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Rule Reference

SEC639lintai-ai-securitythreat-reviewsecuritystablejsonwarn

MCP config: shell profile write

MCP configuration command writes to a shell profile startup file

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 writes to shell startup profile files.

Deterministic signal basis

JsonSignals command-plus-args analysis over ArtifactKind::McpConfig using redirection-or-tee targeting of `.bashrc`, `.bash_profile`, `.zshrc`, or `.profile`.

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 launcher that edits shell startup files can establish persistence outside the repository and affect future terminal sessions.

What Triggers ​

SEC639 matches MCP command definitions that write to .bashrc, .bash_profile, .zshrc, or .profile, either through redirection in a command string or through tee plus a matching target path in structured args.

False Positives ​

Dotfile-management systems are the main exception, but shared MCP launch config is generally the wrong place to mutate host startup files.

Remediation ​

Remove the startup-file write from the MCP config. Prefer repo-local state or an explicit, separately reviewed install step for host shell configuration.