code_mode_host app-server runs with umask 0077, silently creating 0600/0700 project files that break multi-user deployments
Open 💬 0 comments Opened Aug 6, 2026 by traderview
What version of Codex CLI is running?
codex-cli 0.146.1
What subscription do you have?
Pro
Which model were you using?
Gpt-5.6-sol
What platform is your computer?
Linux
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
Ghostty
Codex doctor report
{
"schemaVersion": 1,
"generatedAt": "1786029303s since unix epoch",
"overallStatus": "ok",
"codexVersion": "0.146.1",
"checks": {
"app_server.status": {
"id": "app_server.status",
"category": "app-server",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "background server is running",
"details": {
"app-server version": "0.146.1",
"control socket": "/root/.codex/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock",
"daemon state dir": "/root/.codex/app-server-daemon",
"mode": "ephemeral",
"pid file": "/root/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (missing)",
"settings": "/root/.codex/app-server-daemon/settings.json (missing)",
"status": "running",
"update-loop pid file": "/root/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server-updater.pid (missing)"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 170
},
"auth.credentials": {
"id": "auth.credentials",
"category": "auth",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "auth is configured",
"details": {
"auth file": "/root/.codex/auth.json",
"auth storage mode": "File",
"stored API key": "false",
"stored ChatGPT tokens": "true",
"stored agent identity": "false",
"stored auth mode": "chatgpt"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"config.load": {
"id": "config.load",
"category": "config",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "config loaded",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "/root/.codex",
"config.toml": "/root/.codex/config.toml",
"config.toml parse": "ok",
"cwd": "/root",
"enabled feature flags": "shell_tool, unified_exec, shell_snapshot, terminal_resize_reflow, sqlite, hooks, enable_request_compression, multi_agent, apps, tool_search_always_defer_mcp_tools, tool_suggest, plugins, in_app_browser, in_app_updates, browser_use, browser_use_full_cdp_access, browser_use_external, computer_use, remote_plugin, plugin_sharing, image_generation, resize_all_images, item_ids, skill_mcp_dependency_install, skill_search, mentions_v2, steer, guardian_approval, goals, collaboration_modes, tool_call_mcp_elicitation, auth_elicitation, personality, fast_mode, tui_app_server, remote_compaction_v2, workspace_dependencies",
"feature flag overrides": "code_mode_host=false",
"feature flags enabled": "37",
"log dir": "/root/.codex/log",
"mcp servers": "3",
"model": "gpt-5.6-sol",
"model provider": "openai",
"sqlite home": "/root/.codex"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"git.environment": {
"id": "git.environment",
"category": "git",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "git version 2.34.1",
"details": {
".git entry": "directory",
"PATH git #1": "/usr/bin/git",
"PATH git #2": "/bin/git",
"PATH git entries": "2",
"git build options": "git version 2.34.1; cpu: x86_64; no commit associated with this build; sizeof-long: 8; sizeof-size_t: 8; shell-path: /bin/sh",
"git exec path": "/usr/lib/git-core",
"git version": "git version 2.34.1",
"repo detected": "true",
"repo root": "/root",
"selected git": "/usr/bin/git"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 86
},
"installation": {
"id": "installation",
"category": "install",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "installation looks consistent",
"details": {
"PATH codex #1": "/root/.local/bin/codex",
"current executable": "/root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
"install context": "npm (package /root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
"managed by bun": "false",
"managed by npm": "true",
"managed by pnpm": "false",
"managed package root": "/root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
"npm update target": "/root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 76
},
"mcp.config": {
"id": "mcp.config",
"category": "mcp",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "MCP configuration is locally consistent",
"details": {
"configured servers": "3",
"disabled servers": "0",
"streamable_http servers": "3"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 1007
},
"network.env": {
"id": "network.env",
"category": "network",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "network-related environment looks readable",
"details": {
"proxy env vars": "none"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"network.provider_reachability": {
"id": "network.provider_reachability",
"category": "reachability",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "active provider endpoints are reachable over HTTP",
"details": {
"ChatGPT base URL": "https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/ reachable (HTTP 403)",
"reachability mode": "ChatGPT auth"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 118
},
"network.websocket_reachability": {
"id": "network.websocket_reachability",
"category": "websocket",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "Responses WebSocket handshake succeeded",
"details": {
"DNS": "2 IPv4, 2 IPv6, first IPv6",
"auth mode": "chatgpt",
"connect timeout": "15000 ms",
"endpoint": "wss://chatgpt.com/backend-api/<redacted>",
"handshake result": "HTTP 101 Switching Protocols",
"model provider": "openai",
"models etag present": "true",
"provider name": "OpenAI",
"proxy env vars": "none",
"reasoning header": "false",
"server model present": "false",
"supports websockets": "true",
"wire API": "responses"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 616
},
"runtime.provenance": {
"id": "runtime.provenance",
"category": "runtime",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "running npm on linux-x86_64",
"details": {
"commit": "unknown",
"current executable": "/root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
"install method": "npm (package /root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
"platform": "linux-x86_64",
"version": "0.146.1"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"runtime.search": {
"id": "runtime.search",
"category": "search",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "search is OK (bundled)",
"details": {
"search command": "/root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path/rg",
"search command readiness": "file exists",
"search provider": "bundled"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"sandbox.helpers": {
"id": "sandbox.helpers",
"category": "sandbox",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "sandbox configuration is readable",
"details": {
"approval policy": "OnRequest",
"codex-linux-sandbox helper": "/root/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0ElRtnQ/codex-linux-sandbox",
"execve wrapper helper": "/root/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0ElRtnQ/codex-execve-wrapper",
"filesystem sandbox": "restricted",
"network sandbox": "restricted"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"state.paths": {
"id": "state.paths",
"category": "state",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "/root/.codex (dir)",
"active rollout files": "614 files, 5738055544 total bytes, 9345367 average bytes",
"archived rollout files": "13 files, 6031721 total bytes, 463978 average bytes",
"goals DB": "/root/.codex/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
"goals DB integrity": "ok",
"log DB": "/root/.codex/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
"log DB integrity": "ok",
"log dir": "/root/.codex/log (dir)",
"memories DB": "/root/.codex/memories_1.sqlite (file)",
"memories DB integrity": "ok",
"sqlite home": "/root/.codex (dir)",
"state DB": "/root/.codex/state_5.sqlite (file)",
"state DB integrity": "ok",
"thread history DB": "/root/.codex/thread_history_1.sqlite (missing)",
"thread history DB integrity": "skipped (missing)"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 3608
},
"state.rollout_db_parity": {
"id": "state.rollout_db_parity",
"category": "threads",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "rollout files and state DB thread inventory agree",
"details": {
"default model provider": "openai",
"rollout DB active files": "614",
"rollout DB active rows": "614",
"rollout DB archive mismatches": "0",
"rollout DB archived files": "13",
"rollout DB archived rows": "13",
"rollout DB duplicate DB paths": "0",
"rollout DB duplicate rollout thread ids": "0",
"rollout DB malformed file names": "0",
"rollout DB missing active rows": "0",
"rollout DB missing archived rows": "0",
"rollout DB model providers": "openai=627",
"rollout DB rows": "627",
"rollout DB scan cap reached": "false",
"rollout DB scan errors": "0",
"rollout DB sources": "subagent:other=384, vscode=112, exec=105, cli=18, subagent:thread_spawn=8",
"rollout DB stale rows": "0"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 463
},
"system.environment": {
"id": "system.environment",
"category": "system",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "OS language en-US",
"details": {
"EDITOR": "not set",
"LANG": "en_US.UTF-8",
"VISUAL": "not set",
"os": "Ubuntu 22.4.0 (jammy) [64-bit]",
"os language": "en-US",
"os type": "Ubuntu",
"os version": "22.4.0"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 59
},
"terminal.env": {
"id": "terminal.env",
"category": "terminal",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "terminal metadata was detected",
"details": {
"SSH_CLIENT": "present",
"SSH_CONNECTION": "present",
"SSH_TTY": "present",
"TERM": "xterm-ghostty",
"color output": "enabled",
"effective locale": "en_US.UTF-8",
"stderr is terminal": "true",
"stdin is terminal": "true",
"stdout is terminal": "true",
"terminal": "unknown",
"terminal size": "160x57"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"terminal.title": {
"id": "terminal.title",
"category": "title",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "terminal title default",
"details": {
"terminal title activity": "true",
"terminal title items": "activity, project-name",
"terminal title project source": "git repo root",
"terminal title project value": "root",
"terminal title source": "default"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"updates.status": {
"id": "updates.status",
"category": "updates",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "update configuration is locally consistent",
"details": {
"cached latest version": "0.146.1",
"check for update on startup": "true",
"last checked at": "2026-08-05T23:31:45.463282819Z",
"latest version": "0.146.1",
"latest version status": "current version is not older",
"npm update target": "/root/.local/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
"update action": "npm install -g @openai/codex",
"version cache": "/root/.codex/version.json"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 172
}
}
}What issue are you seeing?
The app-server that the Codex client launches with -c features.code_mode_host=true
runs with umask 0077, and every process it spawns inherits it — the code-mode
child, the sandbox launcher, bwrap, and every command a conversation executes. All
files created through code-mode conversations arrive 0600 and directories
0700 instead of the customary 0644/0755.
Verified via /proc/<pid>/status on the same machine, same version:
| process | umask |
|---|---|
| codex -c features.code_mode_host=true app-server --listen | 0077 |
| its code-mode child → sandbox launcher → bwrap → executed command | 0077 |
| plain codex resume CLI session | 0022 |
| plain codex app-server proxy | 0022 |
The vendored Bubblewrap deliberately saves and restores the parent's umask
(old_umask = umask (0); ... umask (old_umask); in vendor/bubblewrap/bubblewrap.c),
so the sandbox faithfully propagates the app-server's 0077 into user commands.
If the 0077 is intentional hardening for Codex-internal files, it leaks beyond
them: ordinary project files and production build artifacts (e.g. a Vite build)
come out owner-only with no warning. Git doesn't track 0600 vs 0644, and
single-user setups never notice. In our environment (Codex as root; nginx and
systemd services as non-root users; mode-preserving rsync -a deploys) this
caused public 403s on a deployed frontend and a PermissionError on a service
importing a newly created Python module. It took days to trace, because plain-CLI
sessions on the same box produced normal 0644 files the whole time, making the
failures look intermittent.
Also: codex features disable code_mode_host writes the config correctly
(codex features list shows false), but the client launcher's-c features.code_mode_host=true command-line flag overrides it, so there is no
user-accessible way to opt out.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Connect with a client that launches the code-mode app-server (process cmdline:
codex -c features.code_mode_host=true app-server --listen).
- In a conversation, run:
umask; mkdir d; touch d/f; ls -la d
- Observe:
0077
drwx------ d
-rw------- d/f
- Compare with a plain
codexCLI session on the same machine:
0022
drwxr-xr-x
-rw-r--r--
- Confirm the host-side chain:
grep Umask /proc/<app-server-pid>/statusand
each descendant — all 0077.
What is the expected behavior?
Files created by a user's commands in code-mode conversations should have the
same modes as in any other Codex session: 0644 files, 0755 directories (umask
0022). Specifically, one of:
- scope any 0077 hardening to Codex-internal files and run project-file
operations at 0022, or
- make the umask configurable and/or honor `codex features disable
code_mode_host` instead of overriding it with the launcher flag, or
- at minimum, document prominently that code-mode output is owner-only and must
be permission-normalized before deployment.
Additional information
_No response_