Openclaw cli: OpenClaw has multiple E2E/test Dockerfiles that run all processes as root

The OpenClaw CLI project has multiple Dockerfiles for E2E and test environments that lack a USER directive, causing all container processes to run as root (uid 0). This condition increases the risk of container breakout by enabling attackers who compromise a process inside the container to gain root privileges. The base images node:22-bookworm and node:22-bookworm-slim default to root. A partial fix was applied on 2026-02-08 to Dockerfile.sandbox and Dockerfile.sandbox-browser by adding a USER sandbox, but the E2E/test Dockerfiles remain vulnerable. The recommended remediation is to add a non-root user directive before CMD or ENTRYPOINT in each affected Dockerfile.

Running processes as root inside containers allows attackers who compromise any process to operate with root privileges within the container. This facilitates kernel exploit attempts, abuse of volume mounts, and privileged syscall access, significantly increasing the risk of container breakout. Since test images share the same base as production images, there is a risk of accidentally deploying root-running images into production environments.

A patch is available. The vendor partially remediated the issue by adding a USER directive to Dockerfile.sandbox and Dockerfile.sandbox-browser. The remaining affected Dockerfiles should be updated to include a USER directive that creates and switches to a non-root user before CMD or ENTRYPOINT. Specifically, add commands such as 'RUN useradd --create-home --shell /bin/bash appuser' and 'USER appuser' to the Dockerfiles. This reduces the risk by preventing processes from running as root inside the container.