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CVE-2026-27486

OpenClaw: Process Safety - Unvalidated PID Kill via SIGKILL in Process Cleanup

4.3 MediumFix available

OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant. In versions 2026.2.13 and below of the OpenClaw CLI, the process cleanup uses system-wide process enumeration and pattern matching to terminate processes without verifying if they are owned by the current OpenClaw process. On shared hosts, unrelated processes can be terminated if they match the pattern. The CLI runner cleanup helpers can kill processes matched by command-line patterns without validating process ownership. This issue has been fixed in version 2026.2.14.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

0.32%Up 0.3 points since Feb 21, 2026
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 4.3

OpenClaw: Process Safety - Unvalidated PID Kill via SIGKILL in Process Cleanup

OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant. In versions 2026.2.13 and below of the OpenClaw CLI, the process cleanup uses system-wide process enumeration and pattern matching to terminate processes without verifying if they are owned by the current OpenClaw process. On shared hosts, unrelated processes can be terminated if they match the pattern. The CLI runner cleanup helpers can kill processes matched by command-line patterns without validating process ownership. This issue has been fixed in version 2026.2.14.

Record
CVE-2026-27486
CVSS 4.0
4.3 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H
Weakness
CWE-283
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-7713 4.3

OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant. In versions 2026.2.13 and below of the OpenClaw CLI, the process cleanup uses system-wide process enumeration and pattern matching to terminate processes without verifying if they are owned by the current OpenClaw process. On shared hosts, unrelated processes can be terminated if they match the pattern. The CLI runner cleanup helpers can kill processes matched by command-line patterns without validating process ownership. This issue has been fixed in version 2026.2.14.

Record
EUVD-2026-7713
CVSS 4.0
4.3 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-jfv4-h8mc-jcp8 4.3

OpenClaw: Process Safety - Unvalidated PID Kill via SIGKILL in Process Cleanup

Summary

OpenClaw CLI process cleanup used system-wide process enumeration and pattern matching to terminate processes without verifying they were owned by the current OpenClaw process. On shared hosts, unrelated processes could be terminated if they matched the pattern.

Affected Packages / Versions

  • Package: openclaw (npm)
  • Affected: < 2026.2.14 (including the latest published version 2026.2.13)
  • Fixed: 2026.2.14 (planned next release)

Details

The CLI runner cleanup helpers could kill processes matched by command-line patterns without validating process ownership.

Fix

Process cleanup is now scoped to owned processes only by filtering to direct child PIDs of the current process (ppid == process.pid) before sending signals.

Hardening follow-ups:

  • Prefer graceful termination for resume cleanup (SIGTERM, then SIGKILL fallback).
  • Reduce false negatives from ps argv truncation by preferring wide output (ps -axww) with a fallback.
  • Tighten command-line token matching to avoid substring matches.

Fix Commit(s)

  • 6084d13b956119e3cf95daaf9a1cae1670ea3557
  • eb60e2e1b213740c3c587a7ba4dbf10da620ca66

Release Process Note

This advisory is pre-set with patched version 2026.2.14. After 2026.2.14 is published to npm, the remaining step should be to publish this advisory.

Thanks @aether-ai-agent for reporting.

Record
GHSA-jfv4-h8mc-jcp8
CVSS 4.0
4.3 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H
Weakness
CWE-283
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 4.3

OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant. In versions 2026.2.13 and below of the OpenClaw CLI, the process cleanup uses system-wide process enumeration and pattern matching to terminate processes without verifying if they are owned by the current OpenClaw process. On shared hosts, unrelated processes can be terminated if they match the pattern. The CLI runner cleanup helpers can kill processes matched by command-line patterns without validating process ownership. This issue has been fixed in version 2026.2.14.

Record
CVE-2026-27486
CVSS 4.0
4.3 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Weakness
CWE-283
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 4.3

OpenClaw: Process Safety - Unvalidated PID Kill via SIGKILL in Process Cleanup

OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant. In versions 2026.2.13 and below of the OpenClaw CLI, the process cleanup uses system-wide process enumeration and pattern matching to terminate processes without verifying if they are owned by the current OpenClaw process. On shared hosts, unrelated processes can be terminated if they match the pattern. The CLI runner cleanup helpers can kill processes matched by command-line patterns without validating process ownership. This issue has been fixed in version 2026.2.14.

Record
CVE-2026-27486
CVSS 4.0
4.3 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H
Weakness
CWE-283
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-jfv4-h8mc-jcp8 4.3

OpenClaw: Process Safety - Unvalidated PID Kill via SIGKILL in Process Cleanup

Summary

OpenClaw CLI process cleanup used system-wide process enumeration and pattern matching to terminate processes without verifying they were owned by the current OpenClaw process. On shared hosts, unrelated processes could be terminated if they matched the pattern.

Affected Packages / Versions

  • Package: openclaw (npm)
  • Affected: < 2026.2.14 (including the latest published version 2026.2.13)
  • Fixed: 2026.2.14 (planned next release)

Details

The CLI runner cleanup helpers could kill processes matched by command-line patterns without validating process ownership.

Fix

Process cleanup is now scoped to owned processes only by filtering to direct child PIDs of the current process (ppid == process.pid) before sending signals.

Hardening follow-ups:

  • Prefer graceful termination for resume cleanup (SIGTERM, then SIGKILL fallback).
  • Reduce false negatives from ps argv truncation by preferring wide output (ps -axww) with a fallback.
  • Tighten command-line token matching to avoid substring matches.

Fix Commit(s)

  • 6084d13b956119e3cf95daaf9a1cae1670ea3557
  • eb60e2e1b213740c3c587a7ba4dbf10da620ca66

Release Process Note

This advisory is pre-set with patched version 2026.2.14. After 2026.2.14 is published to npm, the remaining step should be to publish this advisory.

Thanks @aether-ai-agent for reporting.

Record
GHSA-jfv4-h8mc-jcp8
CVSS 4.0
4.3 MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H
Weakness
CWE-283
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
openclaw
npm
 before 2026.2.14
2026.2.14

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2026-27486 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.3) in Openclaw, published February 18, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.32%, the 25th percentile. Fixed in openclaw 2026.2.14.

References

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