Robotics Security

Robotics Security Skill

When to Use This Skill

• Enabling SROS2 encryption and access control on ROS2 topics/services
• Generating keystores, certificates, and security policies for DDS
• Hardening robot onboard computers (SSH, firewalls, minimal packages)
• Setting up network segmentation between robot control/data/management planes
• Managing secrets and credentials across a robot fleet
• Securing Docker containers running ROS2 nodes
• Designing e-stop and safety systems that survive cyber compromise
• Auditing a robot system for security vulnerabilities
• Implementing secure boot and firmware verification
• Addressing IEC 62443 requirements for industrial robot deployments

The Robot Attack Surface

Robots are unique: cyber vulnerabilities become physical threats.

  NETWORK                    MIDDLEWARE                   APPLICATION
  ┌────────────────┐        ┌────────────────┐           ┌────────────────┐
  │ Open DDS ports │───────▶│ Unauthenticated│──────────▶│ Hardcoded      │
  │ (7400-7500)    │        │ /cmd_vel pub   │           │ credentials    │
  │ Unsegmented LAN│        │ No msg signing │           │ Unvalidated cmd│
  └────────────────┘        └────────────────┘           └────────────────┘
  PHYSICAL                   FIRMWARE                     SUPPLY CHAIN
  ┌────────────────┐        ┌────────────────┐           ┌────────────────┐
  │ USB/debug ports│───────▶│ Unsigned       │──────────▶│ Compromised    │
  │ Serial consoles│        │ firmware OTA   │           │ ROS packages   │
  │ Exposed SBCs   │        │ No secure boot │           │ Unverified imgs│
  └────────────────┘        └────────────────┘           └────────────────┘

| Vector | Impact | |--------|--------| | Unauthenticated /cmd_vel | Robot moves unexpectedly — injury/damage | | Sensor spoofing (/scan, /camera/image) | Robot collides, wrong decisions | | Open DDS multicast discovery | Full topic graph enumeration by passive listener | | USB/serial physical access | Root shell, firmware flash, data exfiltration | | Unsigned firmware update | Persistent backdoor in motor controllers |

SROS2: DDS Security

SROS2 wraps DDS Security to provide authentication, encryption, and access control at the DDS layer.

Keystore Generation and Certificate Setup

export ROS_SECURITY_KEYSTORE=~/sros2_keystore
ros2 security create_keystore ${ROS_SECURITY_KEYSTORE}

# Generate per-node enclaves (use exact fully-qualified node names)
ros2 security create_enclave ${ROS_SECURITY_KEYSTORE} /my_robot/camera_driver
ros2 security create_enclave ${ROS_SECURITY_KEYSTORE} /my_robot/navigation
ros2 security create_enclave ${ROS_SECURITY_KEYSTORE} /my_robot/motor_controller
ros2 security create_enclave ${ROS_SECURITY_KEYSTORE} /my_robot/teleop

# Result:
# sros2_keystore/
# ├── enclaves/my_robot/{camera_driver,navigation,...}/
# │   ├── cert.pem, key.pem          # Node identity
# │   ├── governance.p7s              # Signed governance
# │   └── permissions.p7s             # Signed permissions
# ├── public/ca.cert.pem              # CA certificate
# └── private/ca.key.pem              # CA private key — PROTECT THIS

Security Policy XML

Governance — domain-wide security behavior:

  
    
      0230
      false
      true
      ENCRYPT
      ENCRYPT
      ENCRYPT
      
        
          *
          true
          true
          true
          ENCRYPT
          ENCRYPT
        
      
    
  

Permissions — per-enclave publish/subscribe rules:

  
    
      CN=/my_robot/motor_controller
      2024-01-01T00:00:00
                2026-01-01T00:00:00
      
        0
        rt/joint_states
        rt/cmd_vel
      
      DENY
    
    
      CN=/my_robot/teleop
      2024-01-01T00:00:00
                2026-01-01T00:00:00
      
        0
        rt/cmd_vel
        rt/joy
      
      DENY
    
  

Enabling Security in Launch Files

import os
from launch import LaunchDescription
from launch_ros.actions import Node

def generate_launch_description():
    security_env = {
        'ROS_SECURITY_KEYSTORE': os.path.expanduser('~/sros2_keystore'),
        'ROS_SECURITY_ENABLE': 'true',
        'ROS_SECURITY_STRATEGY': 'Enforce',  # Enforce=reject unauth, Permissive=warn only
    }
    return LaunchDescription([
        Node(package='my_robot_drivers', executable='motor_controller',
             name='motor_controller', namespace='my_robot',
             additional_env=security_env),
        Node(package='my_robot_nav', executable='navigation',
             name='navigation', namespace='my_robot',
             additional_env=security_env),
    ])

Always use Enforce in production. Permissive logs violations but allows them — debugging aid only.

Per-Topic Access Control

Design with least privilege:

| Node | Publishes | Subscribes | Rationale | |------|-----------|------------|-----------| | motor_controller | /joint_states | /cmd_vel | Driver acts on velocity only | | navigation | /cmd_vel, /path | /scan, /odom, /map | Nav reads sensors, writes commands | | camera_driver | /camera/image_raw | (none) | Pure source — no subscriptions | | teleop | /cmd_vel | /joy | Joystick passthrough — minimal surface |

A compromised camera_driver cannot publish to /cmd_vel — permissions deny it at the DDS layer.

Network Hardening

Network Segmentation

┌───────────────────┬──────────────────┬────────────────────────┐
│   CONTROL PLANE   │   DATA PLANE     │   MANAGEMENT PLANE     │
│   VLAN 10         │   VLAN 20        │   VLAN 30              │
│   10.10.10.0/24   │   10.10.20.0/24  │   10.10.30.0/24        │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│ /cmd_vel, /odom   │ /camera/image    │ SSH, Prometheus         │
│ /joint_states     │ /pointcloud      │ Log collection          │
│ /e_stop           │ /map, /rosbag    │ Fleet mgmt API          │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│ LOW LATENCY       │ HIGH BANDWIDTH   │ RESTRICTED ACCESS       │
│ QoS: RELIABLE     │ QoS: BEST_EFFORT │ Jump host / VPN + 2FA  │
└───────────────────┴──────────────────┴────────────────────────┘

Management plane is never reachable from data plane. Control plane traffic never transits WiFi.

Firewall Rules for ROS2/DDS

#!/bin/bash
# firewall_ros2.sh — adapt interface names to your hardware
iptables -F && iptables -X

# Default: drop inbound, allow outbound
iptables -P INPUT DROP
iptables -P FORWARD DROP
iptables -P OUTPUT ACCEPT

iptables -A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT                                    # Loopback (intra-process DDS)
iptables -A INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT      # Existing connections
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 7400:7500 -s 10.10.10.0/24 -j ACCEPT  # DDS discovery — control VLAN
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 7500:7700 -s 10.10.10.0/24 -j ACCEPT  # DDS user traffic
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -s 10.10.30.0/24 -j ACCEPT         # SSH — mgmt VLAN only
iptables -A INPUT -i wlan0 -d 239.255.0.0/16 -j DROP                   # Block multicast on WiFi
iptables -A INPUT -j LOG --log-prefix "DROPPED: " --log-level 4
iptables -A INPUT -j DROP
iptables-save > /etc/iptables/rules.v4

VLAN Configuration for Robot Networks

# /etc/netplan/01-robot-vlans.yaml
network:
  version: 2
  renderer: networkd
  ethernets:
    eth0: {dhcp4: false}
  vlans:
    vlan10:
      id: 10
      link: eth0
      addresses: [10.10.10.5/24]
    vlan20:
      id: 20
      link: eth0
      addresses: [10.10.20.5/24]
    vlan30:
      id: 30
      link: eth0
      addresses: [10.10.30.5/24]
      routes: [{to: default, via: 10.10.30.1}]

Disabling DDS Multicast in Production

Multicast auto-discovery exposes the full topic graph. Use unicast peer lists.

  
    false
    
      
        
        
        
      
      auto
    
  

export CYCLONEDDS_URI=file:///etc/ros2/cyclonedds_secure.xml
export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_cyclonedds_cpp

FastDDS equivalent — set initialPeersList with explicit unicast locators and omit multicast locators in the participant profile. Use FASTRTPS_DEFAULT_PROFILES_FILE env var to load.

SSH and Host Hardening

SSH Key-Only Auth, Disable Root Login

# /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Port 2222
PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes
AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys
MaxAuthTries 3
ClientAliveInterval 300
ClientAliveCountMax 2
AllowUsers robot-admin
X11Forwarding no
AllowTcpForwarding no
PermitTunnel no

sudo systemctl restart sshd
# Per-robot key pair (on management workstation)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/robot_$(hostname) -C "admin@$(hostname)"
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/robot_$(hostname).pub -p 2222 robot-admin@10.10.30.5

fail2ban for Robot Computers

# /etc/fail2ban/jail.local
[sshd]
enabled = true
port = 2222
filter = sshd
logpath = /var/log/auth.log
maxretry = 3
bantime = 3600
findtime = 600

sudo apt install fail2ban -y && sudo systemctl enable --now fail2ban

Unattended Security Updates

sudo apt install unattended-upgrades -y
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades
# Key settings in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades:
#   Allowed-Origins: "${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-security"
#   Automatic-Reboot: "false"   # NEVER auto-reboot a running robot

Minimal Installed Packages

# Remove unnecessary packages from robot computers
sudo apt purge -y avahi-daemon cups snapd modemmanager bluetooth bluez
sudo apt autoremove -y

Secrets Management

No Hardcoded Credentials

# BAD:
class FleetClient:
    def __init__(self):
        self.api_key = "sk-live-abc123xyz789"

# GOOD:
import os
class FleetClient:
    def __init__(self):
        self.api_key = os.environ['FLEET_API_KEY']

# BAD: credentials in params.yaml tracked by git
fleet_manager:
  ros__parameters:
    aws_secret_key: "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"

# GOOD: reference environment variables
fleet_manager:
  ros__parameters:
    aws_secret_key: "$(env AWS_SECRET_KEY)"

Environment-Based Secrets for ROS2 Nodes

# /etc/systemd/system/robot-nav.service
[Service]
User=robot
Group=robot
EnvironmentFile=/etc/robot/secrets.env
ExecStart=/opt/ros/humble/bin/ros2 launch my_robot nav.launch.py
Restart=always

# /etc/robot/secrets.env
FLEET_API_KEY=sk-live-actual-key-here
ROS_SECURITY_KEYSTORE=/opt/robot/sros2_keystore

# Lock it down
sudo chown root:robot /etc/robot/secrets.env
sudo chmod 640 /etc/robot/secrets.env

Certificate Rotation Patterns

#!/bin/bash
# rotate_certs.sh — run via cron monthly
set -euo pipefail
KEYSTORE="/opt/robot/sros2_keystore"
cp -r "${KEYSTORE}" "${KEYSTORE}_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d)"

for enclave in motor_controller navigation camera_driver teleop; do
    ros2 security create_enclave "${KEYSTORE}" "/my_robot/${enclave}"
done
sudo systemctl restart robot-*.service
echo "Certificates rotated at $(date)"

# /etc/cron.d/robot-cert-rotation
0 3 1 * * root /opt/robot/scripts/rotate_certs.sh >> /var/log/cert-rotation.log 2>&1

File Permissions for Keystores

sudo chown -R root:robot /opt/robot/sros2_keystore
sudo find /opt/robot/sros2_keystore -type d -exec chmod 750 {} \;
sudo find /opt/robot/sros2_keystore -type f -exec chmod 640 {} \;
# CA private key — root only
sudo chmod 600 /opt/robot/sros2_keystore/private/ca.key.pem
sudo chown root:root /opt/robot/sros2_keystore/private/ca.key.pem

Container Security

Non-Root Containers

FROM ros:humble-ros-base AS runtime
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
    ros-humble-nav2-bringup && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
RUN groupadd -g 1000 robot && useradd -u 1000 -g robot -m -s /bin/false robot
COPY --from=builder /opt/ros2_ws/install /opt/ros2_ws/install
USER robot:robot
ENTRYPOINT ["/ros_entrypoint.sh"]
CMD ["ros2", "launch", "my_robot", "nav.launch.py"]

Minimal Runtime Images

FROM ros:humble-desktop AS builder
WORKDIR /opt/ros2_ws
COPY src/ src/
RUN . /opt/ros/humble/setup.sh && \
    colcon build --cmake-args -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release --merge-install

FROM ros:humble-ros-core AS runtime
COPY --from=builder /opt/ros2_ws/install /opt/ros2_ws/install
# Remove shell and package manager — prevents interactive exploitation
RUN rm -f /bin/sh /bin/bash /bin/dash && apt-get purge -y --auto-remove apt

Image Scanning and Signing

trivy image --severity HIGH,CRITICAL my-robot/navigation:latest
cosign sign --key cosign.key my-registry.io/my-robot/navigation:v1.2.3
cosign verify --key cosign.pub my-registry.io/my-robot/navigation:v1.2.3 || exit 1

Read-Only Root Filesystem

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  motor_controller:
    image: my-robot/motor-controller:v1.0.0
    user: "1000:1000"
    read_only: true
    tmpfs: ["/tmp:size=64M", "/var/log/ros:size=32M"]
    volumes:
      - type: bind
        source: /opt/robot/sros2_keystore/enclaves/my_robot/motor_controller
        target: /keystore
        read_only: true
    security_opt: ["no-new-privileges:true"]
    cap_drop: [ALL]
    environment:
      ROS_SECURITY_KEYSTORE: /keystore
      ROS_SECURITY_ENABLE: "true"
      ROS_SECURITY_STRATEGY: Enforce

Physical-Cyber Safety Intersection

Cyber attacks on robots cause physical harm. Standard IT security is necessary but not sufficient.

E-Stop Independence

The emergency stop must function with all software, network, and main compute completely dead.

  ┌──────────┐     HARDWIRED      ┌─────────────────┐
  │ Physical  │ ─────────────────▶│ Safety Relay /   │──▶ Motor power cut
  │ E-Stop    │  Direct circuit    │ Safety PLC       │   via contactor
  │ Button    │  NO software       └─────────────────┘
  └──────────┘
  ┌──────────┐     OPTIONAL
  │ Software  │ ───(notifies)───▶ Can trigger relay, but NOT sole path
  │ E-Stop    │
  └──────────┘
  Main compute crash ──X──▶ Cannot prevent hardware e-stop
  Network failure    ──X──▶ Cannot prevent hardware e-stop

Design rules: hardwired circuit disconnects motor power; software triggers the relay but is never the only path; wireless e-stops use dedicated radio, not WiFi.

Safety Controller Isolation

┌──────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┐
│ MAIN COMPUTE (Jetson/x86)    │ SAFETY CONTROLLER (STM32/MCU) │
│ Ubuntu + ROS2                │ Bare-metal firmware            │
│ Nav, Perception, Planning    │                               │
│             ──── CAN/UART ──▶│ Validates:                    │
│                cmd_vel        │ - Max velocity                │
│                               │ - Max acceleration            │
│             ◀── joint_fb ────│ - Workspace limits            │
│                               │ - Watchdog timeout            │
│ If compromised, safety       │ Rejects out-of-bounds cmds    │
│ controller STILL enforces    │ Runs on separate hardware     │
│ physical limits.             │ Does NOT run ROS2 or Linux    │
└──────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────┘

Command Velocity Validation and Rate Limiting

Enforce at the driver level — last line of defense before actuators:

# velocity_safety_gate.py
import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node
from geometry_msgs.msg import Twist

class VelocitySafetyGate(Node):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('velocity_safety_gate')
        self.declare_parameter('max_linear_vel', 1.0)   # m/s
        self.declare_parameter('max_angular_vel', 2.0)   # rad/s
        self.declare_parameter('max_linear_accel', 0.5)  # m/s^2
        self.declare_parameter('cmd_timeout_sec', 0.5)
        self.declare_parameter('max_cmd_rate_hz', 50.0)

        self.max_lin = s

…

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [arpitg1304](https://github.com/arpitg1304)
- **Source:** [arpitg1304/robotics-agent-skills](https://github.com/arpitg1304/robotics-agent-skills)
- **License:** Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.