# LobsterAI: one hardcoded password unlocks every exported provider key

> LobsterAI encrypted exported provider API keys with a password written into its own public source code.

- **Severity:** Medium: Real and reproducible, but needs unusual setup, user help or a narrow audience. Plan a fix.
- **Category:** Vulnerability
- **Published by:** VulnCheck
- **Disclosed:** 2026-10-13
- **CVE:** CVE-2026-112014
- **CVSS:** 6.8
- **Affects:** LobsterAI
- **Research by:** George Chen
- **Primary source:** https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/lobsterai-before-2026.10.16-hardcoded-password-in-provider-api-key-export
- **Page:** https://theinjection.dev/items/lobsterai-provider-export-password/

CVE-2026-112014 let anyone holding a LobsterAI providers export file recover every AI provider API key inside, because the export was encrypted with the constant lobsterai-APP taken from the public source. Fixed in 2026.10.16.

## What happened

A public GitHub issue opened on October 13, 2026 reported that LobsterAI's Export Providers feature protected API keys with a constant from the repository. The issue was closed as completed on October 16, and the fix shipped the same day in version 2026.10.16. VulnCheck published CVE-2026-112014 on October 18 and credits George Chen.

## How it works

The export path derived its AES-GCM key with PBKDF2 from the fixed string lobsterai-APP, recorded in the issue as EXPORT_PASSWORD in the public source. Because the salt travels inside the export file, the derivation needs nothing an attacker does not already hold. VulnCheck states that anyone who obtains a providers export can recover every third-party AI provider key it contains. The weakness class is CWE-321, use of a hard-coded cryptographic key.

## Who is affected

Every LobsterAI release before 2026.10.16 is affected, in the open-source desktop agent NetEase Youdao builds on OpenClaw. Exposure follows the file: a providers export that reached a backup, a chat message, a shared drive or a colleague carries usable keys. Users who never ran Export Providers have no such file in circulation.

## What to do

Rotate every AI provider key that was ever included in a LobsterAI providers export, at the provider, and delete the old export files. Update to 2026.10.16 or later, where exports leave credentials out by default and including them requires a password the user chooses.

## Quick facts

- **CVE:** CVE-2026-112014, CVSS 4.0 6.8, assigned by VulnCheck
- **Affected:** LobsterAI before 2026.10.16
- **Fixed in:** 2026.10.16, released October 16, 2026
- **Attack type:** Use of a hard-coded cryptographic key, CWE-321
- **Hardcoded value:** EXPORT_PASSWORD, set to lobsterai-APP in the public source
- **Disclosed:** October 13, 2026 in issue #2851; CVE published October 18
- **Found by:** George Chen, credited by VulnCheck

## Sources

1. [VulnCheck Advisory](https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/lobsterai-before-2026.10.16-hardcoded-password-in-provider-api-key-export)
2. [Security Issue 2851](https://github.com/netease-youdao/LobsterAI/issues/2851)
3. [Fix Commit](https://github.com/netease-youdao/LobsterAI/commit/1eb28c40d7e42d6cbade07874e6f6c068b6a9a64)
4. [Release 2026.10.16](https://github.com/netease-youdao/LobsterAI/releases/tag/2026.10.16)