7

CVSS Score

4.0

-

CVSS Score

Basic Information

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CVE-2026-43531

CVE-2026-43531: OpenClaw < 2026.4.9 - Environment Variable Injection via Workspace .env File

OpenClaw before 2026.4.9 contains an environment variable injection vulnerability allowing malicious workspace .env files to set runtime-control variables. Attackers can inject variables affecting update sources, gateway URLs, ClawHub resolution, and browser executable paths to compromise application behavior.

(GitHub Advisory)

Miggo Vulnerability Database

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CVE-2026-43531

CVE-2026-43531:

7

CVSS Score

4.0

-

CVSS Score

Basic Information

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Technical Details

Package Name	Ecosystem	Vulnerable Versions	First Patched Version
openclaw	npm	< 2026.4.9	2026.4.9

Technical Details

Vulnerability Intelligence
Miggo AI

Root Cause Analysis

The vulnerability lies in the insecure loading of environment variables from workspace .env files, which could allow an attacker to control runtime behavior of OpenClaw. The analysis of the provided commit dbfcef319618158fa40b31cdac386ea34c392c0c reveals that the fix was implemented in src/infra/dotenv.ts. The function loadWorkspaceDotEnvFile is identified as the primary vulnerable function because it is responsible for reading and processing the .env file. The vulnerability was that this function's filtering was insufficient. The patch addresses this by significantly expanding the blocklists (BLOCKED_WORKSPACE_DOTENV_KEYS, BLOCKED_WORKSPACE_DOTENV_PREFIXES, BLOCKED_WORKSPACE_DOTENV_SUFFIXES) that are used to filter out malicious keys. The helper function shouldBlockWorkspaceRuntimeDotEnvKey is also identified as a key function in the security mechanism, as it contains the logic for checking against the blocklists. The test file src/infra/dotenv.test.ts provides clear evidence by demonstrating the attack scenario and verifying the fix by calling loadWorkspaceDotEnvFile.

Vulnerable functions

loadWorkspaceDotEnvFile

src/infra/dotenv.ts

This function is responsible for loading environment variables from a workspace's `.env` file. Before the patch, it did not adequately filter out sensitive runtime-control variables. A malicious actor could craft a `.env` file in a workspace to inject variables that control OpenClaw's behavior, such as gateway URLs, update sources, or executable paths. The fix involves enhancing the filtering within this function to block a comprehensive list of dangerous keys.

shouldBlockWorkspaceRuntimeDotEnvKey

src/infra/dotenv.ts

This function is a critical component of the fix, determining whether a given environment variable key should be blocked. The vulnerability existed because the logic and the blocklists used by this function were not comprehensive enough, allowing malicious variables to be loaded. The patch strengthens this function by expanding the blocklists to prevent the injection of runtime-control variables.

Vulnerability Intelligence
Miggo AI

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WAF Protection Rules

WAF Rule

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Reasoning

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