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Shell Server Troubleshooting

Having issues with the Shell Server? Check these common problems and solutions.

For setup instructions, see the Getting Started guide.

Common issues

Server not running - Ensure Docker is installed and the shell server container is running. When running correctly, you should see logs similar to:

$ docker run --rm --network host --user root ghcr.io/vulnetic-inc/shell-container
INFO: Started server process [1]
INFO: Waiting for application startup.
INFO: Application startup complete.
INFO: Uvicorn running on http://0.0.0.0:8001 (Press CTRL+C to quit)

Note: When on the /profile page, you will see repeated probes to the shell server to check the status.

Port conflicts - Another service might be using port 8001. You may see an error like this:

$ docker run --rm --network host --user root ghcr.io/vulnetic-inc/shell-container
INFO: Started server process [1]
INFO: Waiting for application startup.
INFO: Application startup complete.
ERROR: [Errno 98] error while attempting to bind on address ('0.0.0.0', 8001): [errno 98] address already in use
INFO: Waiting for application shutdown.
INFO: Application shutdown complete.

Browser Blocking - Some browsers (notably Brave) can block the connection between the Shell Server and app.vulnetic.ai. To resolve this, turn off Brave Shields by clicking the Brave icon in the top-right of the browser and toggling Shields off for app.vulnetic.ai.

Chrome 142+ - Chrome 142 and later versions may block local network access. If you experience connection issues, grant permission via Chrome settings: 1. Go to Chrome → Settings → Privacy and Security → Site Settings → Local network access 2. Add app.vulnetic.ai to allowed sites

Port Forwarding

If you want to run the shell container on an internal network device while accessing the dashboard from a different machine, you can use SSH port forwarding to tunnel the connection.

Run this command on the machine where you'll access the dashboard:

ssh -L 8001:localhost:8001 <internal_device_username>@<internal_device_ip>

Setting Up SSH on the Internal Device

  1. Enable OpenSSH Server:

    • Go to Settings → Apps → Optional Features → Add a feature
    • Search for OpenSSH Server and click Install

  2. Start and configure the SSH service (run in elevated PowerShell): 

    Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0
Start-Service sshd
Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType Automatic

Start the SSH service: 

sudo systemctl start ssh

To enable SSH on boot: 

sudo systemctl enable ssh

Disabling Responder

The shell container includes a built-in Responder service that auto-starts by default. If you want to disable this behavior, you have two options:

Using the Command Line Flag

Pass the --no-responder flag when starting the container:

docker run --rm --network host --user root ghcr.io/vulnetic-inc/shell-container --no-responder

Using an Environment Variable

Set the RESPONDER_AUTOSTART environment variable to false:

docker run --rm --network host --user root -e RESPONDER_AUTOSTART=false ghcr.io/vulnetic-inc/shell-container