The host-allowlist hardening (#30611) plus the refresh heal (#49735) left
the documented NOUS_INFERENCE_BASE_URL dev/staging escape hatch unreachable
for OAuth sessions, despite three code comments asserting it still works.
Root cause — resolution precedence in resolve_nous_runtime_credentials:
inference_base_url = (
_optional_base_url(state.get("inference_base_url")) # stored — wins
or os.getenv("NOUS_INFERENCE_BASE_URL") # env — unreachable
or DEFAULT_NOUS_INFERENCE_URL
)
A staging OAuth login persists its inference_base_url, but the allowlist
rejects the staging host and the refresh heal rewrites the stored value to
the production default. The stored (now prod) value is then read BEFORE the
env var, so the override never takes effect — every request 401s against
prod or is pinned to prod, and setting the env var does nothing.
Fix: the user-set env override is the most-trusted source, so consult it
FIRST for the URL used to build the client / returned to callers — while
keeping the PERSISTED value the validated, network-provenance one (the
override is a runtime overlay, never written to auth.json, so unsetting it
cleanly reverts to prod). Applied at both chokepoints:
- resolve_nous_runtime_credentials (no-refresh read path AND refresh path)
- the nous_portal proxy adapter, which re-validates the resolver's returned
base_url against the prod allowlist as defense-in-depth and would
otherwise reject a legitimate staging override at the forward boundary.
New _nous_inference_env_override() / split of stored-vs-effective URL keep
the threat model intact: Portal-returned URLs are still allowlist-validated
at every network site, and the env path stays ungated (trusted OS user).
Also folds in the no-refresh read-path heal (supersedes the approach in
the open #50265): a poisoned stored staging host now heals to the prod
default on read even when no refresh fires.
Tests: TestEnvOverrideWins (env wins on read + refresh paths; override never
persisted; poisoned stored heals) and TestProxyAdapterEnvOverride. Verified
the 4 behavioral tests fail against pre-fix code and pass with the fix; full
inference-validation + nous-provider suites green (85 passed). E2E-validated
against a real temp HERMES_HOME exercising the real resolver + proxy adapter:
resolver→staging, persisted→prod, proxy→staging, unset→reverts to prod.
A nous inference_base_url that fails the host allowlist (e.g. a stale
stg-inference-api.nousresearch.com persisted before the allowlist
existed) was only replaced 'if refreshed_url:' — so when the validator
rejected the URL it left the poisoned value in place. The 'falling back
to default' warning fired but never took effect: every subsequent call,
including the auxiliary compression call, kept hitting the dead staging
endpoint and 401'd.
Reset to DEFAULT_NOUS_INFERENCE_URL when validation returns None at both
refresh sites in resolve_nous_runtime_credentials, so a poisoned
auth.json self-heals on the next refresh. The proxy adapter already did
this correctly; this brings the two auth.py sites in line.
Remove unused imports (F401) and duplicate/shadowed import
redefinitions (F811) across the codebase using ruff's safe
autofixes. No behavioral changes -- imports only.
- ~1400 safe autofixes applied across 644 files (net -1072 lines)
- __init__.py re-exports preserved (excluded from F401 removal so
public re-export surfaces stay intact)
- Re-exports that are imported or monkeypatched by tests but look
unused in their defining module are kept with explicit # noqa:
F401 (gateway/run.py load_dotenv; run_agent re-exports from
agent.message_sanitization, agent.context_compressor,
agent.retry_utils, agent.prompt_builder, agent.process_bootstrap,
agent.codex_responses_adapter)
- Unsafe F841 (unused-variable) fixes deliberately skipped -- those
can change behavior when the RHS has side effects
- ruff lints remain disabled in pyproject.toml (only PLW1514 is
selected); this is a one-time cleanup, not a config change
Verification:
- python -m compileall: clean
- pytest --collect-only: all 27161 tests collect (zero import errors)
- core entry points import clean (run_agent, model_tools, cli,
toolsets, hermes_state, batch_runner, gateway)
- static scan: every name any test imports directly from an edited
module still resolves
@memosr's PR #27612 put the inference_base_url allowlist check only at the
Nous proxy adapter forward boundary. The poisoned URL, however, lands in
``auth.json`` upstream of that — at five refresh / agent-key-mint payload
read sites inside ``resolve_nous_runtime_credentials`` and
``_extend_state_from_refresh``. Without gating those sites, a single MITM
on a refresh response persists the attacker's URL across restarts, even
if the proxy adapter's defense-in-depth check would later catch it on
the way out.
Replace ``_optional_base_url`` with ``_validate_nous_inference_url_from_network``
at all five Portal-network reads:
- hermes_cli/auth.py L4840 (refresh-only access-token path)
- hermes_cli/auth.py L4876 (mint payload path)
- hermes_cli/auth.py L5154 (terminal-runtime access-token refresh)
- hermes_cli/auth.py L5262 (cross-process serialized refresh)
- hermes_cli/auth.py L5317 (terminal-runtime mint payload)
The state-read path at L5025 (``state.get("inference_base_url")``) is
deliberately NOT gated — pre-existing state in ``auth.json`` is either
already validated (it came from one of the five network sites above) or
set by a trusted local actor (manual edit, ``_setup_nous_auth`` test
fixture, ``hermes login nous`` against a staging endpoint via the
documented ``NOUS_INFERENCE_BASE_URL`` env override). Direct write_file /
patch tampering with auth.json is independently blocked by PR #14157.
Adds tests/hermes_cli/test_nous_inference_url_validation.py covering:
- validator https + host + edge-case rules (12 cases)
- all 5 network call sites grep contracts (no _optional_base_url
regression possible without test failure)
- proxy adapter defense-in-depth check still present
- env override path NOT gated (documented dev/staging behaviour)
18 new tests, all 119 Nous-auth tests green.
