fix(entrypoint): root never follows customer symlinks under /home/$user

/home/$user is the customer's bind mount; they can plant symlinks in it. The
entrypoints ran as root and wrote/chowned through customer paths, so e.g.
logs/php-fpm/error.log -> /etc/shadow (or a dangling crontab -> /etc/...)
handed the customer that file, i.e. container root. New scripts/safe-paths.sh,
used by entrypoint.sh and entrypoint-fpm.sh:

- secure_home: refuse to start if /home/$user is not a real dir; logs/ must be
  a real dir and every symlink under logs/ is removed and logged (apache and
  php-fpm open those files as root at start).
- dirs, the pool error_log and the default crontab are created AS THE CUSTOMER
  (setpriv, runuser fallback); a pre-existing root-owned error_log is fixed
  with chown -h (never dereferences).
- the user crontab is read as the customer and piped to `crontab -u $user -`
  (root reading it could install any root-readable file where the customer
  can `crontab -l` it). DEV-mode crontab/mysql_creds are written via as_user tee.
- the o+x directory pass (find -type d, no -L) runs as the customer, so a dir
  swapped for a symlink before chmod can only reach what the customer owns.
- chown -R is unchanged: GNU default -P lchown()s symlinks, never follows.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

scripts/entrypoint-fpm.sh

@@ -14,16 +14,18 @@ export FPM_LISTEN=${FPM_LISTEN:-9000}
 
 adduser -u $uid $user
 
-mkdir -p /home/$user/public_html
+# Root never follows customer symlinks under /home/$user: see safe-paths.sh.
-mkdir -p /home/$user/logs/php-fpm
+source /scripts/safe-paths.sh
+secure_home
+
+user_mkdir /home/$user/public_html /home/$user/logs/php-fpm
 # Create the pool's error_log (php_admin_value[error_log] in
-# create-php-config.sh) BEFORE the chown -R below, and chown it explicitly.
+# create-php-config.sh) AS THE CUSTOMER, before php-fpm starts. It used to be
-# It used to be `touch`ed as root at the very end, after the chown, so on a
+# `touch`ed as root at the very end, after the chown -R, so on a site's first
-# site's first start the pool (customer uid) could not open it and PHP errors
+# start the pool (customer uid) could not open it and PHP errors fell back to
-# fell back to FastCGI stderr -> shared-httpd's error log until the next
+# FastCGI stderr -> shared-httpd's error log until the next restart's chown -R
-# restart's chown -R fixed the owner.
+# fixed the owner. user_touch never writes or chowns through a symlink.
-touch /home/$user/logs/php-fpm/error.log
+user_touch /home/$user/logs/php-fpm/error.log
-chown $user:$user /home/$user/logs/php-fpm/error.log
 
 ln -sf /home/$user/logs/php-fpm /var/log/php-fpm
 
@@ -34,6 +36,7 @@ echo "Container memory: ${CONTAINER_MEMORY_MB}MB | PHP-FPM pm=${PHP_FPM_PM} max_
 
 mkdir -p /run/php-fpm/
 /usr/sbin/php-fpm -y /etc/php-fpm.conf
+# GNU chown -R defaults to -P: symlinks are lchown()ed, never followed.
 chown -R $user:$user /home/$user
 # Do NOT `chmod -R 755` the docroot here. /home/$user is the customer's
 # bind-mounted site directory; a recursive 755 on every start made every file
@@ -43,13 +46,13 @@ chown -R $user:$user /home/$user
 # traverse directories to serve static files. Normalise that and nothing else:
 # open the docroot itself, and add o+x to directories that lack it. Regular
 # files are never touched, so execute is never added and wp-config.php is
-# never loosened.
+# never loosened. Runs as the customer (safe-paths.sh) so a symlink can only
-chmod 755 /home/$user
+# reach what the customer already owns.
-find /home/$user -type d ! -perm -o=x -exec chmod o+x {} +
+open_dir_traversal
 
 if [[ $environment == 'DEV' ]]; then
   echo "Starting Dev Deployment (FPM-only mode)"
-  mkdir -p /home/$user/_db_backups
+  user_mkdir /home/$user/_db_backups
   if ! command -v microdnf &> /dev/null; then
     echo "microdnf not found, installing with dnf..."
     dnf install -y microdnf && dnf clean all
@@ -67,13 +70,12 @@ if [[ $environment == 'DEV' ]]; then
     mysql -e "CREATE USER '"$mysql_user"'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '"$mysql_password"';"
     mysql -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO '"$mysql_user"'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;"
     mysql -e "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"
-    echo "# User crontab for $user" > /home/$user/crontab
+    # Written AS THE CUSTOMER (as_user tee), never by root through a customer path.
-    echo "*/15 * * * * /scripts/mysql-backup.sh $user devdb_$mysql_db" >> /home/$user/crontab
+    drop_symlink /home/$user/crontab
-    chown $user:$user /home/$user/crontab
+    printf '%s\n' "# User crontab for $user" "*/15 * * * * /scripts/mysql-backup.sh $user devdb_$mysql_db" \
-    echo "MySQL User: "$mysql_user > /home/$user/mysql_creds
+      | as_user tee /home/$user/crontab >/dev/null
-    echo "MySQL Password: "$mysql_password >> /home/$user/mysql_creds
+    printf '%s\n' "MySQL User: $mysql_user" "MySQL Password: $mysql_password" "MySQL Database: devdb_$mysql_db" \
-    echo "MySQL Database: devdb_"$mysql_db >> /home/$user/mysql_creds
+      | as_user tee /home/$user/mysql_creds
-    cat /home/$user/mysql_creds
   fi
   /usr/bin/memcached -d -u $user
 fi
@@ -84,16 +86,9 @@ if [[ $environment == 'PROD' ]]; then
     fi
 fi
 
-# Set up user crontab
+# Set up + load the user crontab, created and read as the customer
-if [ ! -f /home/$user/crontab ]; then
+# (safe-paths.sh). Root reading/writing/chowning it followed symlinks.
-    echo "# User crontab for $user" > /home/$user/crontab
+load_user_crontab
-    echo "# Add your cron jobs here" >> /home/$user/crontab
-    echo "# Example: */5 * * * * /home/$user/scripts/my-script.sh" >> /home/$user/crontab
-    chown $user:$user /home/$user/crontab
-fi
-
-# Load user crontab
-crontab -u $user /home/$user/crontab
 
 /usr/sbin/crond
 

scripts/entrypoint.sh

@@ -10,8 +10,11 @@ fi
 
 adduser -u $uid $user
 
-mkdir -p /home/$user/public_html
+# Root never follows customer symlinks under /home/$user: see safe-paths.sh.
-mkdir -p /home/$user/logs/{apache,php-fpm}
+source /scripts/safe-paths.sh
+secure_home
+
+user_mkdir /home/$user/public_html /home/$user/logs/apache /home/$user/logs/php-fpm
 
 mv /var/log/httpd /var/log/httpd.bak
 
@@ -36,6 +39,7 @@ fi
 
 /usr/sbin/httpd -k start
 /usr/sbin/php-fpm -y /etc/php-fpm.conf
+# GNU chown -R defaults to -P: symlinks are lchown()ed, never followed.
 chown -R $user:$user /home/$user
 # Do NOT `chmod -R 755` the docroot here. /home/$user is the customer's
 # bind-mounted site directory; a recursive 755 on every start made every file
@@ -45,13 +49,13 @@ chown -R $user:$user /home/$user
 # traverse directories to serve static files. Normalise that and nothing else:
 # open the docroot itself, and add o+x to directories that lack it. Regular
 # files are never touched, so execute is never added and wp-config.php is
-# never loosened.
+# never loosened. Runs as the customer (safe-paths.sh) so a symlink can only
-chmod 755 /home/$user
+# reach what the customer already owns.
-find /home/$user -type d ! -perm -o=x -exec chmod o+x {} +
+open_dir_traversal
 
 if [[ $environment == 'DEV' ]]; then
   echo "Starting Dev Deployment"
-  mkdir -p /home/$user/_db_backups
+  user_mkdir /home/$user/_db_backups
   # Ensure microdnf is available for installing MariaDB and memcached in DEV mode
   if ! command -v microdnf &> /dev/null; then
     echo "microdnf not found, installing with dnf..."
@@ -70,14 +74,13 @@ if [[ $environment == 'DEV' ]]; then
     mysql -e "CREATE USER '"$mysql_user"'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '"$mysql_password"';"
     mysql -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO '"$mysql_user"'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;"
     mysql -e "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"
-    # Create user crontab with MySQL backup job
+    # Create user crontab with MySQL backup job. Written AS THE CUSTOMER
-    echo "# User crontab for $user" > /home/$user/crontab
+    # (as_user tee), never by root through a customer path.
-    echo "*/15 * * * * /scripts/mysql-backup.sh $user devdb_$mysql_db" >> /home/$user/crontab
+    drop_symlink /home/$user/crontab
-    chown $user:$user /home/$user/crontab
+    printf '%s\n' "# User crontab for $user" "*/15 * * * * /scripts/mysql-backup.sh $user devdb_$mysql_db" \
-    echo "MySQL User: "$mysql_user > /home/$user/mysql_creds
+      | as_user tee /home/$user/crontab >/dev/null
-    echo "MySQL Password: "$mysql_password >> /home/$user/mysql_creds
+    printf '%s\n' "MySQL User: $mysql_user" "MySQL Password: $mysql_password" "MySQL Database: devdb_$mysql_db" \
-    echo "MySQL Database: devdb_"$mysql_db >> /home/$user/mysql_creds
+      | as_user tee /home/$user/mysql_creds
-    cat /home/$user/mysql_creds
 
   fi
   /usr/bin/memcached -d -u $user
@@ -88,16 +91,9 @@ if [[ $environment == 'PROD' ]]; then
     sed -r -i 's/;session.save_path="localhost:11211/session.save_path="memcache:11211/' /etc/php.d/50-memcached.ini
 fi
 
-# Set up user crontab
+# Set up + load the user crontab, created and read as the customer
-if [ ! -f /home/$user/crontab ]; then
+# (safe-paths.sh). Root reading/writing/chowning it followed symlinks.
-    echo "# User crontab for $user" > /home/$user/crontab
+load_user_crontab
-    echo "# Add your cron jobs here" >> /home/$user/crontab
-    echo "# Example: */5 * * * * /home/$user/scripts/my-script.sh" >> /home/$user/crontab
-    chown $user:$user /home/$user/crontab
-fi
-
-# Load user crontab
-crontab -u $user /home/$user/crontab
 
 /usr/sbin/crond
 

scripts/safe-paths.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# shellcheck disable=SC2154  # $uid / $user come from the container environment
+## safe-paths.sh — sourced by entrypoint.sh and entrypoint-fpm.sh. Not executed directly.
+##
+## /home/$user is the customer's bind-mounted site directory: the customer can
+## create anything in it, including symlinks, from SFTP/FTP, cron, or PHP. The
+## entrypoints run as root, and root following a customer symlink is a
+## privilege escalation: `touch`/`chown`/`>` on logs/php-fpm/error.log ->
+## /etc/shadow hands the customer /etc/shadow (container root).
+##
+## Rules the entrypoints follow:
+##   * /home/$user itself is the bind-mount point and must be a real directory.
+##   * logs/ is WHP-owned and apache / php-fpm open files in it as root, so it
+##     must be a real directory and every symlink under it is removed + logged.
+##   * Files and dirs are CREATED as the customer (as_user), so a symlink or a
+##     swapped path can only reach what the customer could reach anyway.
+##   * Ownership changes use `chown -h` / `chown -R` (GNU default -P: never
+##     follows symlinks, lchown()s them), never a dereferencing chown.
+##   * Customer files are READ as the customer (crontab), never as root.
+
+# as_user CMD... : run CMD as the customer uid/gid (no root, no caps).
+as_user() {
+  if command -v setpriv >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    setpriv --reuid="$uid" --regid="$uid" --init-groups -- "$@"
+  else
+    runuser -u "$user" -- "$@"
+  fi
+}
+
+# drop_symlink PATH : if PATH is a symlink, unlink it (rm on a symlink never
+# touches the target) and log it.
+drop_symlink() {
+  if [ -L "$1" ]; then
+    echo "entrypoint: SECURITY: $1 was a symlink to '$(readlink "$1")' - removed" >&2
+    rm -f -- "$1"
+  fi
+}
+
+# secure_home : run once, right after adduser, before anything else touches
+# /home/$user.
+secure_home() {
+  local h="/home/$user" d
+  if [ -L "$h" ] || [ ! -d "$h" ]; then
+    echo "entrypoint: FATAL: $h is not a real directory (symlink or missing) - refusing to start" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  # The mount point itself: owned by the customer so as_user can create in it.
+  chown -h "$user:$user" "$h"
+  drop_symlink "$h/logs"
+  # public_html may legitimately be a symlink (release-dir deploys); it is left
+  # alone and every root-side operation on it runs as the customer instead.
+  if [ -d "$h/logs" ]; then
+    # find without -L never follows symlinks (start path verified real above).
+    find "$h/logs" -xdev -type l -print0 2>/dev/null | while IFS= read -r -d '' d; do
+      drop_symlink "$d"
+    done
+  fi
+}
+
+# user_mkdir DIR... : create directories as the customer.
+user_mkdir() {
+  as_user mkdir -p -- "$@"
+}
+
+# user_touch FILE : create FILE as the customer. If it already exists owned by
+# someone else (root-created by an older image), fix ownership with chown -h,
+# which never follows a symlink; a symlink there is dropped first.
+user_touch() {
+  drop_symlink "$1"
+  as_user touch -- "$1" 2>/dev/null || chown -h "$user:$user" -- "$1" 2>/dev/null || true
+}
+
+# load_user_crontab : install /home/$user/crontab, read AS THE CUSTOMER. Root
+# reading it (`crontab -u $user /home/$user/crontab`) would follow a symlink to
+# any root-readable file and install it where the customer can `crontab -l` it.
+load_user_crontab() {
+  local f="/home/$user/crontab"
+  if [ ! -e "$f" ] && [ ! -L "$f" ]; then
+    as_user sh -c 'printf "%s\n" "# User crontab for $1" "# Add your cron jobs here" "# Example: */5 * * * * /home/$1/scripts/my-script.sh" > "$2"' sh "$user" "$f"
+  fi
+  # No temp file: root writing a predictable /tmp path is the same bug class.
+  local content
+  if content=$(as_user cat -- "$f" 2>/dev/null); then
+    printf '%s\n' "$content" | crontab -u "$user" -
+  else
+    echo "entrypoint: WARNING: $f not readable as $user - user crontab not loaded" >&2
+  fi
+}
+
+# open_dir_traversal : chmod 755 the home dir, then add o+x to every directory
+# lacking it (apache/nginx run as their own user and must traverse). Run AS THE
+# CUSTOMER: `find -type d` without -L skips symlinks, but chmod would follow a
+# dir swapped for a symlink between find and chmod; as the customer that can
+# only reach what the customer already owns.
+open_dir_traversal() {
+  chmod 755 "/home/$user"
+  as_user find "/home/$user" -type d ! -perm -o=x -exec chmod o+x {} + 2>/dev/null || true
+}