Stop scripts reporting success after doing nothing

A run_script command was judged solely on PowerShell's exit code, and
PowerShell treats most errors as non-terminating: it writes the error,
runs the next line, and still exits zero. The account-provisioning
script reported succeeded having provisioned nothing, and because no
output was captured there was no evidence to contradict the verdict.

Scripts now carry an errormode. Strict prepends $ErrorActionPreference
= 'Stop' so the first error ends the run and the exit code means what
it says. It is opt-in per script rather than global because bodies
authored against the permissive semantics rely on them - tolerating a
failing cleanup, probing with a cmdlet that errors when a thing is
absent, looping past a bad item - and would start aborting midway,
leaving endpoints half-configured. The default is unchanged, so every
existing script keeps running exactly as before.

The prologue is applied after digest verification, so the SHA-256 still
validates the bytes the server delivered.

stdout/stderr is captured on both paths: redirected streams for SYSTEM,
a transcript file under the ShopFloor profile for user-session runs,
since CreateProcessAsUser cannot inherit the service's pipes across the
session boundary. Output is always logged locally and returned to the
server only on failure, so routine output stays on the machine that
produced it instead of filling command history.

Also adds the optional per-script working directory, which the same
surfaces needed, and a collapsible explainer on the scripts page - the
dropdown is not self-explanatory, and an operator who does not know
about non-terminating errors has no reason to ever leave the default.

Agent 1.14.0. An older agent ignoring errormode keeps today's behaviour.
This commit is contained in:
benjamin.baker
2026-09-09 11:36:42 -04:00
parent f02e344101
commit d6163f54a4
16 changed files with 1411 additions and 20 deletions

View File

@@ -465,6 +465,9 @@ Allowlisted actions (server source of truth: `plugins/endpoints/commands.py`):
connections with a `truncated` flag in `detail`, because an oversized payload
rejected by the server returns nothing at all and a partial answer is more
useful than a failed one. Standard reports carry listening ports only.
- `run_script` - run a reviewed PowerShell script from the script library. The
body is NOT carried on the command channel; the claim carries a descriptor and
the agent fetches the bytes separately (section 7.4).
### 7.1 Claim the next command (long-poll)
@@ -509,3 +512,69 @@ Allowlisted actions (server source of truth: `plugins/endpoints/commands.py`):
gated by user JWT + `endpoints.command`. Only one command may be in flight per
endpoint (a second enqueue returns HTTP 409 until the first finalizes).
### 7.4 `run_script` claim descriptor
A `run_script` claim carries a `script` object alongside the usual
`endpointcommandid` and `action`:
```jsonc
{
"scriptid": 12,
"scriptname": "sfld_autologon",
"installpath": "/api/endpoints/scriptbody/12", // fetch with X-API-Key
"sha256": "3f9a...", // 64 hex chars, lowercase
"runcontext": "system", // "system" | "user"
"workingdirectory": "C:\\Tools", // "" = agent staging folder
"errormode": "default" // "default" | "strict"
}
```
The agent MUST download `installpath`, verify the SHA-256 of the received bytes
against `sha256`, and refuse to run on mismatch. The body never travels on the
command channel so a queued command cannot be used to smuggle code past review.
`workingdirectory` is the folder the script runs from. Empty means the agent's
staging directory, which is correct for a self-contained script and wrong for
one invoking a separately-installed tool by relative path. A pinned folder that
does not exist MUST fail the command rather than falling back, so the script
never runs somewhere unintended.
`errormode` selects how the run is judged:
- `default` - PowerShell's normal behaviour. Most errors are non-terminating:
the script writes the error, continues, and still exits zero.
- `strict` - the agent prepends `$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'` so the first
error terminates the run and the exit code reflects reality.
`default` is the default precisely BECAUSE it is permissive. Every script
authored before this field existed relies on that behaviour, and some rely on it
deliberately - tolerating a failing cleanup, probing with a cmdlet that errors
when a thing is absent, looping past a bad item. Promoting `strict` globally
would make those bodies abort partway and leave endpoints half-configured, so it
is opt-in per script.
Two consequences the agent MUST honour:
- The strict prologue is applied AFTER digest verification, so the hash still
validates the bytes the server actually delivered.
- Because the prologue adds a line, an error reported on line N of a strict run
refers to line N-1 of the stored body. Surfaces showing the body should say so.
An agent that does not recognise an `errormode` value MUST treat it as
`default`. The server always sends the field explicitly, even at the default, so
an agent that received it and ignored it stays distinguishable from one that
never saw it.
#### Script output
Script stdout/stderr is ALWAYS written to the local agent log on the endpoint.
It is returned to the server in `detail.output` only when the command FAILED.
Routine output stays on the machine that produced it: shipping every successful
run back would put arbitrary script output, including whatever an author printed
while debugging, into the server's command history for no diagnostic gain.
Output is truncated to 8000 characters and flagged when truncated, because an
oversized payload rejected by the server returns nothing at all.
Timed-out runs do not carry output: the script is still running and still holds
the capture file open, so anything read at that moment would be misleading.