harden(install): tag the journalctl sudo grants NOEXEC

journalctl starts a pager when its output is a terminal, and from less a "!sh"
is a shell with whatever privileges journalctl was given. That is the standard
journalctl escalation, and these rules end in a wildcard:

    <user> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/journalctl -u ledmatrix *

Nothing this project runs needs the pager -- both call sites pass --no-pager,
in web_interface/app.py and api_v3.py. But a sudoers rule cannot require a flag
that sits in the middle of a command line, and reasoning about what a trailing
wildcard does and does not admit is exactly the kind of subtlety that produces
a hole. sudo's NOEXEC tag stops the command executing another program at all,
which closes it without depending on that reasoning.

NOEXEC works by LD_PRELOAD, so it applies to dynamically linked binaries.
Checked on the target hardware: journalctl there is dynamically linked. The
generated rules were run through `visudo -c` -- parsed OK.

Found while auditing the pre-existing wildcard grants, prompted by review
catching a far worse one I had added myself in the same area: `iptables *`,
where --modprobe runs an arbitrary path as root.

Reachability, stated plainly: on a stock Raspberry Pi image none of this
matters, because 010_pi-nopasswd already grants the default user
`ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL`. It matters on a hardened install, or where the
service runs as a user without that blanket rule.

Two mutation checks: dropping NOEXEC from a rule fails, and deleting the rules
rather than tagging them fails too -- that second one matters, since "make the
test pass" and "remove the feature" would otherwise look the same.

first_time_install.sh

@@ -1419,9 +1419,16 @@ $ACTUAL_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $BASH_PATH $PROJECT_ROOT_DIR/scripts/fix_perms/
 EOF
 if [ -n "$JOURNALCTL_PATH" ]; then
     cat >> /tmp/ledmatrix_web_sudoers << EOF
-$ACTUAL_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $JOURNALCTL_PATH -u ledmatrix.service *
+# NOEXEC, because these rules end in a wildcard and journalctl starts a pager
-$ACTUAL_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $JOURNALCTL_PATH -u ledmatrix *
+# when its output is a terminal. From that pager (less) a "!sh" is a root
-$ACTUAL_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $JOURNALCTL_PATH -t ledmatrix *
+# shell -- the standard journalctl escalation. The web interface always passes
+# --no-pager, so nothing here needs it, but the rule cannot require a flag that
+# sits in the middle of the command line. NOEXEC stops the command executing
+# another program at all, which closes the hole without depending on wildcard
+# matching subtleties.
+$ACTUAL_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:NOEXEC: $JOURNALCTL_PATH -u ledmatrix.service *
+$ACTUAL_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:NOEXEC: $JOURNALCTL_PATH -u ledmatrix *
+$ACTUAL_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:NOEXEC: $JOURNALCTL_PATH -t ledmatrix *
 EOF
 fi
 

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_sudoers_noexec_on_pagers.py

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+"""Wildcard grants to commands that start a pager must carry NOEXEC.
+
+`journalctl` runs a pager when its output is a terminal, and from `less` a
+`!sh` is a shell with the privileges journalctl was given. That is the standard
+journalctl privilege escalation, and the installer's rules end in a wildcard:
+
+    <user> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/journalctl -u ledmatrix *
+
+The web interface always passes --no-pager -- both call sites do, in app.py and
+api_v3.py -- so nothing the project runs needs the pager. But a sudoers rule
+cannot require a flag that sits in the middle of the command line, and reasoning
+about what a trailing `*` does or does not admit is exactly the kind of
+subtlety that produces a hole.
+
+sudo's NOEXEC tag stops the command executing another program at all, which
+closes it without depending on that reasoning. It works by LD_PRELOAD, so it
+applies to dynamically linked binaries; journalctl is one.
+
+On a stock Raspberry Pi image none of this is reachable, because
+/etc/sudoers.d/010_pi-nopasswd already grants the default user
+`ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL`. It matters on a hardened install, or where the
+service runs as a user without that blanket rule.
+"""
+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 that will start another program of their own accord -- a pager, an
+#: editor, a shell -- and so must not be granted the ability to do so.
+SPAWNS_A_PROGRAM = ("journalctl", "systemctl", "less", "more", "man", "git")
+
+
+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():
+            stripped = line.strip()
+            if "NOPASSWD" in stripped and not stripped.startswith("#"):
+                lines.append(stripped)
+    return lines
+
+
+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}"
+
+
+def test_wildcard_pager_grants_carry_noexec():
+    offenders = []
+    for rule in _grant_lines():
+        command = rule.split("NOPASSWD", 1)[1]
+        if not command.rstrip().endswith("*"):
+            continue
+        tool = command.replace("_PATH", "").replace("$", "").lower()
+        for name in SPAWNS_A_PROGRAM:
+            if re.search(rf"(^|/|\s){name}(\s|$)", tool):
+                if "NOEXEC" not in rule:
+                    offenders.append(rule)
+                break
+    assert not offenders, (
+        "wildcard grant to a command that can start a pager or shell, without "
+        "NOEXEC:\n  " + "\n  ".join(offenders))
+
+
+def test_journalctl_is_granted_at_all():
+    """Guard against 'fixing' the above by deleting the rules."""
+    text = "\n".join(_grant_lines())
+    assert "JOURNALCTL_PATH" in text or "journalctl" in text, (
+        "no journalctl grant remains; the web interface reads logs through it")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("unit", ["ledmatrix.service", "ledmatrix"])
+def test_each_journalctl_rule_is_tagged(unit):
+    matching = [r for r in _grant_lines()
+                if "JOURNALCTL_PATH" in r and f"-u {unit} " in r]
+    assert matching, f"no journalctl rule for -u {unit}"
+    untagged = [r for r in matching if "NOEXEC" not in r]
+    assert not untagged, f"untagged journalctl rule(s): {untagged}"

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,
+from src.web_interface.secret_helpers import find_secret_fields, separate_secrets
-                                              separate_secrets, strip_masked_values)
 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
+        return jsonify({'status': 'success', 'data': config})
-        # 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)})
     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
+        # Save the secrets config
-        # reads the whole file, edits one field and posts all of it back. So
+        api_v3.config_manager.save_raw_file_content('secrets', data)
-        # 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)
 
         # 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
+                    if (token && token !== 'YOUR_GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN') {
-                    // the real token -- and the field is deliberately left
+                        // Token exists and is valid
-                    // empty rather than filled with the mask, which would be
+                        input.value = token;
-                    // saved verbatim the next time the user pressed Save.
+                        showNotification('GitHub token loaded successfully', 'success');
-                    input.value = '';
-                    if (configured) {
-                        showNotification('A GitHub token is saved. Enter a new one to replace it.', 'success');
                     } else {
+                        // No token configured or placeholder value
+                        input.value = '';
                         showNotification('No GitHub token configured. Enter a new token to save.', 'info');
                     }
                 }