nodejs / nodejs/node

Permission allow-fs-* to resolve env variables

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#65,422 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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feature request permission
Dominant language
JavaScript
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

What is the problem this feature will solve?

While it is possible to pass values of env variables when calling node directly

node --permission --allow-fs-read=$HOME

there are other ways to set permissions (in config file or via NODE_OPTIONS) that don't go through the shell first.

I'd like to make it possible for all methods of passing in permissions to support using environment variables.

{
  "nodeOptions": {
    "--permission": true,
    "--allow-fs-read": [
      "$HOME"
    ]
  }
}
What is the feature you are proposing to solve the problem?

Pseudocode:

    const replaceEnvVar = (value) => {
      const envVarMatch = value.match(/^\$([A-Z_][A-Z0-9_]*)$/i)
      if (envVarMatch) {
        const envVarName = envVarMatch[1]
        if (process.env[envVarName] !== undefined) {
          return process.env[envVarName]
        } else {
          console.error(
            `[LavaMoat] Environment variable "${envVarName}" referenced in config but not found in environment`
          )
        }
      }
      return value
    }

    for (const key of ['--allow-fs-read', '--allow-fs-write']) {
      if (Array.isArray(configOptions[key])) {
        configOptions[key] = configOptions[key].map(replaceEnvVar)
      } else if (typeof configOptions[key] === 'string') {
        configOptions[key] = replaceEnvVar(configOptions[key])
      }
    }
What alternatives have you considered?

I've considered more advanced support where this would also work:

{
  "nodeOptions": {
    "--permission": true,
    "--allow-fs-read": [
      "/home/${MY_USER}/some/place/else"
    ]
  }
}

but it seems unnecessarily complex and error prone to be worth it IMHO.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by tracing how Node.js parses --allow-fs-read and --allow-fs-write from direct arguments, NODE_OPTIONS, and configuration files. Check the existing permission-option tests and add coverage for exact environment-variable values in string and array forms. Done means supported permission inputs resolve environment variables consistently, including behavior when a variable is unset.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
cli, security
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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