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Mallory
High

Command Injection in OpenClaw Gateway WebSocket API

IdentifiersCVE-2026-25593CWE-78· Improper Neutralization of Special…

CVE-2026-25593 is a command injection vulnerability in OpenClaw, a personal AI assistant, affecting versions prior to 2026.1.20. The flaw is in the Gateway WebSocket API, where an unauthenticated local client can invoke config.apply to write configuration values, including an unsafe cliPath. That cliPath is later consumed during command discovery without sufficient validation or sanitization, allowing attacker-controlled input to reach an OS command execution context. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary command execution as the OpenClaw gateway user.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows an unauthenticated local attacker to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the OpenClaw gateway process user. This can lead to compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability for data and resources accessible to that account, including configuration tampering, data access, persistence, and potentially broader host compromise depending on the gateway user's privileges and environment.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, restrict or disable access to the Gateway WebSocket API where feasible, enable gateway authentication, avoid custom or unsafe cliPath values, and limit local access to the host. Apply least privilege to the OpenClaw gateway account, use host-based controls or firewall rules to restrict access to configuration endpoints, and monitor for suspicious WebSocket activity, config.apply requests, cliPath modifications, and anomalous process creation from the gateway service.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.1.20 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed. The fix reportedly adds proper validation and sanitization for configuration values passed through the Gateway WebSocket API. After upgrading, review OpenClaw configuration for unauthorized cliPath changes, audit logs for suspicious unauthenticated config.apply activity, and investigate unexpected child processes spawned by the gateway process.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

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VendorProductType
OpenclawOpenclawapplication

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What this page doesn’t show

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

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Social activity3

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