Requirements
- Target platform
- OpenClaw
- Install method
- Manual import
- Extraction
- Extract archive
- Prerequisites
- OpenClaw
- Primary doc
- SKILL.md
Audit and harden OpenClaw (Gateway + agents) security. Use when the user asks to audit/secure/harden OpenClaw; when troubleshooting risky exposure (especiall...
Audit and harden OpenClaw (Gateway + agents) security. Use when the user asks to audit/secure/harden OpenClaw; when troubleshooting risky exposure (especiall...
Hand the extracted package to your coding agent with a concrete install brief instead of figuring it out manually.
I downloaded a skill package from Yavira. Read SKILL.md from the extracted folder and install it by following the included instructions. Tell me what you changed and call out any manual steps you could not complete.
I downloaded an updated skill package from Yavira. Read SKILL.md from the extracted folder, compare it with my current installation, and upgrade it while preserving any custom configuration unless the package docs explicitly say otherwise. Summarize what changed and any follow-up checks I should run.
Run a defensive, permissioned security audit of an OpenClaw deployment and turn the results into a practical remediation plan. This revision is tuned for OpenClaw 2026.3.8 and uses {baseDir} when referencing bundled scripts from commands.
Only audit systems the user owns or has explicit permission to assess. Never ask for raw secrets. Do not request gateway tokens/passwords, model API keys, session cookies, OAuth creds, or raw credential files. Prefer outputs that are designed to be shareable or redacted: openclaw status --all openclaw status --deep openclaw gateway probe --json openclaw security audit --json openclaw security audit --deep --json Treat the Gateway, Control UI, browser control, paired nodes, and automation surfaces as operator-level access. Default to audit-only. Before any config edits, --fix operations, firewall changes, or restarts, create a backup first and get explicit user approval. When the user wants remediation, make the backup step explicit: openclaw backup create --verify use --no-include-workspace if the config is invalid but you still need state + creds use --only-config if the user only wants a minimal safety copy before edits
Gateway is bound to loopback unless there is a deliberate, defended reason not to. Strong Gateway auth is enabled. No accidental public exposure (LAN bind, port-forward, permissive reverse proxy, Tailscale Funnel). Control UI is either localhost/Serve or explicitly origin-restricted behind a trusted proxy. DMs require pairing or strict allowlists. Groups require mention gating and are not open if broad tools are enabled. session.dmScope is isolated appropriately: per-channel-peer for most multi-user setups per-account-channel-peer when the same provider runs multiple accounts Tooling is least privilege: tools.profile: "messaging" or stricter for inbox-facing agents deny group:runtime, group:fs, group:automation on untrusted surfaces tools.fs.workspaceOnly: true tools.exec.security: "deny" or at least approval-gated tools.elevated.enabled: false unless there is a narrow, intentional need Plugins and skills are explicitly trusted, minimally writable, and not used as an easy persistence path. Secrets, transcripts, and logs have tight permissions and an intentional retention plan.
Only open the extra files you need for the task: references/command-cheatsheet.md — exact command ladders references/openclaw-audit-checks.md — current high-signal checkId glossary references/openclaw-baseline-config.md — secure baseline snippets references/platform-mac-mini.md references/platform-personal-laptop.md references/platform-docker.md references/platform-aws-ec2.md assets/report-template.md — report structure
Collect just enough context to choose the audit path: Where is OpenClaw running? macOS host / Mac mini personal laptop Docker host EC2 / VPS / other cloud VM Install style? native install Docker / Compose source checkout Do we have local shell access? Mode A: chat-only / user runs commands Mode B: agent can run shell commands directly
Ask the user to run the following on the OpenClaw host and share the outputs.
openclaw --version openclaw status --all openclaw status --deep openclaw gateway status openclaw gateway probe --json openclaw channels status --probe openclaw doctor openclaw security audit --json openclaw security audit --deep --json
openclaw health --json openclaw backup create --dry-run --json openclaw backup create --only-config --dry-run --json openclaw skills list --eligible --json openclaw plugins list --json
Prefer targeted reads over a full config dump: openclaw config get gateway.bind openclaw config get gateway.auth.mode openclaw config get gateway.auth.allowTailscale openclaw config get gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins openclaw config get gateway.trustedProxies openclaw config get gateway.allowRealIpFallback openclaw config get discovery.mdns.mode openclaw config get session.dmScope openclaw config get tools.profile openclaw config get tools.fs.workspaceOnly openclaw config get tools.exec.security openclaw config get tools.elevated.enabled openclaw config get channels.defaults.dmPolicy openclaw config get channels.defaults.groupPolicy openclaw config get logging.redactSensitive
If the issue is “the bot is online but DMs or groups behave strangely”, check pairing and mention gating: openclaw pairing list <channel> Examples of <channel> include discord, slack, signal, telegram, whatsapp, matrix, imessage, and bluebubbles.
OpenClaw config is often JSON5-like. Redact it before sharing: python3 "{baseDir}/scripts/redact_openclaw_config.py" ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json > openclaw.json.redacted
macOS whoami sw_vers uname -a lsof -nP -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --getglobalstate /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --getstealthmode fdesetup status || true Linux / cloud VM whoami cat /etc/os-release uname -a ss -ltnp sudo ufw status verbose || true sudo nft list ruleset || true sudo iptables -S || true Docker / Compose docker ps --format 'table {{.Names}} {{.Image}} {{.Ports}}' docker compose ps || true docker port openclaw-gateway 18789 || true
Run the bundled collector and report renderer: bash "{baseDir}/scripts/collect_openclaw_audit.sh" --out ./openclaw-audit python3 "{baseDir}/scripts/render_report.py" --input ./openclaw-audit --output ./openclaw-security-report.md Then review openclaw-security-report.md, refine wording where needed, and present the final report to the user.
It is read-only by default. It does not run openclaw security audit --fix. It collects shareable CLI diagnostics plus basic host/network context. It now captures current high-value signals such as: openclaw status --deep openclaw gateway probe --json openclaw channels status --probe targeted safe config get values backup dry-run metadata
Use OpenClaw’s own security audit output as the primary source of truth, then translate it into a clear threat narrative.
Prioritise in this order: Anything open + tools enabled Lock down DMs/groups first, then tighten tool policy and sandboxing. Public network exposure LAN bind, Funnel, missing auth, weak reverse-proxy handling. Browser / node / Control UI exposure Treat these as operator access, not “just another feature”. Filesystem permissions State dir, config file, auth profiles, logs, and transcript locations. Plugin / skill supply chain Trust only what is intentionally installed and writable by the right user. Model and prompt-injection resilience Important, but not a substitute for access control.
Pay extra attention to these newer or high-signal check IDs: gateway.control_ui.allowed_origins_required gateway.control_ui.host_header_origin_fallback gateway.real_ip_fallback_enabled config.insecure_or_dangerous_flags sandbox.dangerous_network_mode tools.exec.host_sandbox_no_sandbox_defaults tools.exec.host_sandbox_no_sandbox_agents tools.exec.safe_bins_interpreter_unprofiled skills.workspace.symlink_escape security.exposure.open_groups_with_elevated security.exposure.open_groups_with_runtime_or_fs security.trust_model.multi_user_heuristic Use references/openclaw-audit-checks.md and assets/openclaw_checkid_map.json to map each finding to likely config paths and remediation areas.
Prefer gateway.bind: "loopback". Require token or password auth for anything beyond strictly local use. Do not treat gateway.remote.* values as protection for local WS access; actual protection comes from gateway.auth.*. If the user needs a new shared secret, openclaw doctor --generate-gateway-token is the safe boring path.
If there is a reverse proxy in front of the Gateway: configure gateway.trustedProxies keep gateway.allowRealIpFallback: false unless there is a very specific need for non-loopback Control UI use, set gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins do not enable Host-header origin fallback unless the user knowingly accepts the downgrade
tailscale.mode: "serve" keeps the Gateway tailnet-only. tailscale.mode: "funnel" is public and should be treated as urgent/high risk. gateway.auth.allowTailscale can allow tokenless Control UI/WebSocket auth via Tailscale identity headers. That assumes the gateway host itself is trusted. If untrusted code can run on the host, or if any reverse proxy sits in front of the gateway, disable gateway.auth.allowTailscale and require token/password or trusted-proxy auth.
Use dmPolicy: "pairing" or allowlist for inbox-facing bots. For shared or support-style inboxes, set session.dmScope: "per-channel-peer". For multi-account channel setups, prefer per-account-channel-peer. Avoid groupPolicy: "open" unless the tool surface is extremely limited. Require mentions in groups and use agents.list[].groupChat.mentionPatterns where native mentions are unreliable.
Start from the conservative baseline in references/openclaw-baseline-config.md. Good defaults for user-facing agents: tools.profile: "messaging" deny group:automation deny group:runtime deny group:fs tools.fs.workspaceOnly: true tools.exec.security: "deny" and ask: "always" tools.exec.applyPatch.workspaceOnly: true tools.elevated.enabled: false
Paired nodes are remote execution surfaces. Audit them like you would audit operator access. Browser control is not “just viewing pages”; it is effectively remote operator capability. gateway / cron tools create persistence and should not be reachable from untrusted chat surfaces.
Audit and discuss these paths carefully without asking for raw contents: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json ~/.openclaw/secrets.json ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/agent/auth-profiles.json ~/.openclaw/agents/<agentId>/sessions/*.jsonl /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-YYYY-MM-DD.log pairing stores under ~/.openclaw/credentials/
Load the matching playbook when the environment is clear: macOS host / Mac mini -> references/platform-mac-mini.md personal laptop -> references/platform-personal-laptop.md Docker / Compose -> references/platform-docker.md EC2 / VPS -> references/platform-aws-ec2.md
Use assets/report-template.md or the rendered report from {baseDir}/scripts/render_report.py. The final deliverable should include: executive summary environment overview findings table with redacted evidence sequenced remediation plan verification commands residual risk / operational practices
Confirm the CLI is installed and on PATH. On Windows, prefer WSL2 for shell-driven audit flows. Re-run the official install / update path, then retry openclaw --version.
OpenClaw now fails closed on invalid config keys, invalid values, or invalid types. That is intentional and security-relevant. Use: openclaw doctor openclaw doctor --fix Even when the config is invalid, diagnostic commands such as openclaw status, openclaw gateway status, openclaw gateway probe, and openclaw health are still useful.
Trust the probe details, not just the supervisor status: Probe target Listening Last gateway error This often means service/config drift, auth mismatch, or a listener that is not actually reachable by the CLI.
Check: openclaw channels status --probe openclaw pairing list <channel> Common root causes: pending pairing approval dmPolicy too strict for the expected sender provider-side permission or token drift
Check: groupPolicy requireMention mentionPatterns audit findings about open groups combined with runtime/fs/elevated tools
Should trigger: “Can you audit my OpenClaw setup for security?” “My OpenClaw gateway is exposed through Tailscale Serve — is that okay?” “Interpret my openclaw security audit --deep --json findings.” “I’m running OpenClaw in Docker on a VPS; help me harden it.” “Why is my OpenClaw Control UI complaining about origins and trusted proxies?” “My bot is online but DMs don’t reply; can you audit pairing and access policy?” Should not trigger: generic macOS hardening unrelated to OpenClaw generic Docker security unrelated to OpenClaw general AWS or VPS hardening unrelated to OpenClaw unrelated software audits
Identity, auth, scanning, governance, audit, and operational guardrails.
Largest current source with strong distribution and engagement signals.