diff --git a/openclaw_assistant/config.yaml b/openclaw_assistant/config.yaml
index 3b99056..f9421ca 100644
--- a/openclaw_assistant/config.yaml
+++ b/openclaw_assistant/config.yaml
@@ -89,8 +89,13 @@ options:
   force_ipv4_dns: false
 
   # Environment variables to pass to the gateway (semicolon-separated key=value pairs)
-  # Example: "SERVICE_API=123;SERVICE2_API=1231"
-  # These will be exported as environment variables when running the gateway
+  # Format: "KEY1=value1;KEY2=value2" (semicolon-separated, no spaces around '=')
+  # Examples:
+  #   - API keys: "OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-abc123;ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=claude-key"
+  #   - Service URLs: "SERVICE_URL=https://api.example.com;LOG_LEVEL=debug"
+  #   - Features: "FEATURE_FLAG_X=1;FEATURE_FLAG_Y=0"
+  # Limits: max 50 variables, max key length 255 chars, max value length 10000 chars
+  # Note: Values may contain special characters; they are not shell-escaped
   gateway_env_vars: ""
 
 
diff --git a/openclaw_assistant/oc_config_helper.py b/openclaw_assistant/oc_config_helper.py
index 3bfbd44..aecc798 100644
--- a/openclaw_assistant/oc_config_helper.py
+++ b/openclaw_assistant/oc_config_helper.py
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 CONFIG_PATH = Path(os.environ.get("OPENCLAW_CONFIG_PATH", "/config/.openclaw/openclaw.json"))
 
+# Limits for environment variable handling
+MAX_ENV_VARS = 50
+MAX_ENV_VAR_NAME_SIZE = 255
+MAX_ENV_VAR_VALUE_SIZE = 10000
+
 
 
 def read_config():
@@ -150,13 +155,37 @@ def apply_gateway_settings(mode: str, bind_mode: str, port: int, enable_openai_a
                 if '=' not in pair:
                     print(f"WARN: Invalid env var format '{pair}' (missing '=')")
                     continue
+                
                 key, value = pair.split('=', 1)
                 key = key.strip()
                 value = value.strip()
+                
+                # Validate key format
                 if not key:
                     print(f"WARN: Invalid env var key (empty)")
                     continue
+                if not re.match(r'^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$', key):
+                    print(f"WARN: Invalid env var name '{key}' (must start with letter/underscore)")
+                    continue
+                
+                # Enforce size limits
+                if len(key) > MAX_ENV_VAR_NAME_SIZE:
+                    print(f"ERROR: Environment variable name '{key}' too long (max {MAX_ENV_VAR_NAME_SIZE} chars)")
+                    return False
+                if len(value) > MAX_ENV_VAR_VALUE_SIZE:
+                    print(f"ERROR: Environment variable '{key}' value too large (max {MAX_ENV_VAR_VALUE_SIZE} chars)")
+                    return False
+                
+                # Warn about duplicate keys
+                if key in new_env_vars:
+                    print(f"WARN: Environment variable '{key}' appears multiple times; using last value")
+                
                 new_env_vars[key] = value
+            
+            # Enforce limit on total variables
+            if len(new_env_vars) > MAX_ENV_VARS:
+                print(f"ERROR: Too many environment variables ({len(new_env_vars)}), max {MAX_ENV_VARS}")
+                return False
         except Exception as e:
             print(f"ERROR: Failed to parse environment variables: {e}")
             return False
@@ -164,7 +193,8 @@ def apply_gateway_settings(mode: str, bind_mode: str, port: int, enable_openai_a
     if new_env_vars != current_env_vars:
         gateway["env"] = new_env_vars
         if new_env_vars:
-            changes.append(f"env: {len(new_env_vars)} variables")
+            var_names = ', '.join(sorted(new_env_vars.keys()))
+            changes.append(f"env: {var_names}")
         else:
             changes.append("env: cleared")
     
diff --git a/openclaw_assistant/run.sh b/openclaw_assistant/run.sh
index b9ef6b7..76a4cc0 100644
--- a/openclaw_assistant/run.sh
+++ b/openclaw_assistant/run.sh
@@ -152,21 +152,46 @@ export PATH="${PNPM_HOME}:${PATH}"
 # These are user-defined variables that should be available to the gateway process
 if [ -n "$GW_ENV_VARS" ]; then
   echo "INFO: Setting gateway environment variables from add-on config..."
-  IFS=';' read -ra ENV_VARS <<< "$GW_ENV_VARS"
-  for var in "${ENV_VARS[@]}"; do
-    var=$(echo "$var" | xargs)  # trim whitespace
-    if [ -z "$var" ]; then
+  env_count=0
+  max_env_vars=50
+  max_var_name_size=255
+  
+  while IFS='=' read -r key value; do
+    # Skip empty lines
+    if [ -z "$key" ]; then
       continue
     fi
-    if [[ ! "$var" =~ ^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*=.*$ ]]; then
-      echo "WARN: Invalid environment variable format: '$var' (skipping)"
+    
+    # Trim whitespace
+    key=$(echo "$key" | xargs)
+    value=$(echo "$value" | xargs)
+    
+    # Validate variable name format
+    if ! [[ "$key" =~ ^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$ ]]; then
+      echo "WARN: Invalid environment variable name: '$key' (must start with letter/underscore, skip)"
       continue
     fi
-    export "$var"
-    # Extract key for logging (don't log values for security)
-    key="${var%%=*}"
+    
+    # Enforce max variable name length
+    if [ ${#key} -gt $max_var_name_size ]; then
+      echo "WARN: Environment variable name too long: '$key' (max $max_var_name_size chars, skip)"
+      continue
+    fi
+    
+    # Enforce limit on number of variables
+    if [ $env_count -ge $max_env_vars ]; then
+      echo "WARN: Maximum environment variables limit ($max_env_vars) reached (skip)"
+      continue
+    fi
+    
+    export "$key=$value"
+    ((env_count++))
     echo "INFO: Exported gateway env var: $key"
-  done
+  done < <(echo "$GW_ENV_VARS" | tr ';' '\n')
+  
+  if [ $env_count -gt 0 ]; then
+    echo "INFO: Successfully exported $env_count gateway environment variable(s)"
+  fi
 fi
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------