Graphify Fortran extractor reads arbitrary host files via #include
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from GitHub.
Summary
The graphifyy PyPI package from 0.7.2 before 0.9.70 has incomplete #include hardening in its Fortran extractor. The C preprocessor still opens absolute include paths and quoted includes that traverse out of the indexed folder (CWE-22), so indexing an untrusted repository that contains a Fortran source file reads arbitrary local files and places their contents in the generated knowledge graph and outputs. The attacker needs only to supply the repository, with no credentials, network access or LLM call required.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-28
Description from the GitHub advisory
## Summary The Fortran extractor's C-preprocessor step (`graphify/extractors/fortran.py`, `_cpp_preprocess`) applies an incomplete `#include` hardening. The `-nostdinc -I /dev/null` flags it relies on (comment "Security (F-007)") do **not** stop a capital-`F` Fortran source file from including **absolute paths** (`#include "/etc/passwd"`) or from **path-traversing out of the corpus** (`#include "../../../../home/victim/.ssh/id_rsa"`). `cpp` always searches the directory of the file being preprocessed for quoted includes and always honours absolute include paths, regardless of `-nostdinc`/`-I`. As a result, indexing an untrusted repository that contains a `.F`/`.F90`/`.F95`/`.F03`/`.F08` file reads arbitrary local files off the host and inlines their contents into the knowledge graph, which is then shipped to the LLM/agent and written to the on-disk, shareable output (`graph.json`, `GRAPH_REPORT.md`, the Obsidian wiki, HTML/SVG exports). This is the exact "corpus-side file-exfiltration vector" the F-007 comment says it is defending against; the mitigation is bypassable. ## Severity High. Arbitrary local-file read on the host, triggered by graphify's core action (indexing an untrusted folder — "turn any folder of code ... into a queryable knowledge graph"), defeating a documented security control. It runs on the default, offline, no-API-key AST path (`graphify update .` / `graphify extract`) — no credentials, network, or LLM call required. CWE-73 (external control of file name/path) / CWE-22 (path traversal) / CWE-200 (information exposure). ## Where `graphify/extractors/fortran.py`, `_cpp_preprocess()`: result = subprocess.run( ["cpp", "-w", "-P", "-nostdinc", "-I", "/dev/null", str(path.resolve())], capture_output=True, timeout=30, ) Reached from `extract_fortran()` (same file) for any suffix in `_FORTRAN_CPP_EXTS = {".F", ".F90", ".F95", ".F03", ".F08"}`, which are collected by default (`detect.CODE_EXTENSIONS`) and dispatched by `extract._DISPATCH`. ## Why the mitigation does not work `-nostdinc` only removes the standard *system* include directories, and `-I /dev/null` only sets the *additional* search path. Neither affects: 1. Absolute includes — `#include "/etc/passwd"` is opened directly by cpp. 2. Quoted includes relative to the current file — cpp always searches the directory containing the file being preprocessed for `#include "..."`, so `#include "../../../../etc/shadow"` traverses out of the corpus. ## Proof of concept (verified) Reproduced against the shipped code with the exact command `_cpp_preprocess` builds (`cpp -w -P -nostdinc -I /dev/null <file>`), and against `extract_fortran()` directly. Secret on disk (`/tmp/secret.txt`): `TOP_SECRET_...` (a) Absolute include — `evil_abs.F90`: program evil #include "/absolute/path/to/secret.txt" end program evil (b) Relative traversal — `evil_rel.F90`: program evil #include "../secret.txt" end program evil Both produce preprocessed output containing the full secret file contents (`"SECRET IN OUTPUT: True"` for both). Surfacing into the graph — `leak.F90` places the include in an identifier position via a free-form continuation so the leaked value becomes a node/edge: module m contains subroutine s use & #include "/path/to/token.secret" end subroutine s end module m `extract_fortran()` on this file emits a node whose label is the entire single-line contents of `token.secret` and an `imports` edge to it. That node is written to `graph.json` / `GRAPH_REPORT.md` / the wiki and returned by the MCP `query_graph` / `get_node` / `get_neighbors` tools — i.e. exfiltrated into the agent's context and into persisted, shareable artifacts. Fidelity note: Fortran is case-insensitive, so captured identifiers are lower-cased. Case-insensitive secrets (file paths, hostnames, usernames, hex tokens, connection-string fragments, and the mere existence/partial content of a readable file) leak cleanly; high-entropy case-sensitive blobs (base64/JWT) are partially corrupted by the lower-casing but still confirm readability and structure. Single-token-per-line secret files (API-key files, single-line credential/token files) leak that token in full (lower-cased). Requires `cpp`/gcc on PATH (near-ubiquitous on the dev/CI hosts graphify targets); it cleanly falls back to raw bytes when absent. ## Suggested fix Mirror the containment approach already used elsewhere in the codebase (`_project_xml_is_safe`, `security.validate_graph_path`): before invoking cpp, scan the source for `#include` directives and **refuse or neutralise any include whose target is absolute or resolves outside the corpus/repo root**. Concretely, in `_cpp_preprocess`: - Parse `#include "..."` / `#include <...>` directives. - Resolve each target against the file's directory; if it is absolute, or its `.resolve()` escapes the scan root, strip that line (or fall back to `path.read_bytes()` with no preprocessing). - Only allow includes that resolve to a path inside the corpus root. A blunter but safe alternative is to strip all `#include` lines before preprocessing (macros still expand; cross-file includes lose fidelity but no host files can be read). Running cpp inside a filesystem sandbox (bwrap/unshare with only the corpus mounted) would also close it but is heavier. ## Detected by Aeon vuln-scanner. Semgrep flagged the Fortran subprocess path; manual review of the F-007 mitigation plus an empirical `cpp` repro confirmed the bypass.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | graphifyy (PyPI) | 0.7.2 to before 0.9.70 | 0.9.70 | Patch available | GHSA-pcc4-rvhr-2pr8 |
- graphifyy (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 0.7.2 to before 0.9.70 Fixed in 0.9.70 Patch available GHSA-pcc4-rvhr-2pr8
Remediation
Upgrade the graphifyy PyPI package to 0.9.70, the fixed version.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-28
- Fix · GHSA-pcc4-rvhr-2pr8 graphifyy (PyPI) Fixed in 0.9.70 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-19 Threatist record created from GHSA-pcc4-rvhr-2pr8
References
Sources
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