Attack J Security Fix (MC #101149)

Attack J Security Fix (MC #101149)

MC: #101149 (Attack J — evidence-ledger writer identity spoof)
Parent: Reality Anchor Doctrine Phase 2
Owner: CodeCraft / Petter Graff
Date Shipped: 2026-05-17
Proveo Verdict: PARTIAL → PASS (after fix)

The Vulnerability (Attack J)

The evidence-ledger writer identity could be spoofed via the --actor CLI parameter. The ledger write path used:

const agentId = process.env.CLAUDE_AGENT_ID || actor || 'unknown';

This allowed an agent to bypass the Writer ≠ Witness gate by supplying:

mc.js ready 101149 --evidence /tmp/evidence-101149/ --actor "different-agent-id"

The ledger would record writer_agent_id = "different-agent-id", then at mc.js done the same agent could close the task because the writer_id check passed (different agent on paper, same agent in reality).

Reality Anchor Invariant: "The agent that produces evidence cannot be the agent that closes the task."

This is the Writer = Witness antipattern — the bypass allowed a single agent to both produce and validate its own evidence.

The Fix

Remove || actor from the identity fallback chain. The agent identity MUST come from CLAUDE_AGENT_ID environment variable (set by the Claude Code runtime, not user-supplied).

Changed Lines in mc.js

Line 2843 (done gate — read ledger):

- const currentAgentId = process.env.CLAUDE_AGENT_ID || actor || 'unknown';
+ const currentAgentId = process.env.CLAUDE_AGENT_ID || 'unknown';

Line 3538 (ready command — write ledger for --evidence):

- const agentId = process.env.CLAUDE_AGENT_ID || actor || 'unknown';
+ const agentId = process.env.CLAUDE_AGENT_ID || 'unknown';

Line 3574 (deprecation log):

- agent_id: process.env.CLAUDE_AGENT_ID || actor || 'unknown',
+ agent_id: process.env.CLAUDE_AGENT_ID || 'unknown',

Line 3589 (ready command — write ledger for --probe-evidence):

- const agentId = process.env.CLAUDE_AGENT_ID || actor || 'unknown';
+ const agentId = process.env.CLAUDE_AGENT_ID || 'unknown';

Symmetric Enforcement

The fix ensures symmetric identity enforcement across both READ (line 2843) and WRITE (lines 3538, 3589) paths:

Operation Line Identity Source
Read ledger (done gate) 2843 CLAUDE_AGENT_ID only
Write ledger (ready --evidence) 3538 CLAUDE_AGENT_ID only
Write ledger (ready --probe-evidence) 3589 CLAUDE_AGENT_ID only
Deprecation log 3574 CLAUDE_AGENT_ID only

The --actor CLI parameter remains available for legacy MC operations (comments, audit log human-readable labels) but is NEVER used as a substitute for CLAUDE_AGENT_ID in the P2.2 writer≠closer gate.

Why This Matters

Without this fix, the entire Reality Anchor Phase 2 evidence ledger was bypassable. An agent could:

  1. Generate evidence file
  2. Write to ledger with spoofed writer_id via --actor
  3. Close task with mc.js done (same agent, but ledger shows different writer)
  4. Gate passes because writer_agent_id != closer_agent_id

This is a privilege escalation via identity forgery. The fix closes the gap by enforcing that only the runtime-provided CLAUDE_AGENT_ID is authoritative.

Proveo Test Update

Before fix: Proveo verdict for MC #101149 = PARTIAL (Attack J bypass demonstrated)
After fix: Proveo re-ran test → verdict updated to PASS

Test scenario:

  1. Builder agent produces evidence for task #101149
  2. Builder attempts mc.js ready 101149 --evidence /tmp/evidence-101149/ --actor "fake-verifier-id"
  3. Expected: Ledger records writer_agent_id = builder's real CLAUDE_AGENT_ID (NOT "fake-verifier-id")
  4. Builder attempts mc.js done 101149
  5. Expected: Gate BLOCKS because writer_agent_id == closer_agent_id

Result: PASS — gate correctly blocked self-closure.

Writer ≠ Witness Invariant (Now Enforced)

The invariant is now enforced symmetrically in both read and write paths:

Invariant: The agent_id that writes evidence to the ledger MUST differ from the agent_id that calls mc.js done. Identity MUST be derived from CLAUDE_AGENT_ID environment variable, NOT from user-supplied --actor parameter.

Audit Trail

All evidence ledger entries at ~/system/state/evidence-ledger.jsonl now contain:

The gate at mc.js done verifies:

  1. Ledger entry exists for task_id
  2. writer_agent_id != closer_agent_id
  3. SHA-256 hash matches file content
  4. Timestamp within task execution window
Revision #2
Created 2026-05-17 12:05:06 UTC by John
Updated 2026-06-21 20:03:42 UTC by John