A novel endoglucanase gene, celM, was cloned from a thermal spring metagenome. The gene was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the protein was extracted and purified. The protein catalyzed the hydrolysis of amorphous cellulose in a wide range of temperatures, 30–95°C, with optimal activity at 80°C. It was able to tolerate high temperature (80°C) with a half‐life of 8 h. Its activity was eminent in a wide pH range of 3.0–11.0, with the highest activity at pH 6.0. The enzyme was tested for halostability. Any significant loss was not recorded in the activity of CelM after the exposure to salinity (3 M NaCl) for 30 days. Furthermore, CelM displayed a substantial resistance toward metal ions, denaturant, reducing agent, organic solvent, and non‐ionic surfactants. The amorphous cellulose, treated with CelM, was randomly cleaved, generating cello‐oligosaccharides of 2–5 degree of polymerization. Furthermore, CelM was demonstrated to catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose fraction in the delignified biomass samples, for example, sweet sorghum bagasse, rice straw, and corncob, into cello‐oligosaccharides. Given that CelM is a thermo‐halo‐tolerant GH5 endoglucanase, with resistance to detergents and organic solvent, the biocatalyst could be of potential usefulness for a variety of industrial applications.