# Exposed gateways and CVE-2026-25253

OpenClaw gateways on port 18789 bound to 0.0.0.0 with auth off. A one-click RCE with CVSS 8.8.

## Facts

- The OpenClaw gateway listens on port 18789.
- By default it was bound to `0.0.0.0` with auth off.
- CVE-2026-25253 is a one-click remote code execution. CVSS 8.8.
- Exposure counts differ by source: about 21.6k (Censys), 42.7k (Shodan), 135k+ (SecurityScorecard). All are approximate.

## Why it matters

A gateway on `0.0.0.0` answers anyone who can reach the machine. With auth off, anyone can drive your agent. Your agent has a shell and your keys.

## Check

Who is listening:

```bash
# macOS
lsof -nP -iTCP:18789 -sTCP:LISTEN
# Linux
ss -ltnp | grep 18789
```

`*:18789` or `0.0.0.0:18789` means exposed. `127.0.0.1:18789` means local only.

Version:

```bash
openclaw --version
```

Compare with the fixed version in the advisory for CVE-2026-25253.

External probe, from another machine:

```bash
curl -sS -m 5 -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' http://YOUR_PUBLIC_IP:18789/
```

Any HTTP code means the port is reachable.

## Fix

```bash
sma fix gateway-bind
```

This binds the gateway to `127.0.0.1`. Then:

1. Turn gateway auth on.
2. Update to a version past the CVE-2026-25253 fix.
3. Treat the machine as compromised if it was exposed. Rotate every key it held.
4. Reach the gateway remotely through an SSH tunnel or a private network, never a public port.

```bash
ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 user@your-host
```

Related: [fix network exposure](https://securemyagent.ai/articles/fix-network-exposure).

## Sources

- [clawdocs known vulnerabilities](https://clawdocs.org/security/known-vulnerabilities)