Summary
A command injection vulnerability exists in OpenClaw’s Linux systemd unit generation path.
When rendering Environment= entries, attacker-controlled values are not rejected for CR/LF, and systemdEscapeArg() uses an incorrect whitespace-matching regex. This allows newline injection to break out of an Environment= line and inject standalone systemd directives (for example, ExecStartPre=). On service restart, the injected command is executed, resulting in local arbitrary command execution (local RCE) under the gateway service user.
Details
The issue is in src/daemon/systemd-unit.ts:
renderEnvLines(...) builds:Environment=${systemdEscapeArg(${key}=${value})}- No CR/LF validation is enforced for environment keys/values before writing unit lines.
systemdEscapeArg(...) uses:/[\\s"\\\\]/- In this regex,
\\s is interpreted as a literal backslash + s, not a whitespace character class.
As a result, whitespace detection/quoting behavior is incorrect.
Because systemd parses unit files line-by-line, a newline inside an environment value can inject an additional directive line. Example rendered output:
Environment=INJECT=ok
ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce
At restart time, systemd executes ExecStartPre, enabling command execution.
Relevant code path/components involved in exploitation chain:
src/daemon/systemd-unit.tssrc/commands/daemon-install-helpers.tssrc/config/env-vars.tssrc/config/zod-schema.ts
Trigger conditions:
- Attacker can influence
config.env.vars (directly or indirectly).
- Install/reinstall path is invoked to write/update the unit.
- Service restart occurs (
systemctl --user restart ...).
PoC
Environment: Linux host with systemd user services enabled.
- Configure a malicious environment value in OpenClaw config (
config.env.vars), including a newline and injected directive:
ok
ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce
- Install/reinstall the gateway service (fixed port as requested):
openclaw gateway install --port 15789 --force
- Inspect the generated user unit file (default path):
~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service
Verify that an injected standalone line exists:
ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce
- Reload and restart user service:
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway.service
- Confirm command execution side effect:
ls -l /tmp/oc15789_rce
Impact
This is a local command execution vulnerability in OpenClaw’s systemd unit generation during install/reinstall flows.
- Type: Command injection via newline/directive injection in unit file generation.
- Execution context: Runs with the same privileges as the OpenClaw gateway service user.
- Affected users: Linux deployments using systemd user services where an attacker can control
config.env.vars and trigger install/reinstall.
Fix Commit(s)
61f646c41fb43cd87ed48f9125b4718a30d38e84
Miggo AI