fix(openclaw): fail closed on config restore merge errors

scripts/nemoclaw-start.sh

@@ -2256,6 +2256,12 @@ _nemoclaw_restore_mutable_config_perms() {
   chmod -R g+rwX,o-rwx "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir" 2>/dev/null || true
   find "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir" -type d -exec chmod g+s {} + 2>/dev/null || true
   chmod 2770 "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir" 2>/dev/null || true
+  if [ ! -L "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir" ] &&
+    [ ! -L "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir/openclaw.json" ] &&
+    [ ! -L "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir/.config-hash" ] &&
+    [ -f "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir/openclaw.json" ]; then
+    (cd "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir" && sha256sum openclaw.json >.config-hash) 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
   chmod 660 "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir/openclaw.json" "$_nemoclaw_oc_dir/.config-hash" 2>/dev/null || true
   # Keep the recovery baseline out of the group-writable contract — it is a
   # read-only trust anchor (root:sandbox 0440 when root re-locks it). The

src/lib/actions/sandbox/rebuild-config-hash.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import { createRequire } from "node:module";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+type RebuildModule = typeof import("../../../../dist/lib/actions/sandbox/rebuild");
+
+const requireDist = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const { buildRefreshMutableOpenClawConfigHashCommand } = requireDist(
+  "../../../../dist/lib/actions/sandbox/rebuild.js",
+) as RebuildModule;
+
+function sha256Hex(filePath: string): string {
+  return createHash("sha256").update(fs.readFileSync(filePath)).digest("hex");
+}
+
+function runRefresh(configDir: string): ReturnType<typeof spawnSync> {
+  return spawnSync("bash", ["-c", buildRefreshMutableOpenClawConfigHashCommand(configDir)], {
+    encoding: "utf-8",
+    timeout: 5000,
+  });
+}
+
+describe.skipIf(process.platform !== "linux")("OpenClaw rebuild config hash refresh", () => {
+  it("refreshes .config-hash for the current openclaw.json", () => {
+    const tmpDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-rebuild-hash-"));
+    const configDir = path.join(tmpDir, ".openclaw");
+    const configPath = path.join(configDir, "openclaw.json");
+    const hashPath = path.join(configDir, ".config-hash");
+    try {
+      fs.mkdirSync(configDir, { recursive: true });
+      fs.writeFileSync(configPath, '{"gateway":{"auth":{"token":"fresh"}}}\n');
+      fs.writeFileSync(hashPath, "stale  openclaw.json\n");
+
+      const result = runRefresh(configDir);
+
+      expect(result.stderr).toBe("");
+      expect(result.status).toBe(0);
+      expect(fs.readFileSync(hashPath, "utf-8")).toBe(`${sha256Hex(configPath)}  openclaw.json\n`);
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("refuses to refresh through a symlinked config file", () => {
+    const tmpDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-rebuild-hash-symlink-"));
+    const configDir = path.join(tmpDir, ".openclaw");
+    const targetPath = path.join(tmpDir, "target-openclaw.json");
+    const configPath = path.join(configDir, "openclaw.json");
+    const hashPath = path.join(configDir, ".config-hash");
+    try {
+      fs.mkdirSync(configDir, { recursive: true });
+      fs.writeFileSync(targetPath, '{"gateway":{"auth":{"token":"target"}}}\n');
+      fs.symlinkSync(targetPath, configPath);
+      fs.writeFileSync(hashPath, "stale  openclaw.json\n");
+
+      const result = runRefresh(configDir);
+
+      expect(result.status).toBe(11);
+      expect(result.stderr).toContain("refusing symlinked OpenClaw config file");
+      expect(fs.readFileSync(hashPath, "utf-8")).toBe("stale  openclaw.json\n");
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});

src/lib/actions/sandbox/rebuild.ts

@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ import {
   printSandboxListFailureWithRecoveryContext,
 } from "../../openshell-sandbox-list";
 import * as policies from "../../policy";
+import { shellQuote } from "../../runner";
 import { parseLiveSandboxNames } from "../../runtime-recovery";
 import * as sandboxVersion from "../../sandbox/version";
 import { redact } from "../../security/redact";
@@ -83,6 +84,43 @@ import {
   relockRebuildShieldsWindow,
 } from "./rebuild-shields";
 
+export function buildRefreshMutableOpenClawConfigHashCommand(
+  configDir = "/sandbox/.openclaw",
+): string {
+  return [
+    `config_dir=${shellQuote(configDir)}`,
+    'config_file="${config_dir}/openclaw.json"',
+    'hash_file="${config_dir}/.config-hash"',
+    '[ -d "$config_dir" ] || exit 0',
+    '[ ! -L "$config_dir" ] || { echo "refusing symlinked OpenClaw config dir: $config_dir" >&2; exit 10; }',
+    '[ ! -L "$config_file" ] || { echo "refusing symlinked OpenClaw config file: $config_file" >&2; exit 11; }',
+    '[ ! -L "$hash_file" ] || { echo "refusing symlinked OpenClaw config hash: $hash_file" >&2; exit 12; }',
+    'owner="$(stat -c "%U" "$config_dir" 2>/dev/null || echo unknown)"',
+    '[ "$owner" != "root" ] || exit 0',
+    '[ -f "$config_file" ] || exit 0',
+    'cd "$config_dir" || exit 13',
+    "sha256sum openclaw.json > .config-hash",
+    "chmod 660 .config-hash 2>/dev/null || true",
+  ].join("; ");
+}
+
+function refreshMutableOpenClawConfigHashAfterPostRestoreWrites(
+  sandboxName: string,
+  log: (msg: string) => void,
+): boolean {
+  const result = executeSandboxCommand(sandboxName, buildRefreshMutableOpenClawConfigHashCommand());
+  if (result && result.status === 0) {
+    log("Mutable OpenClaw config hash refreshed after post-restore config writes");
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  const detail = result
+    ? [result.stderr, result.stdout].filter(Boolean).join("; ") || `exit ${result.status}`
+    : "could not obtain sandbox SSH config";
+  console.error(`  ${YW}⚠${R} Mutable OpenClaw config hash was not refreshed: ${redact(detail)}`);
+  return false;
+}
+
 /**
  * Emit timestamped rebuild diagnostics when verbose rebuild logging is enabled.
  */
@@ -1103,6 +1141,7 @@ export async function rebuildSandbox(
     // could not verify the contract — the rebuilt sandbox may still EACCES on
     // gateway-side config writes, so the final result is downgraded below.
     let mutablePermsRepairUnverified = false;
+    let mutableConfigHashRefreshUnverified = false;
     if (agentDef.name === "openclaw") {
       // openclaw doctor --fix validates and repairs directory structure.
       // Idempotent and safe — catches structural changes between OpenClaw versions
@@ -1147,6 +1186,16 @@ export async function rebuildSandbox(
         );
       }
 
+      // The post-restore structure repair and seed helper can rewrite
+      // openclaw.json after restoreStateFile has already refreshed
+      // .config-hash. Refresh the mutable hash here so the gateway token and
+      // channel seed changes are integrity-valid before the sandbox is handed
+      // back to the user.
+      log("Refreshing mutable OpenClaw config hash after post-restore config writes");
+      if (!refreshMutableOpenClawConfigHashAfterPostRestoreWrites(sandboxName, log)) {
+        mutableConfigHashRefreshUnverified = true;
+      }
+
       // #4538: `openclaw doctor --fix` enforces a single-user 700/600 state
       // layout, which silently tightens NemoClaw's mutable config contract
       // (setgid + group-writable /sandbox/.openclaw and group-writable
@@ -1208,7 +1257,7 @@ export async function rebuildSandbox(
     if (!relockShieldsIfNeeded(true)) return bail("Failed to re-apply shields lockdown.");
 
     console.log("");
-    if (restoreSucceeded && !mutablePermsRepairUnverified) {
+    if (restoreSucceeded && !mutablePermsRepairUnverified && !mutableConfigHashRefreshUnverified) {
       console.log(`  ${G}\u2713${R} Sandbox '${sandboxName}' rebuilt successfully`);
       if (staleRecovery) {
         console.log(
@@ -1236,6 +1285,11 @@ export async function rebuildSandbox(
           `    Mutable config permissions were not verified \u2014 run \`${CLI_NAME} ${sandboxName} doctor --fix\` to restore the OpenClaw config permission contract`,
         );
       }
+      if (mutableConfigHashRefreshUnverified) {
+        console.log(
+          `    Mutable OpenClaw config hash was not refreshed \u2014 restart the sandbox or re-run \`${CLI_NAME} ${sandboxName} rebuild\` before relying on config integrity checks`,
+        );
+      }
     }
     // Stale recovery reset the shields state to mutable (the gone sandbox's lock
     // seal could not carry over to the fresh image). If lockdown had been enabled,