What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-22176?

CVE-2026-22176 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1 (Medium). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.1%.

Which versions of Windows are affected by CVE-2026-22176?

CVE-2026-22176 presents moderate security risk, a OS command injection vulnerability rated CVSS 6.1. Exploitation could allow attackers to execute code or inject malicious input.. A patch is available.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2026-22176?

Within 30 days: Identify affected systems and apply vendor patches as part of regular patch cycle. Validate input sanitization for user-controlled parameters.

Windows CVE-2026-22176

EUVD-2026-13005 MEDIUM

OS Command Injection (CWE-78)

2026-03-19 VulnCheck

GHSA-pj5x-38rw-6fph

Windows Command Injection Microsoft Openclaw

6.1

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY

6.1 MEDIUM

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

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

High

Availability

Low

Lifecycle Timeline

EUVD ID Assigned

Mar 19, 2026 - 01:30 euvd

EUVD-2026-13005

Analysis Generated

Mar 19, 2026 - 01:30 vuln.today

Patch released

Mar 19, 2026 - 01:30 nvd

Patch available

CVE Published

Mar 19, 2026 - 01:00 nvd

MEDIUM 6.1

DescriptionCVE.org

OpenClaw versions prior to 2026.2.19 contain a command injection vulnerability in Windows Scheduled Task script generation where environment variables are written to gateway.cmd using unquoted set KEY=VALUE assignments, allowing shell metacharacters to break out of assignment context. Attackers can inject arbitrary commands through environment variable values containing metacharacters like &, |, ^, %, or ! to achieve command execution when the scheduled task script is generated and executed.

AnalysisAI

OpenClaw versions before 2026.2.19 allow local authenticated users to execute arbitrary commands by injecting shell metacharacters into environment variable values during Windows Scheduled Task script generation. The vulnerability stems from unquoted variable assignments in gateway.cmd that fail to sanitize special characters like &, |, ^, %, and !, enabling command injection when the task script runs. A patch is available to address this local privilege escalation risk.

Technical ContextAI

This vulnerability stems from CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command), a classic command injection flaw. The root cause lies in OpenClaw's Windows Scheduled Task script generation mechanism, which constructs a gateway.cmd batch file by directly interpolating environment variable values into unquoted SET KEY=VALUE statements without sanitization or escaping. In Windows batch scripting, special metacharacters such as & (command chaining), | (piping), ^ (escape character), % (variable expansion), and ! (delayed expansion in batch contexts) retain their special meaning even within unquoted assignment contexts. The affected product (cpe:2.3:a:openclaw:openclaw:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) is vulnerable in all versions before 2026.2.19. Rather than safely quoting variable values (e.g., SET KEY="%VALUE%") or validating/escaping metacharacters, the code assumes environment variable content is safe, violating the principle of input validation.

RemediationAI

Immediately upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.2.19 or later, which includes the security patch addressing the unquoted environment variable assignment issue. The patch, committed at dafe52e8cf1a041d898cfb304a485fa05e5f58fb, implements proper quoting and escaping of environment variable values in the gateway.cmd script generation routine. Until patching is completed, administrators should restrict which users and processes can set or modify environment variables that feed into OpenClaw's scheduled task generation, enforce principle of least privilege for accounts running OpenClaw, and avoid deploying OpenClaw in environments where untrusted or third-party code executes with the same privileges. Code review of any custom integrations that set environment variables before invoking OpenClaw's task generation functions is recommended to ensure hostile or unexpected metacharacter sequences are filtered or validated.