Remove prviliges drop when you never ran as root (#34837)

docker/cont-init.d/02-reconcile-profiles

@@ -42,4 +42,6 @@ if [ -d /run/service/.s6-svscan ]; then
     done
 fi
 
+# Skip the drop when already non-root.
+[ "$(id -u)" = 0 ] || exec /opt/hermes/.venv/bin/python -m hermes_cli.container_boot
 exec s6-setuidgid hermes /opt/hermes/.venv/bin/python -m hermes_cli.container_boot

docker/main-wrapper.sh

@@ -16,10 +16,11 @@
 #   first arg is an executable    → exec it directly (sleep, bash, sh, …)
 #   first arg is anything else    → exec `hermes <args>` (subcommand passthrough)
 #
-# We drop to the hermes user via `s6-setuidgid` so the supervised
-# workload runs unprivileged (UID 10000 by default).
+# Drop to hermes via s6-setuidgid, but skip it when already non-root.
 set -e
 
+drop() { [ "$(id -u)" = 0 ] && set -- s6-setuidgid hermes "$@"; exec "$@"; }
+
 # HOME comes through with-contenv as /root (the /init context). Override
 # to the hermes user's home before dropping privileges so libraries that
 # resolve paths via $HOME (e.g. discord lockfile under XDG_STATE_HOME)
@@ -31,13 +32,13 @@ cd /opt/data
 . /opt/hermes/.venv/bin/activate
 
 if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
-    exec s6-setuidgid hermes hermes
+    drop hermes
 fi
 
 if command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     # Bare executable — pass through directly.
-    exec s6-setuidgid hermes "$@"
+    drop "$@"
 fi
 
 # Hermes subcommand pass-through.
-exec s6-setuidgid hermes hermes "$@"
+drop hermes "$@"

docker/s6-rc.d/dashboard/run

@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ case "${HERMES_DASHBOARD_INSECURE:-}" in
     1|true|TRUE|True|yes|YES|Yes) insecure="--insecure" ;;
 esac
 
+# Skip the drop when already non-root.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2086  # word-splitting of $insecure is intentional
+[ "$(id -u)" = 0 ] || exec hermes dashboard --host "$dash_host" --port "$dash_port" --no-open $insecure
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086  # word-splitting of $insecure is intentional
 exec s6-setuidgid hermes hermes dashboard \
     --host "$dash_host" --port "$dash_port" --no-open $insecure

docker/stage2-hook.sh

@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ set -eu
 HERMES_HOME="${HERMES_HOME:-/opt/data}"
 INSTALL_DIR="/opt/hermes"
 
+# Drop to hermes via s6-setuidgid, but skip it when already non-root.
+as_hermes() { [ "$(id -u)" = 0 ] || { "$@"; return; }; s6-setuidgid hermes "$@"; }
+
 # --- Bootstrap HERMES_HOME as root ---
 # Create the directory (and any missing parents) while we still have root
 # privileges so the chown checks below see real metadata and the later
@@ -199,7 +202,7 @@ fi
 # Use direct `mkdir -p` invocation (no `sh -c "..."` wrapper) so the
 # shell isn't a second interpreter — defends against $HERMES_HOME values
 # containing shell metacharacters. PR #30136 review item O2.
-s6-setuidgid hermes mkdir -p \
+as_hermes mkdir -p \
     "$HERMES_HOME/cron" \
     "$HERMES_HOME/sessions" \
     "$HERMES_HOME/logs" \
@@ -216,7 +219,7 @@ s6-setuidgid hermes mkdir -p \
 # the hermes user so ownership matches the file's documented owner.
 # tee is invoked directly via s6-setuidgid (no `sh -c` wrapper) for the
 # same shell-metacharacter safety described above.
-printf 'docker\n' | s6-setuidgid hermes tee "$HERMES_HOME/.install_method" >/dev/null \
+printf 'docker\n' | as_hermes tee "$HERMES_HOME/.install_method" >/dev/null \
     || true
 
 # --- Seed config files (only on first boot) ---
@@ -224,7 +227,7 @@ seed_one() {
     dest=$1
     src=$2
     if [ ! -f "$HERMES_HOME/$dest" ] && [ -f "$INSTALL_DIR/$src" ]; then
-        s6-setuidgid hermes cp "$INSTALL_DIR/$src" "$HERMES_HOME/$dest"
+        as_hermes cp "$INSTALL_DIR/$src" "$HERMES_HOME/$dest"
     fi
 }
 seed_one ".env" ".env.example"
@@ -255,7 +258,7 @@ fi
 # the python binary's own bin-stub already sets up (sys.path is rooted
 # at the venv's site-packages by virtue of running .venv/bin/python).
 if [ -d "$INSTALL_DIR/skills" ]; then
-    s6-setuidgid hermes "$INSTALL_DIR/.venv/bin/python" "$INSTALL_DIR/tools/skills_sync.py" \
+    as_hermes "$INSTALL_DIR/.venv/bin/python" "$INSTALL_DIR/tools/skills_sync.py" \
         || echo "[stage2] Warning: skills_sync.py failed; continuing"
 fi
 

hermes_cli/service_manager.py

@@ -615,11 +615,13 @@ class S6ServiceManager:
         # guard.
         lines.append("export HERMES_S6_SUPERVISED_CHILD=1")
         if profile == "default":
-            lines.append("exec s6-setuidgid hermes hermes gateway run")
+            gateway_cmd = "hermes gateway run"
         else:
-            lines.append(
-                f"exec s6-setuidgid hermes hermes -p {shlex.quote(profile)} gateway run"
-            )
+            gateway_cmd = f"hermes -p {shlex.quote(profile)} gateway run"
+        # Skip the drop when already non-root (setgroups() lacks CAP_SETGID →
+        # s6 boot-loop).
+        lines.append(f'[ "$(id -u)" = 0 ] || exec {gateway_cmd}')
+        lines.append(f"exec s6-setuidgid hermes {gateway_cmd}")
         return "\n".join(lines) + "\n"
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -674,6 +676,8 @@ class S6ServiceManager:
             f'log_dir="$HERMES_HOME/logs/gateways/{prof}"\n'
             f'mkdir -p "$log_dir"\n'
             f'chown -R hermes:hermes "$log_dir" 2>/dev/null || true\n'
+            # Skip the drop when already non-root (CAP_SETGID).
+            f'[ "$(id -u)" = 0 ] || exec s6-log 1 n10 s1000000 T "$log_dir"\n'
             f'exec s6-setuidgid hermes s6-log 1 n10 s1000000 T "$log_dir"\n'
         )