Clawdbot Self-Security Audit Framework

This skill empowers Clawdbot to audit its own security posture using first-principles reasoning. Rather than relying on a static script, Clawdbot learns the framework and applies it dynamically to detect vulnerabilities, understand their impact, and recommend specific remediations.

Core Philosophy

"Security through transparency and self-awareness." — Inspired by ᴅᴀɴɪᴇʟ ᴍɪᴇssʟᴇʀ

Clawdbot should know its own attack surface. This skill embeds that knowledge directly.

Security Principles

Running an AI agent with shell access requires caution. Focus on three areas:

1. 1. Who can talk to the bot — DM policies, group allowlists, channel restrictions
2. Where the bot is allowed to act — Network exposure, gateway binding, proxy configs
3. What the bot can touch — Tool access, file permissions, credential storage

Start with the smallest access possible and widen it as you gain confidence.

Trust Hierarchy

Apply appropriate trust levels based on role:

Level	Entity	Trust Model
1	Owner	Full trust — has all access
2

AI | Trust but verify — sandboxed, logged |
| 3 | Allowlists | Limited trust — only specified users |
| 4 | Strangers | No trust — blocked by default |

Audit Commands

Use these commands to run security audits:

• - clawdbot security audit — Standard audit of common issues
• INLINECODE1 — Comprehensive audit with all checks
• INLINECODE2 — Apply guardrail remediations

The 12 Security Domains

When auditing Clawdbot, systematically evaluate these domains:

1. Gateway Exposure 🔴 Critical

What to check:

• - Where is the gateway binding? (gateway.bind)
• Is authentication configured? (gateway.auth_token or CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN env var)
• What port is exposed? (default: 18789)
• Is WebSocket auth enabled?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK0

Vulnerability: Binding to 0.0.0.0 or lan without auth allows network access.

Remediation:

# Generate gateway token
clawdbot doctor --generate-gateway-token
export CLAWDBOT_GATEWAY_TOKEN="$(openssl rand -hex 32)"

---

2. DM Policy Configuration 🟠 High

What to check:

• - What is dm_policy set to?
• If allowlist, who is explicitly allowed via allowFrom?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK2

Vulnerability: Setting to allow or open means any user can DM Clawdbot.

Remediation:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "dmPolicy": "allowlist",
      "allowFrom": ["@trusteduser1", "@trusteduser2"]
    }
  }
}

---

3. Group Access Control 🟠 High

What to check:

• - What is groupPolicy set to?
• Are groups explicitly allowlisted?
• Are mention gates configured?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK4

Vulnerability: Open group policy allows anyone in the room to trigger commands.

Remediation:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "groupPolicy": "allowlist",
      "groups": {
        "-100123456789": true
      }
    }
  }
}

---

4. Credentials Security 🔴 Critical

What to check:

• - Credential file locations and permissions
• Environment variable usage
• Auth profile storage

Credential Storage Map:

Platform	Path
WhatsApp	INLINECODE14
Telegram

~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json or env |
| Discord | ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json or env |
| Slack | ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json or env |
| Pairing allowlists | ~/.clawdbot/credentials/channel-allowFrom.json |
| Auth profiles | ~/.clawdbot/agents/{agentId}/auth-profiles.json |
| Legacy OAuth | ~/.clawdbot/credentials/oauth.json |

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK6

Vulnerability: Plaintext credentials with loose permissions can be read by any process.

Remediation:

chmod 700 ~/.clawdbot
chmod 600 ~/.clawdbot/credentials/oauth.json
chmod 600 ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json

---

5. Browser Control Exposure 🟠 High

What to check:

• - Is browser control enabled?
• Are authentication tokens set for remote control?
• Is HTTPS required for Control UI?
• Is a dedicated browser profile configured?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK8

Vulnerability: Exposed browser control without auth allows remote UI takeover. Browser access allows the model to use logged-in sessions.

Remediation:
CODEBLOCK9

Security Note: Treat browser control URLs as admin APIs.

---

6. Gateway Bind & Network Exposure 🟠 High

What to check:

• - What is gateway.bind set to?
• Are trusted proxies configured?
• Is Tailscale enabled?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK10

Vulnerability: Public binding without auth allows internet access to gateway.

Remediation:

{
  "gateway": {
    "bind": "127.0.0.1",
    "mode": "local",
    "trustedProxies": ["127.0.0.1", "10.0.0.0/8"],
    "tailscale": {
      "mode": "off"
    }
  }
}

---

7. Tool Access & Sandboxing 🟡 Medium

What to check:

• - Are elevated tools allowlisted?
• Is restrict_tools or mcp_tools configured?
• What is workspaceAccess set to?
• Are sensitive tools running in sandbox?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK12

Workspace Access Levels:

Mode	Description
INLINECODE25	Workspace is off limits
INLINECODE26

Workspace mounted read-only |
| rw | Workspace mounted read-write |

Vulnerability: Broad tool access means more blast radius if compromised. Smaller models are more susceptible to tool misuse.

Remediation:
CODEBLOCK13

Model Guidance: Use latest generation models for agents with filesystem or network access. If using small models, disable web search and browser tools.

---

8. File Permissions & Local Disk Hygiene 🟡 Medium

What to check:

• - Directory permissions (should be 700)
• Config file permissions (should be 600)
• Symlink safety

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK14

Vulnerability: Loose permissions allow other users to read sensitive configs.

Remediation:

chmod 700 ~/.clawdbot
chmod 600 ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json
chmod 600 ~/.clawdbot/credentials/*

---

9. Plugin Trust & Model Hygiene 🟡 Medium

What to check:

• - Are plugins explicitly allowlisted?
• Are legacy models in use with tool access?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK16

Vulnerability: Untrusted plugins can execute code. Legacy models may lack modern safety.

Remediation:

{
  "plugins": {
    "allowlist": ["trusted-plugin-1", "trusted-plugin-2"]
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "minimax/MiniMax-M2.1"
      }
    }
  }
}

---

10. Logging & Redaction 🟡 Medium

What is logging.redactSensitive set to?

• - Should be tools to redact sensitive tool output
• If off, credentials may leak in logs

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK18

Remediation:

{
  "logging": {
    "redactSensitive": "tools",
    "path": "~/.clawdbot/logs/"
  }
}

---

11. Prompt Injection Protection 🟡 Medium

What to check:

• - Is wrap_untrusted_content or untrusted_content_wrapper enabled?
• How is external/web content handled?
• Are links and attachments treated as hostile?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK20

Prompt Injection Mitigation Strategies:

• - Keep DMs locked to pairing or INLINECODE33
• Use mention gating in groups
• Treat all links and attachments as hostile
• Run sensitive tools in a sandbox
• Use instruction-hardened models like Anthropic Opus 4.5

Vulnerability: Untrusted content (web fetches, sandbox output) can inject malicious prompts.

Remediation:

{
  "wrap_untrusted_content": true,
  "untrusted_content_wrapper": "<untrusted>",
  "treatLinksAsHostile": true,
  "mentionGate": true
}

---

12. Dangerous Command Blocking 🟡 Medium

What to check:

• - What commands are in blocked_commands?
• Are these patterns included: rm -rf, curl |, git push --force, mkfs, fork bombs?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK22

Vulnerability: Without blocking, a malicious prompt could destroy data or exfiltrate credentials.

Remediation:

{
  "blocked_commands": [
    "rm -rf",
    "curl |",
    "git push --force",
    "mkfs",
    ":(){:|:&}"
  ]
}

---

13. Secret Scanning Readiness 🟡 Medium

What to check:

• - Is detect-secrets configured?
• Is there a .secrets.baseline file?
• Has a baseline scan been run?

How to detect:
CODEBLOCK24

Secret Scanning (CI):
CODEBLOCK25

Vulnerability: Leaked credentials in the codebase can lead to compromise.

---

Audit Functions

The --fix flag applies these guardrails:

• - Changes groupPolicy from open to allowlist for common channels
• Resets logging.redactSensitive from off to INLINECODE46
• Tightens local permissions: .clawdbot directory to 700, config files to INLINECODE49
• Secures state files including credentials and auth profiles

High-Level Audit Checklist

Treat findings in this priority order:

1. 1. 🔴 Lock down DMs and groups if tools are enabled on open settings
2. 🔴 Fix public network exposure immediately
3. 🟠 Secure browser control with tokens and HTTPS
4. 🟠 Correct file permissions for credentials and config
5. 🟡 Only load trusted plugins
6. 🟡 Use modern models for bots with tool access

Access Control Models

DM Access Model

Mode	Description
INLINECODE50	Default - unknown senders must be approved via code
INLINECODE51

Unknown senders blocked without handshake | | open | Public access - requires explicit asterisk in allowlist | | disabled | All inbound DMs ignored |

Slash Commands

Slash commands are only available to authorized senders based on channel allowlists. The /exec command is a session convenience for operators and does not modify global config.

Threat Model & Mitigation

Potential Risks

Risk	Mitigation
Execution of shell commands	INLINECODE55, INLINECODE56
File and network access

sandbox, workspaceAccess: none/ro | | Social engineering and prompt injection | wrap_untrusted_content, mentionGate | | Browser session hijacking | Dedicated profile, token auth, HTTPS | | Credential leakage | logging.redactSensitive: tools, env vars |

Incident Response

If a compromise is suspected, follow these steps:

Containment

1. 1. Stop the gateway process — INLINECODE62
2. Set gateway.bind to loopback — INLINECODE63
3. Disable risky DMs and groups — Set to INLINECODE64

Rotation

1. 1. Change the gateway auth token — INLINECODE65
2. Rotate browser control and hook tokens
3. Revoke and rotate API keys for model providers

Review

1. 1. Check gateway logs and session transcripts — INLINECODE66
2. Review recent config changes — Git history or backups
3. Re-run the security audit with the deep flag — INLINECODE67

Reporting Vulnerabilities

Report security issues to: security@clawd.bot

Do not post vulnerabilities publicly until they have been fixed.

Audit Execution Steps

When running a security audit, follow this sequence:

Step 1: Locate Configuration

CODEBLOCK26

Step 2: Run Domain Checks

For each of the 13 domains above:

1. 1. Parse relevant config keys
2. Compare against secure baseline
3. Flag deviations with severity

Step 3: Generate Report

Format findings by severity: CODEBLOCK27

Step 4: Provide Remediation

For each finding, output:

• - Specific config change needed
• Example configuration
• Command to apply (if safe)

Report Template

CODEBLOCK28

Extending the Skill

To add new security checks:

1. 1. Identify the vulnerability - What misconfiguration creates risk?
2. Determine detection method - What config key or system state reveals it?
3. Define the baseline - What is the secure configuration?
4. Write detection logic - Shell commands or file parsing
5. Document remediation - Specific steps to fix
6. Assign severity - Critical, High, Medium, Low

Example: Adding SSH Hardening Check

CODEBLOCK29bash
env | grep SSHAUTHSOCK
CODEBLOCK30

Security Assessment Questions

When auditing, ask:

1. 1. Exposure: What network interfaces can reach Clawdbot?
2. Authentication: What verification does each access point require?
3. Isolation: What boundaries exist between Clawdbot and the host?
4. Trust: What content sources are considered "trusted"?
5. Auditability: What evidence exists of Clawdbot's actions?
6. Least Privilege: Does Clawdbot have only necessary permissions?

Principles Applied

• - Zero modification - This skill only reads; never changes configuration
• Defense in depth - Multiple checks catch different attack vectors
• Actionable output - Every finding includes a concrete remediation
• Extensible design - New checks integrate naturally

References

• - Official docs: https://docs.clawd.bot/gateway/security
• Original framework: ᴅᴀɴɪᴇʟ ᴍɪᴇssʟᴇʀ on X
• Repository: https://github.com/TheSethRose/Clawdbot-Security-Check
• Report vulnerabilities: security@clawd.bot

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Remember: This skill exists to make Clawdbot self-aware of its security posture. Use it regularly, extend it as needed, and never skip the audit.