lintai docs

Appearance

Rule Reference

SEC653lintai-ai-securitystablejsonwarn

MCP config: systemd persistence

MCP configuration command registers a systemd service or unit for persistence

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 systemd service registration or unit-file writes.

Deterministic signal basis

JsonSignals command-plus-args analysis over ArtifactKind::McpConfig for `systemctl enable|link` or writes to systemd unit paths.

Malicious corpus
mcp-command-service-persistence
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 ​

Systemd registration from shared MCP config can persist repository-controlled execution on the machine.

What Triggers ​

SEC653 matches MCP command definitions that run systemctl enable or systemctl link, or write unit files into systemd service paths.

False Positives ​

Provisioning-focused MCP servers are the main exception, but shared config should not silently install services.

Remediation ​

Remove systemd persistence from the MCP config and keep service installation in an explicit reviewed setup flow.