OpenClaw Update Runbook

• Outcome: Review
• Latest audit: May 28, 2026 · 5:48 PM UTC
• Version: 1.0.6

Overview

This is a coherent OpenClaw repair runbook, but it gives agents broad update, restart, plugin-change, and secret-handling guidance that should be reviewed before use.

Install only if you want an agent to help operate or repair an OpenClaw host. Before allowing it to run fixes, review each proposed command, avoid printing or pasting tokens, protect or delete secret-bearing backups, and prefer platform secret-management commands when available.

SkillSpector

By NVIDIA

Vulnerability Patterns

• Privilege Escalation: Excessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
• Rogue Agent: Self-Modification, Session Persistence
• Prompt Injection: Instruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
• Data Exfiltration: External Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
• Supply Chain: Unpinned Dependencies, External Script Fetching, Obfuscated Code

Findings (3)

Credential Access

High

• Category: Privilege Escalation

Content

Recovery:
- back up the env file: `cp <env> <env>.bak-token-fix-<date>`
- rewrite the affected lines using the value from `secrets.json` (which is the canonical clean value), shell-single-quoted with no inner JSON wrapping; only safe if the secret itself contains no single quotes (almost always the case for API tokens)
- restart the gateway through the host service manager
- re-run `openclaw channels status --deep` and confirm the channel reconnects

• Confidence: 86% confidence
• Finding: secrets.json

Self-Modification

High

• Category: Rogue Agent

Content

- If another host cannot be reached over SSH with a short timeout, including from an available jump host, classify it as a transport/access blocker
- Do not file an OpenClaw issue for an unreachable host unless you have logs or command output proving OpenClaw failed on that host

## 34. In-gateway self-update can leave the package changed but the service unloaded

Symptom:
- the user asks OpenClaw itself to update the running OpenClaw host

• Confidence: 95% confidence
• Finding: self-update

Session Persistence

Medium

• Category: Rogue Agent

Content

Recovery:
- back up the env file: `cp <env> <env>.bak-token-fix-<date>`
- rewrite the affected lines using the value from `secrets.json` (which is the canonical clean value), shell-single-quoted with no inner JSON wrapping; only safe if the secret itself contains no single quotes (almost always the case for API tokens)
- restart the gateway through the host service manager
- re-run `openclaw channels status --deep` and confirm the channel reconnects

• Confidence: 81% confidence
• Finding: write the affected lines using the value from `secrets.json` (which is the canonical clean value), shell-single-quoted with no inner JSON wrapping; only safe if the secret itself contains no single qu

VirusTotal

64/64 vendors flagged this skill as clean.

Static analysis

No suspicious patterns detected.