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[Bug] Managed WSL Gateway: browser.proxy approved but browser-control port 18791 absent; ownership verification blocks profiles

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Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
35/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
csharp
Domain
backend, networking

Research direction

Start by tracing how the Companion creates and connects to the app-owned WSL Gateway, then inspect the browser-control service initialization and topology detection mentioned in the report. Compare the expected listener lifecycle with the observed listeners on ports 18789, 18791, and 18799. Done means the supported initialization and authentication path is clarified and the browser-control endpoint works for this WSL setup without bypassing ownership checks.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

clawsweeper:needs-security-review clawsweeper:no-new-fix-pr clawsweeper:source-repro impact:security impact:ux-release-blocker issue-rating: 🦞 diamond lobster P0

Environment

  • Windows Companion 2026.9.8-1
  • OpenClaw Gateway 2026.9.8, running in the Companion-created OpenClawGateway WSL distro
  • Windows 11 (build 26200)

Reproduction

  1. Start the app-owned WSL Gateway and connect the Windows Companion.
  2. Enable Permissions > Browser control.
  3. Approve the resulting node capability expansion and let the node reconnect.
  4. Request browser profiles through the official browser tool targeting the Windows node.

Actual result

The paired node is online and approved, with browser capability and browser.proxy effective. The request fails with:

Browser control authentication was blocked because the local listener owner could not be verified.

No Chrome attachment or service login was verified.

Evidence

  • Sanitized Companion diagnostics: gateway port 18789 is listening, owned by wslrelay; browser-control port 18791 has no listener.
  • Read-only ss inspection inside the Gateway WSL environment: listeners on 18789 and extension relay 18799, but none on 18791.
  • No pending browser command approvals, missing browser allowlist entries, or disabled Browser control toggle remain.
  • Installed browser control-service module initializes in-process runtime with server: null; a separate HTTP-server implementation exists. This is an observation, not a confirmed root cause.
  • The diagnostic summary initially labels topology Windows native but also identifies wslrelay; setup history confirms app-owned WSL. This may be relevant to topology detection.

Expected / maintainer question

What is the supported way for this Companion release to initialize and authenticate the browser-control endpoint for an app-owned WSL Gateway? Please clarify whether there is a service lifecycle or release compatibility mismatch.

Related: #1701 reports the same ownership error for a native Gateway. This report concerns a managed WSL Gateway and a missing browser listener, so it should not be assumed to have the same cause.

No ownership checks or sandbox protections were bypassed. This report deliberately excludes raw logs, credentials, account details, personal paths, device identifiers, and screenshots.

Dominant language
C#
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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