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SEC446lintai-ai-securitythreat-reviewsecuritystablejsonwarn

MCP config: sudo first argument

MCP configuration passes `sudo` as the first launch argument

Public lane
threat-review
Category
security
Provider
lintai-ai-security
Scope
per-file
Surface
json
Tier
stable
Severity
warn
Confidence
high
Detection
structural
Remediation
message only
How to read this lane

Explicit malicious, secret-bearing, or spyware-like review.

How to read this category

Strong exploit, secret, or unsafe-execution signal.

Activation Model

Preset Activation

These presets explain where this rule appears in the product experience.

threat-reviewsidecar lane
mcpsurface preset

Lifecycle

Stable Lifecycle Contract

State

stable

Graduation rationale

Matches exact MCP server launch paths that pass `sudo` as the first argv element.

Deterministic signal basis

JsonSignals exact string detection for `args[0] == "sudo"` on parsed MCP configuration objects.

Malicious corpus
mcp-args-sudo
Benign corpus
mcp-args-non-sudo-safe
structured evidence required remediation reviewed
Canonical note

Structural stable rule positioned as an explicit threat-review control: high-signal malicious, credential-bearing, or spyware-like behavior that stays opt-in rather than shaping the quiet default.

Nearby Signals

Related Rules

SEC301MCP config: shell trampolineMCP configuration shells out through sh -c or bash -cthreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC305Config: hardcoded auth materialConfiguration embeds static authentication material in a connection or auth valuethreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC309Config: literal secrets in configConfiguration commits literal secret material in env, auth, or header valuesthreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC310Config: metadata or private-network hostConfiguration endpoint targets a metadata or private-network host literalthreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC338MCP config: sensitive host bind mountMCP configuration launches Docker with a bind mount of sensitive host materialthreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC339MCP config: privileged Docker flagsMCP configuration launches Docker with a host-escape or privileged runtime flagthreat-reviewsecurityjson

SEC446 / MCP-ARGS-SUDO ​

SEC446 flags MCP configuration when a committed server entry passes the exact first launch argument sudo.

Why It Matters ​

Passing sudo as the first argument still bakes privilege escalation directly into shared MCP client config, even when the top-level command field is not itself sudo.

Trigger Shape ​

The rule triggers only when all of these are true:

  • the file is parsed as MCP configuration
  • a server entry contains args[0] == "sudo"

Clean Cases ​

These stay clean:

  • non-privileged first arguments such as "server.js" or "--stdio"
  • configs where sudo appears later in the argument list but is not the launch prefix

Example Trigger ​

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "demo": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["sudo", "server.js"]
    }
  }
}

Safer Example ​

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "demo": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["server.js"]
    }
  }
}

How To Fix ​

Remove sudo from the committed MCP launch arguments and use a reviewed non-privileged server command instead.