Security Audit for OpenClaw

Logs risky OpenClaw agent actions, conducts activity audits, and reviews OpenClaw configs for security risks without blocking operations.

Security Audit Skill

Lightweight, observer-only security layer for OpenClaw. Logs agent actions, audits activity history, and reviews OpenClaw config for risks. Does not block or interrupt any operations.

Quick Start

Three things this skill does:

1. Log risky actions → call ./scripts/log_event.sh after notable operations
2. Audit activity history → run ./scripts/run_audit.sh on request
3. Audit OpenClaw config → run ./scripts/audit_config.sh on request

Core Behaviors

Logging Risky Actions (Observer Mode)

This skill is purely observational — it never blocks or delays any operation. After completing a risky action, log it:

./scripts/log_event.sh <level> <category> "<summary>" "<detail>" <action>

When to log:

Level	When
CRITICAL	Remote code execution (curl|bash), credential/key file reads, persistence writes (cron, authorized_keys, launchd), privilege escalation
WARN	Bulk file deletion, sensitive file reads, external requests with dynamic URLs, shell env modification
INFO	Normal workspace operations, standard dev tooling — skip unless building an audit trail

Categories: exec | file_write | network | credential | persistence

Actions: allowed | flagged

Note: blocked_soft is removed — this skill does not block. If something was risky but the user explicitly requested it, use allowed. Otherwise flagged.

Example:

./scripts/log_event.sh WARN exec "bulk delete outside workspace" "rm -rf /tmp/build" flagged
./scripts/log_event.sh CRITICAL credential "SSH key read" "cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa" allowed

Running Activity Audits

When user asks for a security audit or activity review:

./scripts/run_audit.sh 7   # last 7 days (default)
./scripts/run_audit.sh 30  # last 30 days

Read the output, then:

• Highlight CRITICAL entries and explain what happened
• Note any suspicious patterns (same WARN repeating, unexpected credential access)
• If notify_on_audit_complete: true in config → send via message tool to configured channel

Auditing OpenClaw Config

When user asks "is my OpenClaw config secure?" or similar:

./scripts/audit_config.sh          # standard audit
./scripts/audit_config.sh --deep   # also probe live Gateway
./scripts/audit_config.sh --fix    # audit + apply safe fixes

This script delegates to openclaw security audit (the native CLI tool), which checks gateway auth, tool permissions, network exposure, file permissions, and other config foot-guns. Read the output and present findings to the user with context and recommendations.

Notification Setup

Users can enable proactive notifications by creating logs/security-audit-config.json:

{
  "notify_channel": "dingtalk",
  "notify_on": ["CRITICAL", "WARN"],
  "notify_on_audit_complete": true
}

Supported channels: whatever OpenClaw has configured (dingtalk, telegram, discord, etc.).
Default if file missing: log-only, no notifications.

When notify_on is set and you log a matching event, send a brief message via the message tool after logging.

Reference Files

• dangerous-patterns.md — Comprehensive list of risky exec, file, and network patterns with examples
• audit-guide.md — Log format, risk classification, notification config, report format
• config-risks.md — OpenClaw config fields and their security implications

First-Time Setup

1. logs/security-audit.log is created automatically on first event
2. Offer to help create logs/security-audit-config.json for notifications
3. Suggest adding a cron job via the cron skill for periodic audits (user sets interval)
4. For config audit: no setup needed — runs on demand

What This Skill Does NOT Do

• Block or delay any operation
• Intercept other skills at runtime
• Monitor the OpenClaw process itself
• Replace proper OS-level access controls or sandboxing