lintai docs

Appearance

Rule Reference

SEC637lintai-ai-securitythreat-reviewsecuritystablejsonwarn

MCP config: destructive root deletion

MCP configuration command attempts destructive root deletion

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

Checks committed MCP launch paths for explicit `rm`-style destructive root deletion payloads.

Deterministic signal basis

JsonSignals command-plus-args analysis over ArtifactKind::McpConfig for `rm` with recursive+force flags targeting `/` or using `--no-preserve-root`.

Malicious corpus
mcp-command-persistence-escalation
Benign corpus
mcp-safe-basic
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

Why It Matters ​

An MCP server entry that can run rm -rf / gives repository-controlled tooling a direct host destruction path.

What Triggers ​

SEC637 matches MCP command definitions whose command and args resolve to rm with recursive and force semantics against /, or include --no-preserve-root.

This applies whether the risky shape appears in a single command string or is split across structured arguments.

False Positives ​

This should be uncommon in real MCP configs. Even intentionally destructive maintenance commands should not be exposed as ordinary shared server launch definitions.

Remediation ​

Remove the root-targeting delete path from the MCP config. Restrict cleanup to reviewed repo-local directories and avoid host-destructive flags.