🦞 Clawdbot Safe

Harden your Clawdbot VPS from exposed nightmare to private AI fortress.

A comprehensive security hardening skill for Clawdbot installations on VPS servers. Takes you from fresh Ubuntu to locked-down private AI server.

Why This Exists

Running Clawdbot on a VPS without proper hardening is a security nightmare:

• Hundreds of exposed gateways leaving API keys and private chats vulnerable
• Infostealers actively targeting Clawdbot - RedLine, Lumma, and Vidar now sweep ~/.clawdbot/ directories
• Gateway token theft = RCE - One leaked token gives attackers shell access to your machine
• Open DM policies let strangers control your AI and inject malicious prompts

What This Skill Does

Implements defense-in-depth across four layers:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Phase 1: OS Security                                       │
│  └── SSH hardening, UFW firewall, Fail2ban                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Phase 2: Network Isolation                                 │
│  └── Tailscale VPN, port restrictions, no public exposure   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Phase 3: Clawdbot Security                                 │
│  └── DM allowlists, file permissions, sandboxing            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Phase 4: Verification                                      │
│  └── Security audit, status checks, compliance validation   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Quick Start

Option 1: Automated Hardening

# Download and run the hardening script
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dennisonbertram/clawdbot-safe/main/clawdbot-safe/scripts/harden.sh -o harden.sh
chmod +x harden.sh

# Run with your Telegram ID
./harden.sh --telegram-id YOUR_TELEGRAM_ID

Option 2: Use as Claude Code Skill

1. Download the skill:

   curl -LO https://github.com/dennisonbertram/clawdbot-safe/releases/latest/download/clawdbot-safe.zip

2. Install in Claude Code:

   unzip clawdbot-safe.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

3. Invoke the skill:

   /clawdbot-safe
   

Option 3: Manual Hardening

Follow the step-by-step guide in SKILL.md.

What Gets Hardened

OS Level

• ✅ SSH: Key-only authentication, no root login
• ✅ Firewall: Default-deny incoming with UFW
• ✅ Brute-force protection: Fail2ban auto-bans attackers

Network Level

• ✅ Tailscale VPN: Private mesh network for access
• ✅ No public SSH: Only accessible via Tailscale
• ✅ No public web ports: Gateway only via Tailscale
• ✅ Optional IPv6 disable: Reduced attack surface

Clawdbot Level

• ✅ DM Policy: Allowlist mode (only you can message the bot)
• ✅ Group Policy: Allowlist with mention gating
• ✅ File Permissions: 600/700 on all sensitive files
• ✅ Gateway Auth: Token-based authentication
• ✅ Tool Sandboxing: Isolated execution environment
• ✅ Sensitive Logging: Redaction enabled

Included Scripts

Script	Purpose
harden.sh	Full automated hardening for fresh Ubuntu VPS
verify.sh	Post-hardening verification (checks all security controls)
audit.sh	Quick security status check

Final State Checklist

After hardening, your setup should have:

• No public SSH (only via Tailscale 100.64.0.0/10)
• No public web ports (only via Tailscale)
• Server only reachable via Tailscale VPN
• Bot responds only to allowlisted user IDs
• All credential files have 600/700 permissions
• clawdbot security audit --deep passes

Threat Model

This skill protects against:

Threat	Attack Vector	Protection
Credential Theft	Infostealers targeting ~/.clawdbot/	File permissions, encryption at rest
Unauthorized Access	Open DM policies, exposed ports	Allowlists, Tailscale isolation
Network Attacks	Public SSH/web exposure	UFW + Tailscale, Fail2ban
Prompt Injection	Malicious content in URLs/files	Sandboxing, model selection

See threat_model.md for detailed analysis.

Recovery

Locked out of SSH?

1. Access via VPS provider's console/VNC
2. Re-enable password auth:

   sudo sed -i 's/PasswordAuthentication no/PasswordAuthentication yes/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
   sudo systemctl reload ssh

3. Fix SSH keys, then re-harden

Suspected Compromise?

# 1. Stop gateway immediately
pkill -f clawdbot

# 2. Lock down network
sudo ufw default deny incoming && sudo ufw reload

# 3. Rotate ALL credentials
# See SKILL.md for full incident response

References

• Clawdbot Security Documentation
• Clawdbot GitHub Security Advisories
• Tailscale Documentation

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. Security issues should be reported privately.

License

MIT

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"You buckle your seatbelts before you step on the gas."