Upstream commit 2e66eefbc ("fix(dashboard): validate WebSocket Host
and Origin") added a WebSocket Host/Origin guard to block DNS
rebinding against the dashboard. The guard rejects any Origin whose
scheme is not http/https or whose netloc is empty — which includes
Electron's renderer Origin: file:// when the desktop app loads its
bundle from disk in production mode.
That makes the bb/gui Electron desktop unable to open the gateway
WebSocket against the embedded backend on Windows / macOS prod
builds. The renderer reports "Desktop boot failed" and the backend
logs:
WARNING hermes_cli.web_server: gateway-ws reject
peer=127.0.0.1:NNNN reason=non_loopback_or_bad_origin
bound_host=127.0.0.1 close_code=4403
DNS-rebinding requires a DNS-resolvable hostname; file:// has no
host component and therefore cannot be the attack vector this guard
exists to block. When bound to a loopback interface (127.0.0.1 /
::1 / localhost), accept file:// origins so desktop wrappers can
attach. Non-loopback binds (operator opted into network exposure)
keep rejecting file:// — the loose policy doesn't apply.
Also adds per-reason diagnostic logging in
_ws_host_origin_is_allowed, so future ws-guard rejections name the
specific clause that fired (bad_host / bad_origin_scheme /
origin_host_mismatch) instead of the opaque
"non_loopback_or_bad_origin" surfaced at the call site.
Verified against tests/hermes_cli/test_web_server_host_header.py
(all 11 upstream tests still pass) and hand-tested by opening the
bb/gui Electron desktop dev build against the patched backend.
Jeffrey Quesnelle
8523a9feaf