clawsec-scanner

Automated vulnerability scanner for agent platforms. Performs dependency scanning (npm audit, pip-audit), multi-database CVE lookup (OSV, NVD, GitHub Advisory), SAST analysis (Semgrep, Bandit), and agent-specific DAST hook execution testing for OpenClaw hooks.

Comprehensive security scanner for agent platforms that automates vulnerability detection across multiple dimensions:

• Dependency Scanning: Analyzes npm and Python dependencies using npm audit and pip-audit with structured JSON output parsing
• CVE Database Integration: Queries OSV (primary), NVD 2.0, and GitHub Advisory Database for vulnerability enrichment
• SAST Analysis: Static code analysis using Semgrep (JavaScript/TypeScript) and Bandit (Python) to detect hardcoded secrets, command injection, path traversal, and unsafe deserialization
• DAST Framework: Agent-specific dynamic analysis with real OpenClaw hook execution harness (malicious input, timeout, output bounds, event mutation safety)
• Unified Reporting: Consolidated vulnerability reports with severity classification and remediation guidance
• Continuous Monitoring: OpenClaw hook integration for automated periodic scanning

Features

Multi-Engine Scanning

The scanner orchestrates four complementary scan types to provide comprehensive vulnerability coverage:

1. Dependency Scanning

   • Executes npm audit --json and pip-audit -f json as subprocesses
   • Parses structured output to extract CVE IDs, severity, affected versions
   • Handles edge cases: missing package-lock.json, zero vulnerabilities, malformed JSON

2. CVE Database Queries

   • OSV API (primary): Free, no authentication, broad ecosystem support (npm, PyPI, Go, Maven)
   • NVD 2.0 (optional): Requires API key to avoid 6-second rate limiting
   • GitHub Advisory Database (optional): GraphQL API with OAuth token
   • Normalizes all API responses to unified Vulnerability schema

3. Static Analysis (SAST)

   • Semgrep for JavaScript/TypeScript: Detects security issues using --config auto or --config p/security-audit
   • Bandit for Python: Leverages existing pyproject.toml configuration
   • Identifies: hardcoded secrets (API keys, tokens), command injection (eval, exec), path traversal, unsafe deserialization

4. Dynamic Analysis (DAST)

   • Real hook execution harness for OpenClaw hook handlers discovered from HOOK.md metadata
   • Verifies: malicious input resilience, timeout behavior, output amplification bounds, and core event mutation safety
   • Note: Traditional web DAST tools (ZAP, Burp) do not apply to agent platforms - this provides agent-specific testing

Unified Reporting

All scan types emit a consistent ScanReport JSON schema:

{
  scan_id: string;         // UUID
  timestamp: string;       // ISO 8601
  target: string;          // Scanned path
  vulnerabilities: Vulnerability[];
  summary: {
    critical: number;
    high: number;
    medium: number;
    low: number;
    info: number;
  }
}

Each Vulnerability object includes:

• id: CVE-2023-12345 or GHSA-xxxx-yyyy-zzzz
• source: npm-audit | pip-audit | osv | nvd | github | sast | dast
• severity: critical | high | medium | low | info
• package: Package name (or 'N/A' for SAST/DAST)
• version: Affected version
• fixed_version: First version with fix (if available)
• title: Short description
• description: Full advisory text
• references: URLs for more info
• discovered_at: ISO 8601 timestamp

OpenClaw Integration

Automated continuous monitoring via hook:

• Runs scanner on configurable interval (default: 86400s / 24 hours)
• Triggers on agent:bootstrap and command:new events
• Posts findings to event.messages array with severity summary
• Rate-limited by CLAWSEC_SCANNER_INTERVAL environment variable

Installation

Prerequisites

Verify required binaries are available:

# Core runtimes
node --version  # v20+
npm --version
python3 --version  # 3.10+

# Scanning tools
pip-audit --version  # Install: uv pip install pip-audit
semgrep --version    # Install: pip install semgrep OR brew install semgrep
bandit --version     # Install: uv pip install bandit

# Utilities
jq --version
curl --version

Option A: Via clawhub (recommended)

npx clawhub@latest install clawsec-scanner

Option B: Manual installation with verification

set -euo pipefail

VERSION="${SKILL_VERSION:?Set SKILL_VERSION (e.g. 0.1.0)}"
INSTALL_ROOT="${INSTALL_ROOT:-$HOME/.openclaw/skills}"
DEST="$INSTALL_ROOT/clawsec-scanner"
BASE="https://github.com/prompt-security/clawsec/releases/download/clawsec-scanner-v${VERSION}"

TEMP_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
trap 'rm -rf "$TEMP_DIR"' EXIT

# Pinned release-signing public key
# Fingerprint (SHA-256 of SPKI DER): 711424e4535f84093fefb024cd1ca4ec87439e53907b305b79a631d5befba9c8
cat > "$TEMP_DIR/release-signing-public.pem" <<'PEM'
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MCowBQYDK2VwAyEAS7nijfMcUoOBCj4yOXJX+GYGv2pFl2Yaha1P4v5Cm6A=
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----
PEM

ZIP_NAME="clawsec-scanner-v${VERSION}.zip"

# Download release archive + signed checksums
curl -fsSL "$BASE/$ZIP_NAME" -o "$TEMP_DIR/$ZIP_NAME"
curl -fsSL "$BASE/checksums.json" -o "$TEMP_DIR/checksums.json"
curl -fsSL "$BASE/checksums.sig" -o "$TEMP_DIR/checksums.sig"

# Verify checksums manifest signature
openssl base64 -d -A -in "$TEMP_DIR/checksums.sig" -out "$TEMP_DIR/checksums.sig.bin"
if ! openssl pkeyutl -verify \
  -pubin \
  -inkey "$TEMP_DIR/release-signing-public.pem" \
  -sigfile "$TEMP_DIR/checksums.sig.bin" \
  -rawin \
  -in "$TEMP_DIR/checksums.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "ERROR: checksums.json signature verification failed" >&2
  exit 1
fi

EXPECTED_SHA="$(jq -r '.archive.sha256 // empty' "$TEMP_DIR/checksums.json")"
if [ -z "$EXPECTED_SHA" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: checksums.json missing archive.sha256" >&2
  exit 1
fi

ACTUAL_SHA="$(shasum -a 256 "$TEMP_DIR/$ZIP_NAME" | awk '{print $1}')"
if [ "$EXPECTED_SHA" != "$ACTUAL_SHA" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: Archive checksum mismatch" >&2
  exit 1
fi

echo "Checksums verified. Installing..."

mkdir -p "$INSTALL_ROOT"
rm -rf "$DEST"
unzip -q "$TEMP_DIR/$ZIP_NAME" -d "$INSTALL_ROOT"

chmod 600 "$DEST/skill.json"
find "$DEST" -type f ! -name "skill.json" -exec chmod 644 {} \;

echo "Installed clawsec-scanner v${VERSION} to: $DEST"
echo "Next step: Run a scan or set up continuous monitoring"

Usage

On-Demand CLI Scanning

SCANNER_DIR="${INSTALL_ROOT:-$HOME/.openclaw/skills}/clawsec-scanner"

# Scan all skills with JSON output
"$SCANNER_DIR/scripts/runner.sh" --target ./skills/ --output report.json --format json

# Scan specific directory with human-readable output
"$SCANNER_DIR/scripts/runner.sh" --target ./my-skill/ --format text

# Check available flags
"$SCANNER_DIR/scripts/runner.sh" --help

CLI Flags:

• --target <path>: Directory to scan (required)
• --output <file>: Write results to file (optional, defaults to stdout)
• --format <json|text>: Output format (default: json)
• --check: Verify all required binaries are installed

OpenClaw Hook Setup (Continuous Monitoring)

Enable automated periodic scanning:

SCANNER_DIR="${INSTALL_ROOT:-$HOME/.openclaw/skills}/clawsec-scanner"
node "$SCANNER_DIR/scripts/setup_scanner_hook.mjs"

This creates a hook that:

• Scans on agent:bootstrap and command:new events
• Respects CLAWSEC_SCANNER_INTERVAL rate limiting (default: 86400 seconds / 24 hours)
• Posts findings to conversation with severity summary
• Recommends remediation for high/critical vulnerabilities

Restart the OpenClaw gateway after enabling the hook, then run /new to trigger an immediate scan.

Environment Variables

# Optional - NVD API key to avoid rate limiting (6-second delays without key)
export CLAWSEC_NVD_API_KEY="your-nvd-api-key"

# Optional - GitHub OAuth token for Advisory Database queries
export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_your_token_here"

# Optional - Scanner hook interval in seconds (default: 86400 / 24 hours)
export CLAWSEC_SCANNER_INTERVAL="86400"

# Optional - Allow unsigned advisory feed during development (from clawsec-suite)
export CLAWSEC_ALLOW_UNSIGNED_FEED="1"

Architecture

Modular Design

Each scan type is an independent module that can run standalone or as part of unified scan:

scripts/runner.sh              # Orchestration layer
├── scan_dependencies.mjs      # npm audit + pip-audit
├── query_cve_databases.mjs    # OSV/NVD/GitHub API queries
├── sast_analyzer.mjs          # Semgrep + Bandit static analysis
├── dast_runner.mjs            # Dynamic security testing orchestration
└── dast_hook_executor.mjs     # Isolated real hook execution harness

lib/
├── report.mjs                 # Result aggregation and formatting
├── utils.mjs                  # Subprocess exec, JSON parsing, error handling
└── types.ts                   # TypeScript schema definitions

hooks/clawsec-scanner-hook/
├── HOOK.md                    # OpenClaw hook metadata
└── handler.ts                 # Periodic scan trigger

Fail-Open Philosophy

The scanner prioritizes availability over strict failure propagation:

• Network failures → emit partial results, log warnings
• Missing tools → skip that scan type, continue with others
• Malformed JSON → parse what's valid, log errors
• API rate limits → implement exponential backoff, fallback to other sources
• Zero vulnerabilities → emit success report with empty array

Critical failures that exit immediately:

• Target path does not exist
• No scanning tools available (all bins missing)
• Concurrent scan detected (lockfile present)

Subprocess Execution Pattern

All external tools run as subprocesses with structured JSON output:

import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';

// Example: npm audit execution
const proc = spawn('npm', ['audit', '--json'], {
  cwd: targetPath,
  stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe']
});

// Handle non-zero exit codes gracefully
// npm audit exits 1 when vulnerabilities found (not an error!)
proc.on('close', code => {
  if (code !== 0 && stderr.includes('ERR!')) {
    // Actual error
    reject(new Error(stderr));
  } else {
    // Vulnerabilities found or success
    resolve(JSON.parse(stdout));
  }
});

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Missing package-lock.json" warning

• npm audit requires lockfile to run
• Run npm install in target directory to generate
• Scanner continues with other scan types if npm audit fails

"NVD API rate limit exceeded"

• Set CLAWSEC_NVD_API_KEY environment variable
• Without API key: 6-second delays enforced between requests
• OSV API used as primary source (no rate limits)

"pip-audit not found"

• Install: uv pip install pip-audit or pip install pip-audit
• Verify: which pip-audit
• Add to PATH if installed in non-standard location

"Semgrep binary missing"

• Install: pip install semgrep OR brew install semgrep
• Requires Python 3.8+ runtime
• Alternative: use Docker image returntocorp/semgrep

"TypeScript hook not executable in DAST harness"

• The DAST harness executes real hook handlers and transpiles handler.ts files when a TypeScript compiler is available
• Install TypeScript in the scanner environment: npm install -D typescript (or provide handler.js/handler.mjs)
• Without a compiler, scanner reports an info-level coverage finding instead of a high-severity vulnerability

"Concurrent scan detected"

• Lockfile exists: /tmp/clawsec-scanner.lock
• Wait for running scan to complete or manually remove lockfile
• Prevents overlapping scans that could produce inconsistent results

Verification

Check scanner is working correctly:

# Verify required binaries
./scripts/runner.sh --check

# Run unit tests
node test/dependency_scanner.test.mjs
node test/cve_integration.test.mjs
node test/sast_engine.test.mjs
node test/dast_harness.test.mjs

# Validate skill structure
python ../../utils/validate_skill.py .

# Scan test fixtures (should detect known vulnerabilities)
./scripts/runner.sh --target test/fixtures/ --format text

Development

Running Tests

# All tests (vanilla Node.js, no framework)
for test in test/*.test.mjs; do
  node "$test" || exit 1
done

# Individual test suites
node test/dependency_scanner.test.mjs  # Dependency scanning
node test/cve_integration.test.mjs     # CVE database APIs
node test/sast_engine.test.mjs         # Static analysis
node test/dast_harness.test.mjs        # DAST harness execution

Linting

# JavaScript/TypeScript
npx eslint . --ext .ts,.tsx,.js,.jsx,.mjs --max-warnings 0

# Python (Bandit already configured in pyproject.toml)
ruff check .
bandit -r . -ll

# Shell scripts
shellcheck scripts/*.sh

Adding Custom Semgrep Rules

Create custom rules in .semgrep/rules/:

rules:
  - id: custom-security-rule
    pattern: dangerous_function($ARG)
    message: Avoid dangerous_function - use safe_alternative instead
    severity: WARNING
    languages: [javascript, typescript]

Update scripts/sast_analyzer.mjs to include custom rules:

const proc = spawn('semgrep', [
  'scan',
  '--config', 'auto',
  '--config', '.semgrep/rules/',  // Add custom rules
  '--json',
  targetPath
]);

Integration with ClawSec Suite

The scanner works standalone or as part of the ClawSec ecosystem:

• clawsec-suite: Meta-skill that can install and manage clawsec-scanner
• clawsec-feed: Advisory feed for malicious skill detection (complementary)
• openclaw-audit-watchdog: Cron-based audit automation (similar pattern)

Install the full ClawSec suite:

npx clawhub@latest install clawsec-suite
# Then use clawsec-suite to discover and install clawsec-scanner

Security Considerations

Scanner Security

• No hardcoded secrets in scanner code
• API keys read from environment variables only (never logged or committed)
• Subprocess arguments use arrays to prevent shell injection
• All external tool output parsed with try/catch error handling

Vulnerability Prioritization

Critical/High severity findings should be addressed immediately:

• Known exploits in dependencies (CVSS 9.0+)
• Hardcoded API keys or credentials in code
• Command injection vulnerabilities
• Path traversal without validation

Medium/Low severity findings can be addressed in normal sprint cycles:

• Outdated dependencies without known exploits
• Missing security headers
• Weak cryptography usage

Info findings are advisory only:

• Deprecated API usage
• Code quality issues flagged by linters

Roadmap

v0.0.2 (Current)

• Dependency scanning (npm audit, pip-audit)
• CVE database integration (OSV, NVD, GitHub Advisory)
• SAST analysis (Semgrep, Bandit)
• Real OpenClaw hook execution harness for DAST
• Unified JSON reporting
• OpenClaw hook integration

Future Enhancements

• Automatic remediation (dependency upgrades, code fixes)
• SARIF output format for GitHub Code Scanning integration
• Web dashboard for vulnerability tracking over time
• CI/CD GitHub Action for PR blocking on high-severity findings
• Container image scanning (Docker, OCI)
• Infrastructure-as-Code scanning (Terraform, CloudFormation)
• Comprehensive agent workflow DAST (requires deeper platform integration)

Contributing

Found a security issue? Please report privately to [e-mail].

For feature requests and bug reports, open an issue at: https://github.com/prompt-security/clawsec/issues

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later

See LICENSE file in repository root for full text.

Resources

• ClawSec Homepage: https://clawsec.prompt.security
• Documentation: https://clawsec.prompt.security/scanner
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/prompt-security/clawsec
• OSV API Docs: https://osv.dev/docs/
• NVD API Docs: https://nvd.nist.gov/developers/vulnerabilities
• Semgrep Registry: https://semgrep.dev/explore
• Bandit Documentation: https://bandit.readthedocs.io/