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ChuckBuilds fb0e869bf6 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.
2026-08-20 02:25:01 -04:00
2 changed files with 97 additions and 3 deletions
+10 -3
View File
@@ -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 *
$ACTUAL_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $JOURNALCTL_PATH -u ledmatrix *
$ACTUAL_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $JOURNALCTL_PATH -t ledmatrix *
# NOEXEC, because these rules end in a wildcard and journalctl starts a pager
# when its output is a terminal. From that pager (less) a "!sh" is a root
# 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
+87
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@@ -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}"