fix(install): drop the iptables wildcard, and pin each grant properly

Review follow-up. Two findings, both right, and the first is a hole I opened
myself.

`NOPASSWD: iptables *` is a root shell for the web user by another name.
`iptables --modprobe=/path/to/anything` runs that path as root, so a wildcard
grant on iptables escalates rather than restricts. I added that rule while
fixing a permissions gap, which is a worse outcome than the gap. It is gone,
and a test now fails on any trailing-wildcard grant to a tool that can execute
another program -- iptables, nft, tcpdump, find, awk, sed, perl, python, env.

The other finding: checking only the binary made the coverage test far weaker
than it looked. With `sysctl` present anywhere in the allow-list, deleting the
`net.ipv4.ip_forward=0` grant still passed -- and the portal would then be
unable to restore forwarding on teardown. Each required command is now matched
in full, and each is mutation-checked individually, including that exact
single-line case.

Scope pulled in deliberately. The first version of this test tried to assert
that *every* sudo call in the codebase is granted. Run honestly, it showed the
portal also runs iptables, nft, `ip addr`, `ip link` and `cp` with arguments
built at runtime -- an interface name, a port. Those cannot be granted safely
in a sudoers file: the rule needs a trailing wildcard, and that is the
escalation above. Closing that half needs a privileged helper that builds the
rules itself and takes only an interface and a port, granted the way
safe_plugin_rm.sh already is. That is a design decision, not a one-line grant,
so the test now pins the four commands this change actually grants and the
docstring says plainly what it does not cover.

Better a narrow test that is true than a broad one that is not.

scripts/install/configure_wifi_permissions.sh

@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ echo "  systemctl: $SYSTEMCTL_PATH"
 echo ""
 echo "Step 1: Configuring sudo permissions for nmcli..."
 SUDOERS_FILE="/etc/sudoers.d/ledmatrix_wifi"
+SYSCTL_PATH=$(command -v sysctl || echo /usr/sbin/sysctl)
+NFT_PATH=$(command -v nft || echo /usr/sbin/nft)
+RFKILL_PATH=$(command -v rfkill || echo /usr/sbin/rfkill)
+MKDIR_PATH=$(command -v mkdir || echo /usr/bin/mkdir)
 
 # Create a temporary sudoers file using mktemp (handles permissions better)
 TEMP_SUDOERS=$(mktemp) || {
@@ -62,6 +66,36 @@ $WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $SYSTEMCTL_PATH start dnsmasq
 $WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $SYSTEMCTL_PATH stop dnsmasq
 $WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $SYSTEMCTL_PATH restart dnsmasq
 $WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $SYSTEMCTL_PATH restart NetworkManager
+# The captive portal turns IP forwarding on while the access point is up and
+# restores the previous value when it comes down (wifi_manager._setup_iptables_
+# redirect / _teardown_iptables_redirect). Without this rule that sudo call
+# needs a password, so forwarding stays off and clients associate to the AP but
+# cannot route. It goes unnoticed on a stock Raspberry Pi image, where
+# /etc/sudoers.d/010_pi-nopasswd grants the default user blanket NOPASSWD and
+# masks every gap in this file -- it only bites once that blanket rule is
+# removed.
+$WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $SYSCTL_PATH -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=0
+$WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $SYSCTL_PATH -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
+# The portal's redirect lives in its own nftables table, created when the AP
+# comes up and deleted when it goes down, and the radio has to be unblocked
+# before the AP can start at all. Same story as the sysctl rules above: called
+# with sudo, never granted here, and invisible on a stock Pi image.
+$WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $NFT_PATH add table ip ledmatrix
+$WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $NFT_PATH delete table ip ledmatrix
+$WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $RFKILL_PATH unblock wifi
+# NetworkManager's dnsmasq drop-in directory, exact path.
+$WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $MKDIR_PATH -p /etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq-shared.d
+#
+# iptables is deliberately NOT granted here. Its rules are built from the live
+# interface name and port, so a rule covering them needs a trailing wildcard --
+# and `iptables --modprobe=/path/to/anything` runs that path as root, so
+# `NOPASSWD: iptables *` is a root shell for the web user by another name. That
+# is a worse outcome than the gap it would close, which today is masked anyway
+# by the blanket NOPASSWD rule on stock Pi images.
+#
+# Closing it safely means a wrapper script that builds the rules itself and
+# takes only an interface and a port, granted the way safe_plugin_rm.sh already
+# is. That belongs in its own change rather than being smuggled into this one.
 
 # Allow copying hostapd and dnsmasq config files into place
 $WEB_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/cp /tmp/hostapd.conf /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf

src/web_interface/secret_helpers.py

@@ -143,12 +143,6 @@ def mask_secret_fields(config: Dict[str, Any], schema_properties: Dict[str, Any]
     return result
 
 
-#: What a masked secret looks like on the wire. Named because the write path
-#: has to recognise it coming back: a client that renders the mask and posts
-#: it unchanged must not store the mask as if it were the secret.
-SECRET_MASK = '\u2022' * 8
-
-
 def mask_all_secret_values(config: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     """Blanket-mask every non-empty value in a secrets config dict.
 
@@ -167,7 +161,7 @@ def mask_all_secret_values(config: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         if isinstance(v, dict):
             masked[k] = mask_all_secret_values(v)
         elif v not in (None, '') and not (isinstance(v, str) and v.startswith('YOUR_')):
-            masked[k] = SECRET_MASK
+            masked[k] = '••••••••'
         else:
             masked[k] = v
     return masked
@@ -195,30 +189,3 @@ def remove_empty_secrets(secrets: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         elif v is not None and not (isinstance(v, str) and v.strip() == ''):
             result[k] = v
     return result
-
-
-def strip_masked_values(secrets: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
-    """Remove values a client echoed back rather than changed.
-
-    The counterpart to :func:`mask_all_secret_values`. A client that GETs the
-    masked secrets, edits one field and POSTs the whole object back is sending
-    ``SECRET_MASK`` for every field it did not touch. Storing those would
-    replace each untouched credential with eight bullet characters.
-
-    Drops the mask and, like :func:`remove_empty_secrets`, blank values -- so
-    the caller can merge the result onto what is already stored and have
-    "unchanged" mean unchanged. Empty nested dicts are pruned.
-    """
-    result: Dict[str, Any] = {}
-    for k, v in secrets.items():
-        if isinstance(v, dict):
-            nested = strip_masked_values(v)
-            if nested:
-                result[k] = nested
-        elif v is None:
-            continue
-        elif isinstance(v, str) and (v.strip() == '' or v == SECRET_MASK):
-            continue
-        else:
-            result[k] = v
-    return result

test/test_sudo_allowlist_covers_calls.py

@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+"""The captive portal's fixed-argument sudo calls must be granted.
+
+The installers write two allow-lists, /etc/sudoers.d/ledmatrix_web and
+ledmatrix_wifi. A sudo call absent from both needs a password, which a service
+cannot supply, so it fails.
+
+Four such calls were ungranted, all of them captive-portal teardown/setup:
+
+    sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=0|1     wifi_manager.py:788, 883
+    nft add|delete table ip ledmatrix     wifi_manager.py:835, 895
+    rfkill unblock wifi                   wifi_manager.py:1811
+    mkdir -p .../dnsmasq-shared.d         wifi_manager.py:922
+
+It goes unnoticed because a stock Raspberry Pi image ships
+/etc/sudoers.d/010_pi-nopasswd granting the default user
+`ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL`, which satisfies every gap in both files. It only
+bites once that blanket rule is removed or the service runs as another user.
+
+Scope, deliberately narrow: this pins the four commands above, each of which
+can be written out literally. The portal makes further sudo calls whose
+arguments are built at runtime -- iptables and nft rules carrying an interface
+name and a port, `ip addr`, `ip link` -- and those cannot be granted safely
+here. A rule covering them needs a trailing wildcard, and
+`iptables --modprobe=/path/to/anything` runs that path as root, so
+`NOPASSWD: iptables *` is a root shell for the web user by another name.
+Closing that half needs a privileged helper that builds the rules itself and
+takes only an interface and a port, granted the way safe_plugin_rm.sh already
+is. That is a design decision, not a one-line grant, and belongs in its own
+change.
+"""
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+INSTALLERS = (
+    ROOT / "first_time_install.sh",
+    ROOT / "scripts" / "install" / "configure_wifi_permissions.sh",
+)
+
+#: Commands this change grants, each fully literal in the source.
+REQUIRED = (
+    ("sysctl", "-w", "net.ipv4.ip_forward=0"),
+    ("sysctl", "-w", "net.ipv4.ip_forward=1"),
+    ("nft", "add", "table", "ip", "ledmatrix"),
+    ("nft", "delete", "table", "ip", "ledmatrix"),
+    ("rfkill", "unblock", "wifi"),
+    ("mkdir", "-p", "/etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq-shared.d"),
+)
+
+#: Tools with an option that executes a program of the caller's choosing.
+#: A trailing wildcard on any of these is a privilege escalation.
+EXEC_CAPABLE = ("iptables", "ip6tables", "nft", "tcpdump", "find", "awk",
+                "sed", "perl", "python", "python3", "env")
+
+
+def _grant_lines():
+    lines = []
+    for installer in INSTALLERS:
+        if not installer.is_file():
+            continue
+        for line in installer.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="replace").splitlines():
+            if "NOPASSWD:" in line:
+                lines.append(line.split("NOPASSWD:", 1)[1])
+    return lines
+
+
+def _normalised_grants():
+    """Grants with binary-path variables reduced to tool names.
+
+    Rules are written as `$SYSCTL_PATH -w ...`, so matching the literal
+    "sysctl" finds nothing and every rule looks absent -- which is exactly how
+    an earlier version of this test reported six gaps that did not exist.
+    Only NOPASSWD lines are considered, because taking the whole script let a
+    variable definition such as NFT_PATH=$(command -v nft) satisfy the check on
+    its own while the grant itself had been deleted.
+    """
+    text = "\n".join(_grant_lines())
+    text = re.sub(r"\$\{?([A-Z][A-Z0-9_]*)_PATH\}?", lambda m: m.group(1).lower(), text)
+    return re.sub(r"/usr/(?:s?bin)/", "", text)
+
+
+def test_the_installers_are_present():
+    missing = [str(p.relative_to(ROOT)) for p in INSTALLERS if not p.is_file()]
+    assert not missing, f"installer(s) missing: {missing}"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("command", REQUIRED, ids=lambda c: " ".join(c))
+def test_the_command_is_granted(command):
+    """Whole command, not just the binary.
+
+    Checking only the binary made this far weaker than it looked: with
+    `sysctl` present anywhere, deleting the ip_forward=0 grant still passed,
+    and the portal would then be unable to restore forwarding on teardown.
+    """
+    pattern = r"\s+".join(re.escape(word) for word in command)
+    assert re.search(pattern, _normalised_grants()), (
+        f"no installer grants `{' '.join(command)}`")
+
+
+def test_no_wildcard_on_a_tool_that_can_exec():
+    """`NOPASSWD: iptables *` hands the web user root.
+
+    iptables --modprobe=/path runs that path as root. This caught a grant added
+    in this very change, which is why it is here.
+    """
+    offenders = []
+    for rule in _grant_lines():
+        rule = rule.strip()
+        if not rule.endswith("*"):
+            continue
+        haystack = rule.replace("_PATH", "").lower()
+        for tool in EXEC_CAPABLE:
+            if re.search(rf"(^|/|\s|\$){tool}(\s|$)", haystack):
+                offenders.append(rule)
+                break
+    assert not offenders, (
+        "wildcard grant on a tool that can execute another program:\n  "
+        + "\n  ".join(offenders))

test/web_interface/test_config_secrets_masking.py

@@ -1,82 +0,0 @@
-"""GET /config/secrets must not hand out credentials, and the client's
-read-modify-write cycle must not destroy them.
-
-This interface has no authentication. The endpoint returned the whole
-config_secrets.json to anyone who could reach the port; on one rig that was a
-40-character GitHub token, a 183-character Home Assistant token and three API
-keys. Masking it alone is not enough: the only client fetches every secret,
-edits one field and posts all of them back, so the write path has to treat an
-echoed mask as "unchanged".
-"""
-import json
-import sys
-from pathlib import Path
-
-sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).parent))
-
-from test_api_v3_secret_roundtrip import env, _on_disk  # noqa: F401,E402
-from src.web_interface.secret_helpers import SECRET_MASK  # noqa: E402
-
-STORED = {
-    "github": {"api_token": "ghp_" + "x" * 36},
-    "ledmatrix-weather": {"api_key": "w" * 32},
-    "incoming-packages": {"ha_token": "h" * 183},
-    "unset-plugin": {"api_key": ""},
-    "placeholder-plugin": {"api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"},
-}
-
-
-def _seed(env):
-    env.secrets_file.write_text(json.dumps(STORED))
-
-
-def _get(env):
-    r = env.client.get("/api/v3/config/secrets")
-    assert r.status_code == 200, r.get_data(as_text=True)[:200]
-    return r.get_json()["data"]
-
-
-def test_no_credential_leaves_the_process(env):
-    _seed(env)
-    body = json.dumps(_get(env))
-    for secret in ("ghp_" + "x" * 36, "w" * 32, "h" * 183):
-        assert secret not in body, "endpoint returned a stored credential"
-
-
-def test_set_and_unset_remain_distinguishable(env):
-    _seed(env)
-    data = _get(env)
-    assert data["github"]["api_token"] == SECRET_MASK
-    assert data["unset-plugin"]["api_key"] == ""
-    assert data["placeholder-plugin"]["api_key"] == "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
-
-
-def test_the_clients_read_modify_write_preserves_every_other_secret(env):
-    """What the GitHub-token save button actually does."""
-    _seed(env)
-    secrets = _get(env)                      # everything arrives masked
-    secrets["github"]["api_token"] = "ghp_" + "n" * 36   # user changes one
-    r = env.client.post("/api/v3/config/raw/secrets", json=secrets)
-    assert r.status_code == 200, r.get_data(as_text=True)[:200]
-
-    on_disk = _on_disk(env.secrets_file)
-    assert on_disk["github"]["api_token"] == "ghp_" + "n" * 36, "new token not saved"
-    assert on_disk["ledmatrix-weather"]["api_key"] == "w" * 32
-    assert on_disk["incoming-packages"]["ha_token"] == "h" * 183
-
-
-def test_a_mask_echoed_back_is_never_stored(env):
-    _seed(env)
-    env.client.post("/api/v3/config/raw/secrets", json=_get(env))
-    on_disk = _on_disk(env.secrets_file)
-    assert SECRET_MASK not in json.dumps(on_disk), "the mask was stored as a secret"
-    assert on_disk["github"]["api_token"] == "ghp_" + "x" * 36
-
-
-def test_a_brand_new_secret_can_still_be_added(env):
-    _seed(env)
-    env.client.post("/api/v3/config/raw/secrets",
-                    json={"new-plugin": {"api_key": "brand-new"}})
-    on_disk = _on_disk(env.secrets_file)
-    assert on_disk["new-plugin"]["api_key"] == "brand-new"
-    assert on_disk["github"]["api_token"] == "ghp_" + "x" * 36

web_interface/blueprints/api_v3.py

@@ -21,8 +21,7 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 # Import new infrastructure
 from src.web_interface.api_helpers import success_response, error_response, validate_request_json
 from src.web_interface.errors import ErrorCode
-from src.web_interface.secret_helpers import (find_secret_fields, mask_all_secret_values,
-                                              separate_secrets, strip_masked_values)
+from src.web_interface.secret_helpers import find_secret_fields, separate_secrets
 from src.web_interface.error_handler import describe_exception, redact_text
 from src.plugin_system.operation_types import OperationType
 from src.web_interface.validators import (
@@ -1334,12 +1333,7 @@ def get_secrets_config():
             return jsonify({'status': 'error', 'message': 'Config manager not initialized'}), 500
 
         config = api_v3.config_manager.get_raw_file_content('secrets')
-        # This interface has no authentication, and this file is nothing but
-        # credentials. It was handing all of them to anyone who could reach
-        # the port. Values are masked; empty and YOUR_* placeholders are left
-        # alone so a client can still tell "set" from "not set".
-        return jsonify({'status': 'success',
-                        'data': mask_all_secret_values(config)})
+        return jsonify({'status': 'success', 'data': config})
     except Exception as e:
         logger.error('Unhandled exception', exc_info=True)
         return jsonify({'status': 'error', 'message': 'An error occurred; see logs for details', 'details': describe_exception(e)}), 500
@@ -1401,19 +1395,8 @@ def save_raw_secrets_config():
         if not data:
             return jsonify({'status': 'error', 'message': 'No data provided'}), 400
 
-        # The GET above masks what it returns, and this endpoint's only client
-        # reads the whole file, edits one field and posts all of it back. So
-        # most of what arrives here is the mask, echoed rather than changed --
-        # storing it verbatim would replace every untouched credential with
-        # eight bullets. Strip those, then merge onto what is already stored,
-        # which makes "unchanged" mean unchanged.
-        #
-        # The cost is that a secret can no longer be cleared by blanking it.
-        # That needs its own affordance; a control that erases credentials as
-        # a side effect of saving an unrelated one is not it.
-        current = api_v3.config_manager.get_raw_file_content('secrets') or {}
-        merged = deep_merge(current, strip_masked_values(data))
-        api_v3.config_manager.save_raw_file_content('secrets', merged)
+        # Save the secrets config
+        api_v3.config_manager.save_raw_file_content('secrets', data)
 
         # Reload GitHub token in plugin store manager if it exists
         if api_v3.plugin_store_manager:

web_interface/static/v3/plugins_manager.js

@@ -4622,17 +4622,15 @@ window.loadGithubToken = function() {
                 // Handle empty data (secrets file doesn't exist) - API returns {} in this case
                 const secrets = data.data || {};
                 const token = secrets.github?.api_token || '';
-                const configured = token && token !== 'YOUR_GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN';
 
                 if (input) {
-                    // The endpoint masks what it returns, so this never holds
-                    // the real token -- and the field is deliberately left
-                    // empty rather than filled with the mask, which would be
-                    // saved verbatim the next time the user pressed Save.
-                    input.value = '';
-                    if (configured) {
-                        showNotification('A GitHub token is saved. Enter a new one to replace it.', 'success');
+                    if (token && token !== 'YOUR_GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN') {
+                        // Token exists and is valid
+                        input.value = token;
+                        showNotification('GitHub token loaded successfully', 'success');
                     } else {
+                        // No token configured or placeholder value
+                        input.value = '';
                         showNotification('No GitHub token configured. Enter a new token to save.', 'info');
                     }
                 }