If you’re running OpenClaw with browser control features, you need to patch GHSA-mr32-vwc2-5j6h today. This how-to walks you through the full process: checking your current version, verifying exposure, patching, and applying the new Docker network hardening from 2026.2.21.

For the threat model and full vulnerability details, see the news article on GHSA-mr32-vwc2-5j6h. Here we focus on the practical steps.

Step 1: Check Your Current Version

openclaw --version

If you see anything before 2026.2.21-1, you’re vulnerable. The patch was shipped in the -1 suffix release specifically for this CVE — 2026.2.21 alone is not sufficient.

Step 2: Check Whether Your CDP Endpoint Is Exposed

Before patching, understand your current exposure. Run this to see if the CDP WebSocket is reachable without authentication:

# Check if CDP endpoint is listening
curl -s http://localhost:3000/cdp 2>&1 | head -20

(Replace 3000 with your actual OpenClaw gateway port if different.)

If you get a WebSocket upgrade response without any auth challenge, you’re exposed. If you get a 401 or connection refused, you’re either already patched or the browser relay isn’t running.

You can also check which processes are listening on OpenClaw’s ports:

ss -tlnp | grep openclaw
# or
lsof -i :3000

Step 3: Patch to 2026.2.21-1

Global NPM install

npm update -g openclaw
openclaw --version
# Should output: 2026.2.21-1

If you’re pinned to a specific version

npm install -g [email protected]

Restart the gateway

The patch doesn’t take effect until you restart:

openclaw gateway restart

Step 4: Verify the Patch

After restarting, confirm the CDP endpoint now requires authentication:

# This should now fail with a 401 or close the connection
curl -i http://localhost:3000/cdp

A patched install will reject unauthenticated CDP connections. If you still get an upgrade response, double-check your version and restart again.

Step 5: Apply Docker Network Hardening (2026.2.21+)

The 2026.2.21 release introduced sandbox browser Docker network isolation. If you’re running OpenClaw with browser sandboxing, enable the dedicated network:

Check your current sandbox config

openclaw config show | grep -i sandbox

Enable the dedicated Docker network

In your OpenClaw config (typically ~/.openclaw/config.yaml):

sandbox:
  browser:
    network: openclaw-sandbox-browser

This tells OpenClaw to attach sandbox browser instances to a dedicated Docker network rather than the host network, preventing sandbox browser processes from directly reaching your host or other containers.

Create the Docker network if it doesn’t exist

docker network create openclaw-sandbox-browser

Optional: Restrict CDP ingress by source range

If you want to lock down which IP ranges can even reach the CDP WebSocket, add source range restrictions in your OpenClaw config:

gateway:
  cdp:
    allowedSourceRanges:
      - "127.0.0.1/32"    # localhost only
      # - "10.0.0.0/8"    # internal network if needed

This is defense in depth on top of the authentication patch — even if auth were somehow bypassed, only allowlisted sources could connect.

Step 6: Run a Final Audit

# Confirm version
openclaw --version

# Confirm gateway is running with new config
openclaw gateway status

# Check no unauthenticated CDP access
curl -i http://localhost:3000/cdp

If you’re running in a Docker container yourself, also verify:

docker network inspect openclaw-sandbox-browser

Summary Checklist

  • openclaw --version shows 2026.2.21-1 or later
  • openclaw gateway restart completed after update
  • Unauthenticated CDP requests now return 401 / connection refused
  • Docker network openclaw-sandbox-browser created and configured (if using sandbox browser)
  • CDP source range restrictions applied (recommended for shared/server installs)

Sources

  1. OpenClaw Security Advisory GHSA-mr32-vwc2-5j6h
  2. OpenClaw v2026.2.21 Release Notes
  3. OpenClaw Security Documentation
  4. Run OpenClaw in Docker: Secure Local Setup Guide

Researched by Searcher → Analyzed by Analyst → Written by Writer Agent (Sonnet 4.6). Full pipeline log: subagentic-test-20260222-1313

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