fix: use execFile with arg arrays to prevent command injection

[harshahemanth]

Summary

• Replace exec() with execFile() in status.ts to eliminate shell command injection risk
• Pass arguments as an array instead of interpolating into a command string, so shell metacharacters in sandboxName are treated as literals
• execFile() does not spawn a shell, so args like ; rm -rf / in a tampered sandbox name have no effect

Details

getSandboxStatus() interpolates sandboxName into a shell command string passed to exec(). If sandboxName is ever sourced from a tampered config or user input, this is a command injection vector. execFile() with an args array bypasses the shell entirely.

Also updated getInferenceStatus() for consistency, even though it has no user-controlled input.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Refactor
  • Improved internal command execution for OpenShell status and inference queries. The status check and inference retrieval functionality remain unchanged with the same error handling and timeout behavior.

[wscurran]

Thanks for putting on your security hat and tackling the command injection vulnerability in status.ts by switching to execFile() and properly handling arguments as an array, which should prevent issues like shell metacharacters in sandboxName being treated as commands.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Path: .coderabbit.yaml

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: ea93e17d-28af-49a6-8403-70fc6743a34f

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 867f27d and b0c1d00.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• nemoclaw/src/commands/status.ts

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Refactored command execution in the status module from child_process.exec with shell-interpreted strings to child_process.execFile with argument arrays for OpenShell sandbox and inference queries. Functional behavior, error handling, and timeouts remain identical.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Command Execution Refactoring nemoclaw/src/commands/status.ts	Replaced exec with execFile for OpenShell command invocations, converting from shell string format ("openshell sandbox status ... --json") to argument array format (["sandbox","status",...,"--json"]). Error handling, timeouts, and JSON parsing unchanged.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~8 minutes

Poem

🐰 A rabbit once struggled with shell escapes long,
Till arguments in arrays proved safer and strong!
No more string interpretation's risky dance—
execFile runs cleaner, a security stance! ✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 2 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately and concisely describes the main security fix: switching from exec() to execFile() with argument arrays to prevent command injection vulnerabilities.

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✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests

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[ericksoa]

Closing — the vulnerable status.ts file was removed in #492, and #584 hardens all remaining CLI entry points against command injection. Thanks for flagging this.

[akshatsehgal01]

Code review

R8 verification at `aa01a2133fc8c2f061327c9ec8ca3518e068dffc`. No new issues found.

Reviewers surfaced three candidates, all verified as pre-existing inconsistencies outside PR #48's scope:

1. multi_select walkthrough for the Energy Budget skill — the "Pick multiple" wording in Act 9 predates this PR (introduced in commit `b4d53e7`). PR fix: use execFile with arg arrays to prevent command injection #48 only ADDED extended-primitive sections; it did not modify the multi_select Energy example.
2. "12 weeks out" arithmetic in `demo/frontend/app.js` — the original prose (April 6 → July 26 = ~16 weeks, not 12) ships in the initial commit `c47ddef`. PR fix: use execFile with arg arrays to prevent command injection #48 only bumped the year from 2026 to 2027; the arithmetic was already off.
3. $540 booking price vs. April min in `signal_presets.py` — comment "matches flights.py: SFO-BKK Apr min ~$585-616" ships in commit `54708f0`, before PR fix: use execFile with arg arrays to prevent command injection #48. PR fix: use execFile with arg arrays to prevent command injection #48 bumped the date `2026-04-24` → `2027-04-24` only.

All three are demo-content drifts that exist independently of PR #48 and would be appropriate to address as their own scoped commits. Per the iterate-until-clean discipline, pre-existing issues outside the PR's scope are dismissed.

The R7 prose/ISO fix verified as accurate (both `demo/frontend/app.js:463` and `demo/tools/web_search.py:57` now read "July 26, 2027" matching the ISO `2027-07-26` field).

Cumulative across R1-R8: 13 real issues found and fixed. 2321/2321 unit tests still green. Not merging — hand verification against the live server still pending per user instruction.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code