them to be specified by the administrator in a configuration file. Do not allow these settings to be modified by an external party. Be careful to avoid related weaknesses such as CWE-426 and CWE-428.
[Implementation] When invoking other programs, specify those programs using fully-qualified pathnames. While this is an effective approach, code that uses fully-qualified pathnames might not be portable to other systems that do not use the same pathnames. The portability can be improved by locating the full-qualified paths in a centralized, easily-modifiable location within the source code, and having the code refer to these paths.

Source: MITRE CWE corpus.