OpenClaw Improperly Neutralizes Line Breaks in systemd Unit Generation Enables Local Command Execution (Linux)

Summary

A command injection vulnerability exists in OpenClaw’s Linux systemd unit generation path. When rendering Environment= entries, attacker-controlled values are not rejected for CR/LF, and systemdEscapeArg() uses an incorrect whitespace-matching regex. This allows newline injection to break out of an Environment= line and inject standalone systemd directives (for example, ExecStartPre=). On service restart, the injected command is executed, resulting in local arbitrary command execution (local RCE) under the gateway service user.

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Details

The issue is in src/daemon/systemd-unit.ts:

• renderEnvLines(...) builds:
• Environment=${systemdEscapeArg(${key}=${value})}
• No CR/LF validation is enforced for environment keys/values before writing unit lines.
• systemdEscapeArg(...) uses:
• /[\\s"\\\\]/
• In this regex, \\s is interpreted as a literal backslash + s, not a whitespace character class. As a result, whitespace detection/quoting behavior is incorrect. Because systemd parses unit files line-by-line, a newline inside an environment value can inject an additional directive line. Example rendered output:

Environment=INJECT=ok
ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce

At restart time, systemd executes ExecStartPre, enabling command execution.

Relevant code path/components involved in exploitation chain:

• src/daemon/systemd-unit.ts
• src/commands/daemon-install-helpers.ts
• src/config/env-vars.ts
• src/config/zod-schema.ts

Trigger conditions:

1. Attacker can influence config.env.vars (directly or indirectly).
2. Install/reinstall path is invoked to write/update the unit.
3. Service restart occurs (systemctl --user restart ...).

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PoC

Environment: Linux host with systemd user services enabled.

1. Configure a malicious environment value in OpenClaw config (config.env.vars), including a newline and injected directive:

• Key: INJECT
• Value:

ok
ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce

2. Install/reinstall the gateway service (fixed port as requested):

openclaw gateway install --port 15789 --force

3. Inspect the generated user unit file (default path):

~/.config/systemd/user/openclaw-gateway.service

Verify that an injected standalone line exists:

ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /tmp/oc15789_rce

4. Reload and restart user service:

systemctl --user daemon-reload

systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway.service

5. Confirm command execution side effect:

ls -l /tmp/oc15789_rce

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Impact

This is a local command execution vulnerability in OpenClaw’s systemd unit generation during install/reinstall flows.

• Type: Command injection via newline/directive injection in unit file generation.
• Execution context: Runs with the same privileges as the OpenClaw gateway service user.
• Affected users: Linux deployments using systemd user services where an attacker can control config.env.vars and trigger install/reinstall.

Fix Commit(s)

• 61f646c41fb43cd87ed48f9125b4718a30d38e84