From cd575ffa87f340043cdbbcbcd83a611a3fba6c2d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Oliver Calder <oliver.calder@canonical.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:10:47 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] feat(snap): vendor ssh in openshell snap and remove ssh-keys
 interface

Previously, the openshell snap used the ssh-keys interface to get access
to the host's ssh binary, which is used for sandbox connect/exec/forward.
However, ssh-keys is a privileged interface which also grants access to
the public and private ssh keys on the host. As such, it required manual
connection in order to be used.

This weakened the security sandbox of the snap, and hurt the UX of
installing it.

This commit changes this by removing the `ssh-keys` interface and
instead vendoring the `ssh` binary within the snap.

This is safe because OpenShell always invokes the `ssh` binary with
`StrictHostKeyChecking=no`, `UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null`, and
`GlobalKnownHostsFile=/dev/null`, and never uses any host credentials or
ssh configuration. Openshell only ever access to `~/.ssh/config` to
write OpenShell-managed aliases, and this can safely live within the
snap sandbox, rather than leaking into the host environment.

Signed-off-by: Oliver Calder <oliver.calder@canonical.com>
---
 .github/workflows/release-canary.yml |  1 -
 docs/about/installation.mdx          |  3 +--
 snapcraft.yaml                       | 15 +++++++++++----
 3 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-canary.yml b/.github/workflows/release-canary.yml
index 2f205fd59c..896d12d190 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-canary.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-canary.yml
@@ -185,7 +185,6 @@ jobs:
           sudo snap connect openshell:docker docker:docker-daemon
           sudo snap connect openshell:log-observe
           sudo snap connect openshell:system-observe
-          sudo snap connect openshell:ssh-keys
 
       - name: Register snap gateway and check status
         run: |
diff --git a/docs/about/installation.mdx b/docs/about/installation.mdx
index ad3dcc8924..2ac077e7b9 100644
--- a/docs/about/installation.mdx
+++ b/docs/about/installation.mdx
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ typically `~/snap/openshell/common`. Gateway registrations live under
 ### Snap store installs
 
 When installing from the Snap Store, snapd automatically connects the `home`,
-`network`, `network-bind`, and `ssh-keys` plugs. The `docker` plug still
+`network`, and `network-bind` plugs. The `docker` plug still
 requires manual connection:
 
 ```shell
@@ -117,7 +117,6 @@ sudo snap install ./openshell_*.snap --dangerous
 sudo snap connect openshell:home
 sudo snap connect openshell:network
 sudo snap connect openshell:network-bind
-sudo snap connect openshell:ssh-keys
 sudo snap connect openshell:docker docker:docker-daemon
 sudo snap connect openshell:log-observe
 sudo snap connect openshell:system-observe
diff --git a/snapcraft.yaml b/snapcraft.yaml
index f7354aa017..d221c51e7e 100644
--- a/snapcraft.yaml
+++ b/snapcraft.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ description: |
          sudo snap connect openshell:docker docker:docker-daemon
          sudo snap connect openshell:log-observe
          sudo snap connect openshell:system-observe
-         sudo snap connect openshell:ssh-keys
          sudo snap start openshell.gateway
 
     3. Verify the gateway and register it locally:
@@ -69,7 +68,6 @@ apps:
     plugs:
       - home
       - network
-      - ssh-keys
       - system-observe
   term:
     command: bin/openshell term
@@ -81,7 +79,6 @@ apps:
     plugs:
       - home
       - network
-      - ssh-keys
       - system-observe
   gateway:
     command: bin/openshell-gateway-wrapper
@@ -104,7 +101,6 @@ apps:
       - log-observe
       - network
       - network-bind
-      - ssh-keys
       - system-observe
 
 parts:
@@ -150,3 +146,14 @@ parts:
         "$CRAFT_PART_INSTALL/usr/share/doc/openshell/LICENSE"
       install -D -m 0644 "$CRAFT_PART_SRC/README.md" \
         "$CRAFT_PART_INSTALL/usr/share/doc/openshell/README.md"
+
+  ssh:
+    # Vendor the openssh-client `ssh` binary into the snap so the CLI/TUI
+    # can spawn `ssh` for sandbox connect/exec/forward without relying on
+    # the host's ssh-keys interface. The binary lands at
+    # $SNAP/usr/bin/ssh and is found via the snap runtime PATH.
+    plugin: nil
+    stage-packages:
+      - openssh-client
+    prime:
+      - usr/bin/ssh