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.
· VulnCheck · Research by George Chen
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.
01What 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.
02How 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.
03Who 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.
04What 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.
Sources 4 links, all fetched
- 1vulncheck.comVulnCheck Advisory
- 2github.comSecurity Issue 2851
- 3github.comFix Commit
- 4github.comRelease 2026.10.16