Is Your AI Agent Exposed to the Internet? How to Check in 5 Minutes

Description and use

By following the five‑minute checklist, users can quickly determine if their OpenClaw Gateway is exposed, identify the cause, and remediate the exposure by tightening bind settings, firewall rules, and credential rotation.

Problem

OpenClaw agents may unintentionally expose their control gateway to the public internet, allowing unauthorized access to dashboards and agent control.

Outcome

By following the five‑minute checklist, users can quickly determine if their OpenClaw Gateway is exposed, identify the cause, and remediate the exposure by tightening bind settings, firewall rules, and credential rotation.

Workflow

• 1. Run openclaw security audit --deep on the server and check for critical findings such as gateway.bind_no_auth, gateway.tailscale_funnel, gateway.control_ui.allowed_origins_required, browser.control_no_auth, or gateway.token_placeholder_value. 2. Execute lsof -i :18789 to see which address the port is bound to; 127.0.0.1 or localhost indicates local only, while * or 0.0.0.0 indicates public exposure. 3. Verify the bind setting with openclaw config get gateway.bind; it should be loopback unless a specific network setup is required. 4. From a different network, run nmap -sT -p 1-65535 <public-ip> --open to scan for open ports on the server’s public IP. 5. Check cloud firewall or security group rules for inbound rules on port 18789 from 0.0.0.0/0 and remove them if present. 6. If exposure is detected, close the Gateway: stop the service, set gateway.bind to loopback, and remove any public routes, Docker port publishes, reverse proxy configurations, or Tailscale Funnel. 7. Rotate credentials: generate a new Gateway token with openclaw doctor --generate-gateway-token and rotate remote client secrets and provider keys. 8. Freeze risky access by disabling or restricting DMs and groups, and removing any wildcard allow entries. 9. Review logs with openclaw logs and recent configuration changes for unexpected activity. 10. Re‑run openclaw security audit --deep and perform an external scan again to confirm the issue is resolved.

Evidence

OpenClaw's Gateway serves the Control UI and the agent's control connection on one port, 18789 by default.

Source

Run openclaw security audit --deep on the server and check for critical findings such as gateway.bind_no_auth, gateway.tailscale_funnel, gateway.control_ui.allowed_origins_required, browser.control_no_auth, or gateway.token_placeholder_value.

Source

From a different network, run nmap -sT -p 1-65535 <public-ip> --open to scan for open ports on the server’s public IP.

Source

If exposure is detected, close the Gateway: stop the service, set gateway.bind to loopback, and remove any public routes, Docker port publishes, reverse proxy configurations, or Tailscale Funnel.

Source