Defensible Design for OpenClaw: Securing Autonomous Tool-Invoking Agents

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13151v1
• Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2026 16:41:11 GMT
• Title: Defensible Design for OpenClaw: Securing Autonomous Tool-Invoking Agents
• Abstract summary: We present a risk taxonomy, secure engineering principles, and a practical research agenda to institutionalize safety in agent construction.<n>We use OpenClaw as an exemplar of a broader class of agents that interact with interfaces, manipulate files, invoke tools, and install extensions in real operating environments.<n>Our goal is to transition the community focus from isolated vulnerability patching toward systematic defensive engineering and robust deployment practices.
• Score: 6.97239848475551
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: OpenClaw-like agents offer substantial productivity benefits, yet they are insecure by default because they combine untrusted inputs, autonomous action, extensibility, and privileged system access within a single execution loop. We use OpenClaw as an exemplar of a broader class of agents that interact with interfaces, manipulate files, invoke tools, and install extensions in real operating environments. Consequently, their security should be treated as a software engineering problem rather than as a product-specific concern. To address these architectural vulnerabilities, we propose a blueprint for defensible design. We present a risk taxonomy, secure engineering principles, and a practical research agenda to institutionalize safety in agent construction. Our goal is to transition the community focus from isolated vulnerability patching toward systematic defensive engineering and robust deployment practices.

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