fix(routes): canonicalize the workspace before comparing it to a resolved path

validateSessionFilePath realpath-resolves the candidate path but compared it
against the raw sessionWorkingDir. When the workspace is itself reached through
a symlink the two sides live in different namespaces, so relative() reports a
spurious `../` and every file in that workspace is judged an escape — reads and
writes in the session are refused wholesale.

That is not an exotic setup: os.tmpdir() hands back a symlinked path on macOS
(/tmp -> /private/tmp), and symlinked project directories and bind-mounted case
paths hit it too.

Resolve both sides and compare canonical to canonical. This only makes the
comparison honest — it does not widen it. The candidate keeps its own realpath,
so a symlink pointing out of the workspace and a ../ traversal are still
refused, and a workspace that cannot be resolved now fails closed.

Three stubs in file-routes.test.ts used a blanket
realpathSync.mockReturnValue(escapeTarget), which answers the same path for the
workspace and the candidate; with both sides resolved that makes an escape look
contained. They now use the input-aware mockImplementation idiom the rest of
that file already uses, so the workspace resolves to itself and only the
candidate escapes. Verified they still bite: removing the confinement check
turns all of them red.

Adds test/route-helpers-symlink-confinement.test.ts, which exercises the
function against a real symlinked workspace on disk and pins the negative cases
(../ escape, symlink-out, missing file) alongside the fix.
This commit is contained in:
Aamer Akhter
2026-08-18 10:46:21 -04:00
parent 5080390e2c
commit 8e5691b05c
3 changed files with 105 additions and 6 deletions
+13 -3
View File
@@ -63,19 +63,29 @@ export async function readJsonConfig<T>(filePath: string, logLabel: string, defa
* Validates that a file path (possibly containing symlinks) resolves to a location
* within the given session working directory. Returns the resolved and relative paths,
* or null if the path escapes the directory or doesn't exist.
*
* BOTH sides are realpath-resolved before they are compared. Resolving only the
* candidate leaves the two paths in different namespaces whenever the workspace
* itself is reached through a symlink, and `relative()` then reports a spurious
* `../` for a file that is genuinely inside it — refusing every read and write in
* that session. A symlinked workspace is ordinary: `os.tmpdir()` returns one on
* macOS (`/tmp` -> `/private/tmp`), as do symlinked project dirs and bind-mounted
* case paths. Canonicalizing the base only makes the comparison honest; escapes
* are still refused, since the candidate keeps its own realpath.
*/
export function validateSessionFilePath(
sessionWorkingDir: string,
filePath: string
): { resolvedPath: string; relativePath: string } | null {
const fullPath = resolve(sessionWorkingDir, filePath);
let resolvedWorkingDir: string;
let resolvedPath: string;
try {
resolvedPath = realpathSync(fullPath);
resolvedWorkingDir = realpathSync(sessionWorkingDir);
resolvedPath = realpathSync(resolve(sessionWorkingDir, filePath));
} catch {
return null;
}
const relativePath = relative(sessionWorkingDir, resolvedPath);
const relativePath = relative(resolvedWorkingDir, resolvedPath);
if (relativePath.startsWith('..') || isAbsolute(relativePath)) {
return null;
}
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
// Port: none (pure function over a real temp filesystem).
//
// `validateSessionFilePath` is the shared confinement gate for the file-serving
// and file-writing routes: it answers "does this path resolve to somewhere
// inside the session workspace". It realpath-resolves the CANDIDATE so a
// symlink cannot smuggle a path out of the workspace — but the workspace it
// compares against must be canonical too, or the two sides are expressed in
// different namespaces and `relative()` reports a spurious `../`.
//
// That is not exotic: a symlinked workspace is the norm on macOS, where
// `/tmp` is a symlink to `/private/tmp` and `os.tmpdir()` hands back the
// symlinked form, and it also covers symlinked project dirs and bind-mounted
// case paths. The effect is a workspace whose own files are all judged to be
// outside it, so every read and write in that session is refused.
import { mkdtempSync, mkdirSync, realpathSync, rmSync, symlinkSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
import { join } from 'node:path';
import { afterAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
import { validateSessionFilePath } from '../src/web/route-helpers.js';
// realpath the root itself so the fixture controls which side is symlinked,
// rather than inheriting whatever os.tmpdir() happens to be on this platform.
const root = realpathSync(mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'codeman-confinement-')));
const realWorkspace = join(root, 'real-workspace');
const linkedWorkspace = join(root, 'linked-workspace');
mkdirSync(join(realWorkspace, 'nested'), { recursive: true });
writeFileSync(join(realWorkspace, 'notes.md'), '# notes\n');
writeFileSync(join(realWorkspace, 'nested', 'deep.txt'), 'deep\n');
symlinkSync(realWorkspace, linkedWorkspace, 'dir');
afterAll(() => rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true }));
describe('validateSessionFilePath', () => {
it('accepts a file inside a workspace reached through a symlink', () => {
// The regression: the candidate is realpath'd to /…/real-workspace/notes.md
// while the base stays /…/linked-workspace, so a naive relative() yields
// '../real-workspace/notes.md' and the file is refused as an escape.
const result = validateSessionFilePath(linkedWorkspace, 'notes.md');
expect(result).not.toBeNull();
expect(result!.relativePath).toBe('notes.md');
expect(result!.resolvedPath).toBe(join(realWorkspace, 'notes.md'));
});
it('keeps the relative path usable for nested files under a symlinked workspace', () => {
// relativePath is what callers hand back to the client and re-join later,
// so an absolute or ../-prefixed value is a bug even when non-null.
const result = validateSessionFilePath(linkedWorkspace, 'nested/deep.txt');
expect(result).not.toBeNull();
expect(result!.relativePath).toBe(join('nested', 'deep.txt'));
});
it('accepts the same file through the canonical workspace path', () => {
const result = validateSessionFilePath(realWorkspace, 'notes.md');
expect(result).not.toBeNull();
expect(result!.relativePath).toBe('notes.md');
});
it('still refuses a traversal escape from a symlinked workspace', () => {
// The point of canonicalizing the base is to make the comparison honest,
// NOT to loosen it: an escape must stay refused on both spellings.
writeFileSync(join(root, 'outside.txt'), 'outside\n');
expect(validateSessionFilePath(linkedWorkspace, '../outside.txt')).toBeNull();
expect(validateSessionFilePath(realWorkspace, '../outside.txt')).toBeNull();
});
it('still refuses a symlink that points out of the workspace', () => {
// The candidate-side realpath must keep doing its job.
writeFileSync(join(root, 'secret.txt'), 'secret\n');
symlinkSync(join(root, 'secret.txt'), join(realWorkspace, 'escape.txt'));
expect(validateSessionFilePath(linkedWorkspace, 'escape.txt')).toBeNull();
});
it('returns null for a path that does not exist', () => {
expect(validateSessionFilePath(linkedWorkspace, 'nope.md')).toBeNull();
});
});
+9 -3
View File
@@ -668,7 +668,9 @@ describe('file-routes', () => {
it('rejects path traversal attempts', async () => {
// realpathSync resolves the symlink to a path outside workingDir
mockedRealpathSync.mockReturnValue('/etc/passwd' as never);
mockedRealpathSync.mockImplementation(
(p: string) => (p === harness.ctx._session.workingDir ? p : '/etc/passwd') as never
);
const res = await harness.app.inject({
method: 'GET',
@@ -773,7 +775,9 @@ describe('file-routes', () => {
});
it('rejects path traversal in raw file serving', async () => {
mockedRealpathSync.mockReturnValue('/etc/shadow' as never);
mockedRealpathSync.mockImplementation(
(p: string) => (p === harness.ctx._session.workingDir ? p : '/etc/shadow') as never
);
const res = await harness.app.inject({
method: 'GET',
@@ -868,7 +872,9 @@ describe('file-routes', () => {
});
it('rejects symlink targets that escape the session working directory', async () => {
mockedRealpathSync.mockReturnValue('/tmp/outside-workdir/link.log' as never);
mockedRealpathSync.mockImplementation(
(p: string) => (p === harness.ctx._session.workingDir ? p : '/tmp/outside-workdir/link.log') as never
);
const res = await harness.app.inject({
method: 'GET',