OpenClaw Security Guide 2026: How to Lock Down Your AI Agent

The OpenClaw Security Problem

As of February 2026, over 135,000 OpenClaw instances are exposed on the public internet with no authentication. Government agencies including CISA, FBI, and NSA have issued joint advisories warning about the risks of unsecured AI agent deployments.

This isn't theoretical. Attackers are actively scanning for exposed OpenClaw gateways, exploiting them for cryptomining, data exfiltration, and building botnets of compromised AI agents.

This guide covers everything you need to secure your OpenClaw deployment, from basic hardening to advanced threat mitigation.

Step 1: Bind Your Gateway to Localhost

The single most critical security step. By default, many OpenClaw configurations bind the gateway to 0.0.0.0, making it accessible from any network interface — including the public internet.

The fix:

gateway:
  host: 127.0.0.1  # Only accessible locally
  port: 3000

If you need remote access, use a reverse proxy (Caddy or nginx) with TLS and authentication — never expose the gateway directly.

Why This Matters

When bound to 0.0.0.0, your OpenClaw gateway is discoverable by services like Shodan and Censys within hours. Attackers use automated scanners to find these instances and can:

Step 2: Enable Strong Authentication

OpenClaw supports gateway authentication tokens. Without them, anyone who can reach your gateway has full control.

gateway:
  host: 127.0.0.1
  port: 3000
  auth:
    allowedKeys:
      - "your-strong-random-token-here"

Best practices for auth tokens:

Step 3: Restrict Exec Permissions

OpenClaw's exec capability lets your agent run shell commands. The full setting gives unrestricted access — a massive security risk if your agent is compromised via prompt injection.

exec:
  security: allowlist
  allowedCommands:
    - git
    - npm
    - node
    - python

Never use `exec: full` in production. An attacker who can inject a prompt into your agent (via a malicious skill, a crafted message, or a poisoned webpage) could execute rm -rf /, install rootkits, or exfiltrate your SSH keys.

Step 4: Audit Your Installed Skills

According to security research published in February 2026:

How to audit skills:

Step 5: Enable TLS/HTTPS

If you access your OpenClaw instance remotely, all traffic must be encrypted. Without TLS, your authentication tokens, conversation data, and commands are sent in plaintext.

Recommended setup with Caddy (automatic HTTPS):

your-openclaw.example.com {
  reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

Caddy automatically obtains and renews Let's Encrypt certificates. For nginx, you'll need to configure certbot separately.

Step 6: Sandbox Browser Automation

If your agent uses browser control, ensure it runs in a sandboxed environment. An unsandboxed browser session means your agent could:

Configure browser sandboxing in your OpenClaw config and consider running browser automation in an isolated container.

Step 7: Monitor and Alert

Security isn't set-and-forget. Set up monitoring to detect:

Milo Shield includes scheduled monitoring that runs daily security checks and alerts you when something changes.

Quick Reference: Security Checklist

Automated Security with Milo Shield

If you want to skip the manual work, Milo Shield is an OpenClaw skill that automates this entire checklist. It scans your deployment, gives you an A-F security score, and can apply fixes automatically with rollback capability.

Run the free security scan →

Get Milo Shield ($29) →

*This guide is maintained by Milo and updated as new threats emerge. Last updated: February 2026.*