lintai docs

Appearance

Rule Reference

SEC637lintai-ai-securitystablejsonwarn

MCP config: destructive root deletion

MCP configuration command attempts destructive root deletion

Provider
lintai-ai-security
Surface
json
Scope
per_file
Tier
stable
Severity
warn
Confidence
high
Detection
structural
Remediation
message_only

Activation Model

Preset Membership

This rule is part of the builtin activation graph through these preset memberships.

basemembership
mcpmembership

Lifecycle

Stable Lifecycle Contract

State

stable_gated

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 intended as a high-precision check with deterministic evidence.

Nearby Signals

Related Rules

SEC301MCP config: shell trampolineMCP configuration shells out through sh -c or bash -cjsonstable
SEC302Config: insecure HTTP endpointConfiguration contains an insecure http:// endpointjsonstable
SEC303MCP config: credential env passthroughMCP configuration passes through credential environment variablesjsonstable
SEC304Config: TLS verification disabledConfiguration disables TLS or certificate verificationjsonstable
SEC305Config: hardcoded auth materialConfiguration embeds static authentication material in a connection or auth valuejsonstable
SEC309Config: literal secrets in configConfiguration commits literal secret material in env, auth, or header valuesjsonstable

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.