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Fencer Intel
high 7.5

GHSA-j4r7-8ph4-43g3 json

faf-mcp has an arbitrary local file read/write via unconfined `path` argument in FAF tools

published 2mo ago modified 2mo ago

cvss
7.5
version 3.1, GitHub
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
—
no score, EPSS covers CVEs only
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

### Summary `faf-mcp` MCP tools accept a caller-controlled `path` argument and resolve it (`~` expansion + `path.resolve()`) straight into a filesystem read/write **without confining it to a trusted project directory**. An absolute path or `../` traversal is resolved and used as-is, so the server process can be made to read — and, via the file tools, write — files outside the intended `.faf` project context. The only remaining limit is OS file permissions.

### Affected tools The shared `getProjectPath()` chokepoint (feeding the `.faf` tools) and the general-purpose `faf_read` / `faf_write` file tools resolved a caller path straight into a read/write with no confinement (denylist-only); an absolute path still reached home-directory secrets, and `faf_write` could write outside the project.

### Impact An MCP client — or an LLM prompt-injected via attacker-controlled content (a web page, README, ticket, or `.faf`) into issuing a tool call — can read any file the server process can read: SSH keys (`~/.ssh/id_rsa`), cloud credentials (`~/.aws/credentials`), `.env` files, source, `/etc/passwd`; and `faf_write` could write outside the project. This is a sensitive-information-disclosure (CWE-200) primitive that far exceeds the declared `.faf` project-context scope. The server runs over stdio, so the read/write is reached by a crafted tool call (e.g. a prompt-injected agent processing attacker-controlled content).

### Patches Fixed in **2.1.3** by confining every caller-supplied `path` before any filesystem access (`safe-path.ts`): - Reads are restricted to `.faf` / `.fafm` context files, so non-context files (secrets) are refused regardless of directory. - General file ops (`faf_read` / `faf_write`) are confined to the project root (cwd + system temp; override with `FAF_ALLOWED_ROOTS`). - Paths are canonicalized through symlinks (closing the symlink bypass); absolute paths and `../` escapes are rejected; `callTool()` gains a central PATH-DENIED guard.

Upgrade: `npm install -g faf-mcp@2.1.3` (or `npx faf-mcp`).

### Workarounds If you cannot upgrade immediately, run the server only against trusted local projects, and set `FAF_ALLOWED_ROOTS` (patched versions) to a single project directory for a hard directory boundary.

### Credits Identified by the maintainers during a sibling-server audit prompted by the coordinated disclosure of the same class of issue in `grok-faf-mcp` by **Zhihao Zhang** (Worcester Polytechnic Institute).

Patch / fix

  • npm faf-mcp 2.1.3

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CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
GitHub 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm faf-mcp
<2.1.3
2.1.3

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
  • CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
  • CWE-73 External Control of File Name or Path

References

Sources

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