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Keep COMPUTER_TOKEN out of reach of the computer's own children - #892
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prysthedev wants to merge 1 commit into
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prysthedev wants to merge 1 commit into
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A Bot's shell commands are given a scrubbed environment, but they run as the same user as the computer process, and so do Chromium and Xvfb, which Playwright launches with the full process environment. Any of them could read the token back from /proc/<pid>/environ, either the computer's own or the browser's. With the token, a command can call the computer API directly, which bypasses the server's gateway, and on a computer several people share it can act on any seat. The computer now removes COMPUTER_TOKEN from process.env as it reads it, so no child inherits it, and marks itself non-dumpable on Linux (PR_SET_DUMPABLE), so a same-user process without CAP_SYS_PTRACE cannot read its environment or memory. COMPUTER_DUMPABLE=on opts out for debugging; a failure to set it is logged rather than fatal. Not covered: a command that can reach root with CAP_SYS_PTRACE, or the container's environment files (the one-container image's apt sudo rule reaches root). Per-computer tokens in supervisor mode would be the next layer of defence.
prysthedev
requested review from
MikeRyanDev,
davidmckayv,
dustywusty,
guidovizoso,
mxmzb,
samjulien and
tylerslaton
as code owners
October 29, 2026 23:37
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A Bot's shell commands get a scrubbed environment (
shell.ts), but they run as the same user as the computer process, and so do Chromium and Xvfb, which Playwright launches with the full process environment. A command could readCOMPUTER_TOKENback from another process's/proc/<pid>/environ. With it, a command can call the computer API directly, outside the server's gateway, and on a computer several people share, for any seat.Changes:
agent-computer/src/secret-env.ts:takeSecretFromEnvreads the token and deletes it fromprocess.env, so no child started afterwards inherits it.hideProcessFromChildrensetsPR_SET_DUMPABLE=0throughbun:ffion Linux, so a same-user process withoutCAP_SYS_PTRACEcannot read the computer's environment or memory.COMPUTER_DUMPABLE=onopts out; a failure is logged, not fatal.index.tsuses both before anything is spawned.docs/architecture.mdsays what this does and does not cover.Not covered: root with
CAP_SYS_PTRACE, or the container's own environment files (the one-container image's apt sudo rule reaches root). A per-computer token in supervisor mode would be a sensible follow-up.Tests:
agent-computer/tests/secret-env.test.ts.