fix(service_manager): s6 detection works for unprivileged hermes user

PR #30136 review surfaced two issues, both rooted in the same audit gap:
docker integration tests were running as root, not the unprivileged
`hermes` user (UID 10000) that the runtime actually uses via
`s6-setuidgid hermes`. Anything that probed PID-1 state or wrote to
the s6 control surface worked as root in the tests but was inert in
production.

Fixes:

1. `_s6_running()` previously called `Path("/proc/1/exe").resolve()`,
   which is root-only readable. For UID 10000 the symlink yields
   PermissionError, `resolve()` silently returns the unresolved path,
   and `exe.name == "exe"` — so detection always returned False, the
   service-manager runtime-registration path was inert, and every
   `hermes profile create` / `hermes -p X gateway start` silently
   skipped the s6 hook. Replace with `/proc/1/comm` (world-readable)
   + `/run/s6/basedir` (s6-overlay-specific) — both required, fail
   closed.

2. `02-reconcile-profiles` now also chowns `/run/service/.s6-svscan/`
   {control,lock} to hermes so `s6-svscanctl -a/-an` works without
   root. Previously the directory chown stopped at `/run/service`
   and the FIFO inside stayed root-owned, so `register_profile_gateway`
   from hermes failed at the rescan-trigger step with EACCES — the
   wrapper in profiles.py caught the exception and printed a swallowed
   warning, so profile creation appeared to succeed while the slot
   was rolled back.

Audit changes to flush this class of bug next time:

- Add `docker_exec` / `docker_exec_sh` helpers to `tests/docker/conftest.py`
  that default to `-u hermes`. The module docstring explains why and
  flags `user="root"` as opt-in only for tests that explicitly need
  root (none currently do).
- Refactor every `docker exec` call in tests/docker/ through the new
  helpers (test_dashboard.py, test_zombie_reaping.py, test_profile_gateway.py,
  test_container_restart.py, test_s6_profile_gateway_integration.py).
- Add 5 unit tests covering `_s6_running` under various probe states
  (both signals present; comm wrong; basedir missing; PermissionError
  on /proc/1/comm; missing /proc — non-Linux). The PermissionError
  test is the explicit regression guard for the original bug.

Known follow-up: the per-service `supervise/control` FIFO inside each
`/run/service/gateway-<profile>/supervise/` is created root-owned by
s6-supervise (which runs as root because s6-svscan is PID 1). `s6-svc
-u/-d/-t` from the hermes user will get EACCES on those. The audit
under `-u hermes` will reveal this in lifecycle tests — surfacing the
issue cleanly so it can be fixed in a focused follow-up (likely via a
small SUID helper or a polling chown loop in cont-init.d). The
detection + svscanctl fixes here are independent and complete on
their own.
This commit is contained in:
Ben 2026-05-23 14:56:39 +10:00
parent a6f7171a5e
commit 2f8ceeab9a
9 changed files with 241 additions and 53 deletions

View file

@ -84,3 +84,56 @@ def container_name(request) -> Iterator[str]:
["docker", "rm", "-f", name],
capture_output=True, timeout=10,
)
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# docker_exec — default to the unprivileged hermes user
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Background: every Hermes runtime path inside the container drops to UID
# 10000 (the ``hermes`` user) via ``s6-setuidgid hermes``. ``docker exec``
# without ``-u`` runs as root, which is **not** representative of how
# production code executes. PR #30136 review caught a real regression
# this way — ``Path('/proc/1/exe').resolve()`` works as root and silently
# fails (PermissionError swallowed) for hermes, so a test that ran as root
# couldn't catch a feature that was inert for the actual runtime user.
#
# Tests in this directory MUST exercise the realistic user context. The
# helpers below run every probe under ``-u hermes`` unless a specific
# test explicitly opts into ``user="root"`` (rare — e.g. inspecting
# /proc/1/exe itself, chowning a volume).
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
def docker_exec(
container: str,
*args: str,
user: str = "hermes",
timeout: int = 30,
extra_docker_args: tuple[str, ...] = (),
) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
"""Run a command inside ``container`` as ``user`` (default: hermes).
Returns the CompletedProcess with text=True, capture_output=True.
Pass ``user="root"`` only when the test specifically needs root
capabilities (e.g. reading /proc/1/exe, manipulating ownership).
Most tests should use the default.
"""
cmd = ["docker", "exec", "-u", user, *extra_docker_args, container, *args]
return subprocess.run(
cmd, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=timeout,
)
def docker_exec_sh(
container: str,
command: str,
*,
user: str = "hermes",
timeout: int = 30,
) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
"""Run ``sh -c <command>`` inside the container as ``user``."""
return docker_exec(
container, "sh", "-c", command, user=user, timeout=timeout,
)

View file

@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ auto-start only those whose last state was `running`.
These tests stand up a container with a named volume, create profiles
inside it in various gateway states, restart the container, and
assert the reconciler did the right thing.
Every ``docker exec`` here runs as the unprivileged ``hermes`` user
(via :func:`docker_exec` / :func:`docker_exec_sh` in conftest); see
the conftest module docstring.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
@ -17,6 +21,8 @@ import time
import pytest
from tests.docker.conftest import docker_exec, docker_exec_sh
def _docker(*args: str, **kw) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
return subprocess.run(
@ -27,11 +33,11 @@ def _docker(*args: str, **kw) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
def _exec(container: str, *args: str, timeout: int = 30) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
return _docker("exec", container, *args, timeout=timeout)
return docker_exec(container, *args, timeout=timeout)
def _sh(container: str, cmd: str, timeout: int = 30) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
return _docker("exec", container, "sh", "-c", cmd, timeout=timeout)
return docker_exec_sh(container, cmd, timeout=timeout)
@pytest.fixture

View file

@ -5,12 +5,18 @@ it stays dead. After Phase 2 (s6): dashboard starts once; if it crashes
it is restarted under supervision. The restart-after-crash test lives in
Phase 2 Task 2.5; this file only locks the opt-in surface (which must
not change between tini and s6).
Every ``docker exec`` here runs as the unprivileged ``hermes`` user
(via :func:`docker_exec`/:func:`docker_exec_sh` in conftest), matching
the realistic runtime context. See the conftest module docstring.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import subprocess
import time
from tests.docker.conftest import docker_exec, docker_exec_sh
def _poll(container: str, probe: str, *, deadline_s: float = 30.0,
interval_s: float = 0.5) -> tuple[bool, str]:
@ -19,10 +25,7 @@ def _poll(container: str, probe: str, *, deadline_s: float = 30.0,
end = time.monotonic() + deadline_s
last = ""
while time.monotonic() < end:
r = subprocess.run(
["docker", "exec", container, "sh", "-c", probe],
capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=10,
)
r = docker_exec_sh(container, probe, timeout=10)
last = r.stdout
if r.returncode == 0:
return True, last
@ -42,11 +45,7 @@ def test_dashboard_not_running_by_default(
# Give the entrypoint enough time to finish bootstrap; if a dashboard
# were going to start it'd be visible by now.
time.sleep(5)
r = subprocess.run(
["docker", "exec", container_name,
"pgrep", "-f", "hermes dashboard"],
capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=10,
)
r = docker_exec(container_name, "pgrep", "-f", "hermes dashboard")
# pgrep exits non-zero when no match found
assert r.returncode != 0, (
"Dashboard should not be running without HERMES_DASHBOARD"
@ -121,10 +120,8 @@ def test_dashboard_restarts_after_crash(
# a couple of times before giving up.
first_pid: str | None = None
for _attempt in range(10):
first_pid_result = subprocess.run(
["docker", "exec", container_name,
"pgrep", "-f", "hermes dashboard"],
capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=10,
first_pid_result = docker_exec(
container_name, "pgrep", "-f", "hermes dashboard",
)
first_pids = first_pid_result.stdout.strip().split()
if first_pids:
@ -133,21 +130,15 @@ def test_dashboard_restarts_after_crash(
time.sleep(0.5)
assert first_pid is not None, "Could not capture initial dashboard PID"
# Kill the dashboard.
subprocess.run(
["docker", "exec", container_name, "kill", "-9", first_pid],
capture_output=True, timeout=10,
)
# Kill the dashboard. The dashboard process runs as hermes, so the
# hermes user can kill it (same UID).
docker_exec(container_name, "kill", "-9", first_pid)
# s6 backs off ~1s before restart; allow up to 15s for the new
# process to appear with a different PID.
deadline = time.monotonic() + 15.0
while time.monotonic() < deadline:
r = subprocess.run(
["docker", "exec", container_name,
"pgrep", "-f", "hermes dashboard"],
capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=10,
)
r = docker_exec(container_name, "pgrep", "-f", "hermes dashboard")
pids = r.stdout.strip().split() if r.returncode == 0 else []
if pids and pids[0] != first_pid:
return # success

View file

@ -13,22 +13,25 @@ so the gateway process itself will exit with code 1 on every start
attempt (s6 will keep restarting it). We assert against s6's
``want up`` / ``want down`` state which reflects the lifecycle
command's intent, not the supervised process's health.
Every ``docker exec`` here runs as the unprivileged ``hermes`` user
(via :func:`docker_exec_sh` in conftest); see the conftest module
docstring.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import subprocess
import time
from tests.docker.conftest import docker_exec_sh
PROFILE = "test-harness-profile"
def _sh(
container: str, command: str, timeout: int = 30,
) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
return subprocess.run(
["docker", "exec", container, "sh", "-c", command],
capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=timeout,
)
return docker_exec_sh(container, command, timeout=timeout)
def _svstat(container: str) -> str:

View file

@ -10,12 +10,20 @@ gateway actually starting (the binary will refuse to start without a
valid profile config). The full register start supervised-restart
unregister cycle is covered by Phase 4 once profile create/delete
hooks land.
Every ``docker exec`` here runs as the unprivileged ``hermes`` user
(via :func:`docker_exec` in conftest); see the conftest module
docstring. ``/run/service`` is chowned hermes-writable by the
``02-reconcile-profiles`` cont-init.d script, so register/unregister
operations work correctly under UID 10000.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import subprocess
import time
from tests.docker.conftest import docker_exec
_REGISTER_SCRIPT = """
import sys
@ -38,10 +46,7 @@ print("UNREGISTERED")
def _exec(container: str, *args: str, timeout: int = 30) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess:
return subprocess.run(
["docker", "exec", container, *args],
capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=timeout,
)
return docker_exec(container, *args, timeout=timeout)
def test_s6_register_creates_service_dir_in_live_container(

View file

@ -5,12 +5,18 @@ s6-overlay's ``/init`` (Phase 2 PID 1) does the same. This invariant is
required for long-running containers spawning subprocesses (subagents,
dashboard, dynamic gateways) otherwise the process table fills with
defunct entries and eventually exhausts the kernel PID space.
Every ``docker exec`` here runs as the unprivileged ``hermes`` user
(via :func:`docker_exec_sh` in conftest); see the conftest module
docstring.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import subprocess
import time
from tests.docker.conftest import docker_exec, docker_exec_sh
def test_orphan_zombies_reaped(
built_image: str, container_name: str,
@ -26,17 +32,12 @@ def test_orphan_zombies_reaped(
# `( ( sleep 0.1 & ) & ); sleep 1` creates a grandchild detached from
# the original docker exec session — it becomes an orphan reparented
# to PID 1 in the container. When it exits, PID 1 must reap it.
subprocess.run(
["docker", "exec", container_name, "sh", "-c",
"( ( sleep 0.1 & ) & ); sleep 1"],
capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=10,
docker_exec_sh(
container_name, "( ( sleep 0.1 & ) & ); sleep 1", timeout=10,
)
time.sleep(1)
r = subprocess.run(
["docker", "exec", container_name, "ps", "axo", "stat,pid,comm"],
capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=10,
)
r = docker_exec(container_name, "ps", "axo", "stat,pid,comm")
zombies = [
line for line in r.stdout.split("\n")
if line.strip().startswith("Z")