What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-22173?

CVE-2026-22173 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.4 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Which versions of Windows are affected by CVE-2026-22173?

OpenClaw game engine installations on Windows systems are vulnerable to local command injection through scheduled task files, allowing attackers with local access to execute arbitrary commands with…. A patch is available.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2026-22173?

Within 24 hours: Inventory all systems running OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.18 and assess exposure in production environments. Within 7 days: Apply vendor patch 2026.2.18 or later to all affected systems, prioritizing production and critical infrastructure. Within 30 days: Complete patching across all environments and validate through security testing that scheduled tasks execute without vulnerability.

Windows CVE-2026-22173

EUVD-2026-14553 HIGH

OS Command Injection (CWE-78)

2026-03-23 VulnCheck

GHSA-pv5j-hvrw-38j6

Command Injection Microsoft Windows

7.4

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY

7.4 HIGH

AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

High

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Lifecycle Timeline

EUVD ID Assigned

Mar 23, 2026 - 22:00 euvd

EUVD-2026-14553

Analysis Generated

Mar 23, 2026 - 22:00 vuln.today

Patch released

Mar 23, 2026 - 22:00 nvd

Patch available

CVE Published

Mar 23, 2026 - 21:35 nvd

HIGH 7.4

DescriptionCVE.org

OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.18 contain a command injection vulnerability in Windows Scheduled Task script generation where environment variables are written unquoted to gateway.cmd, allowing shell metacharacters to break out of assignment context. Attackers can inject arbitrary commands through config-provided environment variables when the scheduled task script is generated and executed.

AnalysisAI

OpenClaw, an open-source game engine component, contains a command injection vulnerability in its Windows Scheduled Task script generation mechanism. Versions prior to 2026.2.18 write environment variables unquoted to gateway.cmd files, allowing attackers to inject shell metacharacters that break out of assignment context and execute arbitrary commands when the scheduled task runs. This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.4 (High) with local attack vector and high attack complexity, and a patch is currently available from the vendor.

Technical ContextAI

This vulnerability affects OpenClaw (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:openclaw:openclaw:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*), specifically the Windows-based scheduled task automation component that generates gateway.cmd batch scripts. The root cause is classified as CWE-78 (OS Command Injection), arising from improper neutralization of special elements when constructing shell commands. When the application generates Windows batch files for scheduled tasks, it writes environment variable assignments without proper quoting or escaping. In Windows batch file syntax, unquoted values containing shell metacharacters such as ampersands (&), pipes (|), or carets (^) can break out of the assignment context and execute as separate commands. Config-provided environment variables that flow into this script generation process become injection vectors, allowing malicious payloads to be embedded in what should be benign configuration data.

RemediationAI

Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.2.18 or later, which contains the fix committed in https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/commit/dafe52e8cf1a041d898cfb304a485fa05e5f58fb. Organizations should review the vendor security advisory at https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph for complete upgrade instructions and any additional security recommendations. Until patching is completed, organizations should implement compensating controls including restricting write access to OpenClaw configuration files to trusted administrators only, monitoring gateway.cmd file generation for suspicious content, and validating all environment variable values against a strict allowlist before they are incorporated into configuration. Additionally, consider running OpenClaw processes with minimal privileges to limit the impact of successful command injection attacks, and audit existing scheduled tasks generated by vulnerable versions for potentially malicious commands that may have been injected prior to patching.