What is CVE-2026-41294?

A high-severity CVSS 8.6 environment variable injection vulnerability in OpenClaw where attackers can override runtime config by placing a malicious .env file in the workspace.

How does the OpenClaw .env file attack work?

OpenClaw loads .env files from the current working directory before processing trusted state-dir configurations. Attackers place a crafted .env in a repo to inject arbitrary environment variables.

How to fix CVE-2026-41294 in OpenClaw?

Upgrade to OpenClaw version 2026.3.28 or later, which fixes the premature .env loading vulnerability.

Does CVE-2026-41294 require authentication?

No. No authentication to OpenClaw is required to trigger the vulnerable loading mechanism, provided the attacker can control the file system context.

What CVSS score is CVE-2026-41294?

8.6 (High severity). The vulnerability allows overriding critical runtime configuration and security-sensitive environment settings.

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CVE-2026-41294: CVSS 8.6 Env Var Injection via Malicious .env File in OpenClaw

High-severity vulnerability allows attackers to override critical runtime config by placing crafted .env file in workspace. OpenClaw loads .env before trusted state-dir config. Fixed in v2026.3.28.

Product Idea from this Signal

A CLI tool that validates OpenClaw workspace integrity and blocks .env injection, config poisoning, and prompt injection before the agent boots

1.6k ▲

OpenClaw loads .env files from the current working directory before its trusted configuration, and trusts heartbeat context inheritance without proper validation. CVE-2026-41294 (CVSS 8.6) and CVE-2026-41329 (CVSS 9.9) exploit these pre-boot trust assumptions. With 138+ CVEs tracked in 63 days and 397-point HN posts calling the platform a security nightmare, operators need a pre-boot safety gate that catches workspace-level attacks before the agent gets any execution context.

CLISECURITYOPEN-SOURCEDEVTOOLPRE-BOOT

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