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OpenclawApplication

CVE-2026-53858

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2026.5.2 or later.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
OpenClaw before 2026.5.2 contains an environment variable injection vulnerability where workspace .env STATE_DIRECTORY could influence bundled runtime dependency roots. Attackers can manipulate the STATE_DIRECTORY variable to load runtime dependencies from unintended local paths, potentially executing malicious code during dependency resolution.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

OpenClaw before 6.5.2 contains an environment variable injection vulnerability where the STATE_DIRECTORY variable from workspace .env files influences bundled runtime dependency root paths. Attackers can manipulate STATE_DIRECTORY to load runtime dependencies from attacker-controlled local paths instead of intended bundled locations, enabling malicious code execution during dependency resolution.

MitigationUpgrade to OpenClaw 6.5.2 or later which implements proper path validation for the STATE_DIRECTORY environment variable, and restrict access to .env files to prevent manipulation by untrusted users or processes.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
OpenclawApplication
Affected:< 2026.5.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check OpenClaw installed version
    Run 'openclaw --version' or check the application binary/package metadata to determine the version number
    Affected if Version is earlier than 6.5.2 or 2026.5.2
  2. Locate workspace .env files
    Search for .env files in the OpenClaw workspace directories, typically named .env or similar dotenv configuration files
    Affected if A .env file exists in the workspace that contains STATE_DIRECTORY configuration
  3. Inspect STATE_DIRECTORY setting
    Open the found .env file(s) and look for the STATE_DIRECTORY environment variable definition
    Affected if STATE_DIRECTORY is explicitly set to a value in the .env file
  4. Verify STATE_DIRECTORY path is trusted
    Examine the value assigned to STATE_DIRECTORY - check if it points to a standard bundled path within the OpenClaw installation directory or to an external/user-controlled location
    Affected if STATE_DIRECTORY points to a path outside the bundled installation directory that could be controlled by another user or process

You are affected if running OpenClaw version earlier than 6.5.2 with a .env file that defines STATE_DIRECTORY pointing to a path outside the bundled installation, allowing potential loading of malicious dependencies.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2026.5.2 or later
Fixed in 2026.5.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to OpenClaw 6.5.2 or later which implements proper path validation for the STATE_DIRECTORY environment variable, and restrict access to .env files to prevent manipulation by untrusted users or processes.

Recommended fix High confidence

2026.5.2

  1. 1. Identify the current version of OpenClaw by checking the installed package or application version
  2. 2. Backup the current OpenClaw installation including any custom configurations and workspace .env files
  3. 3. Upgrade OpenClaw to version 2026.5.2 or later using the appropriate package manager or installation method (e.g., pip install openclaw>=2026.5.2, docker pull openclaw:2026.5.2, or equivalent)
  4. 4. After upgrading, verify that the STATE_DIRECTORY environment variable is no longer influencing runtime dependency resolution paths
  5. 5. Review and restore any necessary custom configurations from the backup, ensuring STATE_DIRECTORY is set to a secure, expected path
  6. 6. Test the application to confirm dependencies are loaded from the intended bundled paths rather than user-controlled locations

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Openclaw Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-53858 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data