CVE-2026-25157: OpenClaw AI Assistant RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2026-25157 Overview

CVE-2026-25157 is an OS command injection vulnerability discovered in OpenClaw, a personal AI assistant application. The vulnerability exists in the sshNodeCommand function and the parseSSHTarget function, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary commands on both remote SSH hosts and local machines through improper input handling and insufficient validation of user-supplied data.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability enables arbitrary command execution through two distinct attack vectors—one targeting remote SSH hosts via unescaped project paths, and another enabling local command execution through malicious SSH target strings. Successful exploitation could lead to complete system compromise.

Affected Products

• OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.1.29

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-04 - CVE CVE-2026-25157 published to NVD
• 2026-02-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-25157

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability (CWE-78: OS Command Injection) presents two distinct command injection attack vectors within the OpenClaw application. The first attack vector resides in the sshNodeCommand function, which constructs shell scripts dynamically without properly sanitizing or escaping user-supplied project path values. When the cd command fails during execution, the raw, unescaped path is directly interpolated into an echo statement, creating an opportunity for command injection on the remote SSH host.

The second attack vector exists in the parseSSHTarget function, which fails to validate that SSH target strings cannot begin with a dash character. This oversight allows an attacker to craft malicious target strings such as -oProxyCommand=... that are interpreted by the SSH client as configuration flags rather than hostnames, enabling arbitrary command execution on the local machine.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability stems from two fundamental input validation failures:

1. Insufficient Output Escaping: The sshNodeCommand function fails to properly escape user-supplied project paths before incorporating them into dynamically constructed shell commands. When error handling code attempts to display the failed path in an echo statement, the unescaped input allows shell metacharacters to break out of the string context.

2. Missing Input Validation: The parseSSHTarget function does not implement validation to reject SSH target strings that begin with a dash character. This allows specially crafted inputs to be interpreted as SSH command-line options rather than hostnames.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability requires local access with user interaction for exploitation. An attacker can leverage either attack vector:

Remote SSH Host Exploitation: By supplying a malicious project path containing shell metacharacters and command sequences, an attacker can inject arbitrary commands that execute when the cd command fails and the error message is processed.

Local Machine Exploitation: By providing an SSH target string that begins with a dash (e.g., -oProxyCommand=malicious_command), the attacker can cause the SSH client to interpret the input as a configuration option, executing arbitrary commands on the local system where OpenClaw is running.

The vulnerability mechanism involves improper handling of user input in shell command construction. When the sshNodeCommand function constructs a shell script, it directly interpolates the project path into an error message without escaping special characters. Additionally, the parseSSHTarget function accepts target strings without validating their format, allowing SSH option injection. For complete technical details, see the GitHub Security Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-25157

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SSH connections with command-line flags appearing where hostnames should be specified
• Process execution chains showing shell commands spawned from OpenClaw processes
• Log entries containing suspicious project paths with shell metacharacters (;, |, $(), backticks)
• SSH authentication attempts to targets beginning with -o or other SSH flag prefixes

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for SSH command executions containing -oProxyCommand or similar option injection patterns
• Implement application-level logging to capture all SSH target strings and project paths processed by OpenClaw
• Deploy file integrity monitoring on systems running OpenClaw to detect unauthorized modifications
• Configure endpoint detection rules to alert on shell processes spawned as children of OpenClaw application processes

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose SSH logging to capture connection attempts with malformed targets
• Implement network monitoring to detect anomalous outbound SSH connections from OpenClaw instances
• Review application logs for error messages containing unusual project path values
• Configure SentinelOne behavioral AI to detect command injection patterns in shell command construction

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-25157

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.1.29 or later immediately
• Audit existing OpenClaw configurations for any signs of previous exploitation
• Review SSH logs for suspicious connection patterns that may indicate prior compromise
• Implement network segmentation to limit the impact of potential command execution

Patch Information

The OpenClaw development team has addressed this vulnerability in version 2026.1.29. The patch implements proper escaping of user-supplied project paths in shell command construction and adds validation to reject SSH target strings that begin with a dash character. Organizations should update to this version or later to remediate the vulnerability. For additional details, refer to the GitHub Security Advisory.

Workarounds

• Restrict OpenClaw's SSH functionality to a whitelist of trusted, pre-validated SSH targets until patching is complete
• Implement input validation at the network perimeter to block requests containing potential command injection payloads
• Run OpenClaw with minimal privileges to limit the impact of successful command execution
• Consider disabling SSH-related functionality in OpenClaw if not business-critical until the patch can be applied

# Example: Restrict OpenClaw network access while awaiting patch
# Add firewall rules to limit outbound SSH from OpenClaw processes
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -m owner --uid-owner openclaw -j DROP

# Alternative: Update to patched version
# Check current version
openclaw --version

# Update to patched version
pip install --upgrade openclaw>=2026.1.29