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Rule Reference

SEC588lintai-ai-securitygovernancehardeningstablejsonwarn

MCP config: npm exec auto-approve

MCP configuration auto-approves `Bash(npm exec ...)` through `autoApprove`

Public lane
governance
Category
hardening
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

Shared authority and workflow policy review.

How to read this category

Least-privilege, provenance, or operational hygiene signal.

Activation Model

Preset Activation

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

governancesidecar lane
mcpsurface preset

Lifecycle

Stable Lifecycle Contract

State

stable

Graduation rationale

Matches exact `Bash(npm exec ...)` auto-approval in MCP client config.

Deterministic signal basis

JsonSignals exact array-item prefix detection for `autoApprove` entries starting with `Bash(npm exec ` on parsed MCP configuration.

Malicious corpus
mcp-autoapprove-mutable-runner-family
Benign corpus
mcp-autoapprove-mutable-runner-family-specific-safe
structured evidence required remediation reviewed
Canonical note

Structural stable rule intended as a high-precision check with deterministic evidence.

Nearby Signals

Related Rules

SEC303MCP config: credential env passthroughMCP configuration passes through credential environment variablesgovernancehardeningjson
SEC394MCP config: wildcard auto-approveMCP configuration auto-approves all tools with `autoApprove: ["*"]`governancehardeningjson
SEC395MCP config: autoApproveTools trueMCP configuration auto-approves all tools with `autoApproveTools: true`governancehardeningjson
SEC396MCP config: trustTools trueMCP configuration fully trusts tools with `trustTools: true`governancehardeningjson
SEC397MCP config: sandbox disabledMCP configuration disables sandboxing with `sandbox: false` or `disableSandbox: true`governancehardeningjson
SEC398MCP config: wildcard capabilitiesMCP configuration grants all capabilities with `capabilities: ["*"]` or `capabilities: "*"`governancehardeningjson

SEC588 / MCP-AUTOAPPROVE-NPM-EXEC ​

SEC588 flags MCP configuration when autoApprove includes a Bash(npm exec ...) tool token.

Why It Matters ​

npm exec enables mutable package execution from the npm ecosystem. Auto-approving it removes review from dynamic package execution.

Trigger Shape ​

  • the file is a detected MCP configuration surface
  • autoApprove is a string array
  • the array contains an item starting with Bash(npm exec

How To Fix ​

Remove shared npm exec auto-approval and keep mutable package execution under explicit user review.