Advisories

OpenClaw before 2026.8.1 Remote Code Execution via CLOUDSDK_PYTHON_ARGS

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severity
high
date
Affecting
  • OpenClaw >= 2026.3.28, < 2026.8.1

CWE
  • CWE-88 Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')
CVSS
8.5
CVSS V4 Vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Credit
qc9c
Description
OpenClaw (npm package 'openclaw') versions >= 2026.3.28 and < 2026.8.1 allow an untrusted workspace .env file to set the CLOUDSDK_PYTHON_ARGS environment variable. When an operator starts OpenClaw in attacker-controlled workspace content and then runs the Gmail setup flow, that value is inherited when gcloud is launched, and the gcloud launcher passes it as arguments to the trusted Python interpreter. A crafted CLOUDSDK_PYTHON_ARGS value can therefore cause Python to execute attacker-supplied code with the OpenClaw host user's permissions, allowing credentials to be read, files to be modified, or other processes to be started. This issue is fixed in version 2026.8.1; as a workaround, run Gmail setup only from trusted workspaces and clear inherited CLOUDSDK_* variables beforehand.

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