The gateway pairing directory (~/.hermes/pairing/) stores per-platform
access-control files (telegram-approved.json, discord-approved.json, etc.).
A prompt-injected agent using write_file could add arbitrary user IDs to an
approved file, granting persistent gateway access without going through the
pairing code flow — the same threat class that motivated protecting
webhook_subscriptions.json (#14157).
The pairing directory was not included in the original control-plane protection
because it postdates PR #14157. PR #30383 introduced the hashed-pending schema
and made the approved files the sole source of truth for gateway access, raising
the security sensitivity of the directory.
Apply the same mcp-tokens pattern: block writes to pairing/ and any path within
it, under both the active hermes_home and the root path (for profile-mode parity
with the fix in #30382).
Regression tests verify denial for pairing/telegram-approved.json,
pairing/discord-pending.json, and the directory itself, in both normal and
profile-mode layouts.