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fix : ReadFileTool shells out on ranged reads and interpolates untrusted path #5537

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fix : ReadFileTool shells out on ranged reads and interpolates untrusted path #5537

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b33c236
fixing path bug in ReadFileTool
hamdi-sakly Apr 29, 2026
0d2d271
add test_ReadFileTool.py as unittest
hamdi-sakly May 1, 2026
a6c0b2b
Revert "add test_ReadFileTool.py as unittest"
hamdi-sakly May 1, 2026
89061d9
Reapply "add test_ReadFileTool.py as unittest"
hamdi-sakly May 1, 2026
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4 changes: 3 additions & 1 deletion src/google/adk/tools/environment/_tools.py
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
from __future__ import annotations

import logging
import shlex
from typing import Any
from typing import Optional
from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -187,7 +188,8 @@ async def run_async(
sed_range = f'{start},{end_line}'
else:
sed_range = f'{start},$'
cmd = f"cat -n '{path}' | sed -n '{sed_range}p'"
safe_path = shlex.quote(path)
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@sasha-gitg sasha-gitg Apr 30, 2026

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This is great, thanks! Can you add a few unit tests?

cmd = f"cat -n {safe_path} | sed -n '{sed_range}p'"
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@failuresmith failuresmith May 1, 2026

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Even if path is safely shell-quoted, the ranged-read path still interpolates end_line into sed -n '...p'.

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@failuresmith failuresmith May 1, 2026

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Now if you replace the previous POC with the

Updated POC

import asyncio
from pathlib import Path
import tempfile

from google.adk.environment._local_environment import LocalEnvironment
from google.adk.tools.environment._tools import ReadFileTool


async def main():
  with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as td:
    env = LocalEnvironment(working_dir=Path(td))
    await env.initialize()

    target = Path(td) / "sample.txt"
    target.write_text("line1\nline2\nline3\n", encoding="utf-8")

    marker = Path(td) / "marker.txt"
    injected_end_line = f"1'; touch {marker}; echo '"

    tool = ReadFileTool(env)
    result = await tool.run_async(
        args={"path": "sample.txt", "end_line": injected_end_line},
        tool_context=None,
    )

    print(result)
    # If this prints True, a file-read API caused an unintended side effect.
    # That demonstrates the bug: the path was interpreted by the shell.
    print("marker exists:", marker.exists())
    await env.close()


asyncio.run(main())

You could see that the current implementation of the file-read API could cause unintended side effects.

#5558 is how I would fix it.

res = await self._environment.execute(cmd)
if res.exit_code == 0:
return {'status': 'ok', 'content': _truncate(res.stdout)}
Expand Down