GHSA-xc9g-j69q-37xw
consciousness-explorer / sublinear-time-solver MCP export_state has an arbitrary file write
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | consciousness-explorer | < 1.1.2 | 1.1.2 |
| npm | sublinear-time-solver | < 1.6.0 | 1.6.0 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
### Impact
An arbitrary file write vulnerability (CWE-73, External Control of File Name or Path) exists in the `consciousness-explorer` component of `sublinear-time-solver`. The MCP `export_state` (and `import_state`) tool accepted a user-supplied `filepath` argument and passed it directly to `fs.writeFileSync` / `fs.readFileSync` without constraining the destination or rejecting path traversal. An attacker able to invoke the MCP tool could write or overwrite any file accessible to the server process (e.g. `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`, application files), leading to integrity loss and potential service disruption.
The same sink class was present in the main solver MCP server (`saveVectorToFile` / `loadVectorFromFile`).
### Affected versions
- `consciousness-explorer` < 1.1.2
- `sublinear-time-solver` < 1.6.0
- `sublinear` (crates.io) < 0.2.0
### Patches
- `[email protected]`
- `[email protected]`
- `[email protected]`
State/vector files are now confined to a dedicated directory (overridable via `$CONSCIOUSNESS_EXPLORER_STATE_DIR` / `$SUBLINEAR_SOLVER_VECTOR_DIR`), a basename-only contract is enforced (rejecting separators, `..`, NUL/control chars, hidden files, and Windows reserved names), and files are opened with `O_NOFOLLOW | O_CLOEXEC` mode `0o600`. Covered by 14 regression tests in `tests/consciousness/safe-path.test.mjs`.
**Breaking change:** callers must now pass a basename, not an absolute path.
### Workarounds
Do not expose the MCP server to untrusted clients; restrict `export_state` to trusted local users; run the server under a low-privilege account with a restricted working directory.
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.
- https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/security/advisories/GHSA-xc9g-j69q-37xw
- https://github.com/BruceJqs/public_exp/issues/32
- https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/issues/19
- https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/pull/20
- https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/commit/a701296e363192be863e79d788fa268095e3d229
- https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/commit/ea9a212b69e4449ec443fe088a7aec7546f70b4a
- https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver
- https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/releases/tag/v1.6.0