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Rule Reference

SEC646lintai-ai-securitythreat-reviewsecuritystablejsonwarn

Plugin hook: password file access

Plugin hook command accesses a sensitive system password 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 plugin hook command values for direct access to sensitive password and sudo policy files.

Deterministic signal basis

JsonSignals command-string path detection over ArtifactKind::CursorPluginHooks for `/etc/shadow`, `/etc/passwd`, `/etc/sudoers`, `/etc/gshadow`, or `/etc/master.passwd`.

Malicious corpus
plugin-hook-command-persistence-escalation
Benign corpus
plugin-hook-command-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

Why It Matters ​

A plugin hook that reads /etc/shadow-style files can expose host credential and privilege data to plugin-controlled execution paths.

What Triggers ​

SEC646 matches plugin hook command strings that directly reference /etc/shadow, /etc/passwd, /etc/sudoers, /etc/gshadow, or /etc/master.passwd.

False Positives ​

Dedicated admin plugins may intentionally inspect these files, but that remains a high-risk behavior in repository-shipped plugin hooks.

Remediation ​

Remove direct password-file access from the plugin hook, or move host-audit behavior into a separately reviewed administrative tool.