From 76f3ca12b8b8eebcc25bb6647d2ed477ea9e1435 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jochen <jschoubben@novox.be>
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2026 20:52:44 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Refuse to take over a system account as one that never
 becomes root

The controller cannot read a machine's user database, so a name it is given
for the agents' account (hq ADR 0266) may be a service's own; taking it over
would hand agents that service's files. Refuse it, touching nothing.
---
 internal/apply/user.go      | 15 +++++++++++++++
 internal/apply/user_test.go | 29 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 44 insertions(+)

diff --git a/internal/apply/user.go b/internal/apply/user.go
index 8926690..43ba427 100644
--- a/internal/apply/user.go
+++ b/internal/apply/user.go
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ import (
 // are a package plus configuration **in somebody's home** — so a mesh with no notion of a user
 // can manage /etc and nothing anybody looks at.
 
+// FirstLoginUID is the first uid of a person's login on the distributions the mesh runs on (login.defs UID_MIN).
+const FirstLoginUID = 1000
+
 // applyUser makes a login match what was declared.
 //
 // Reconciling, like everything else here: it is not told whether the user is new. Creating,
@@ -51,6 +54,18 @@ func applyUser(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, r *declaration.User, run
 		return out, err
 	}
 
+	// **An account that must never become root is never a system account taken over** (novox/hq ADR 0266).
+	// The controller cannot read this machine's user database, so it cannot tell that a name it was given is a
+	// service's own (postgres, a module's daemon). Taking one over as the agents' account would hand agents
+	// that service's files and rights. Refused before anything is touched.
+	if r.Root == declaration.RootNever && exists {
+		if uid, err := strconv.Atoi(login.UID); err != nil || uid < FirstLoginUID {
+			return out, fmt.Errorf("%q is declared as an account that never becomes root, and it already exists "+
+				"here as a system account (uid %s, below %d): it is not taken over; name another account",
+				r.Name, login.UID, FirstLoginUID)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// **A shell is refused before anything is touched** (novox/hq issue 228). Refused after the
 	// account was created or its groups changed, the account would be half the declaration's; a
 	// refusal fails this resource and leaves the account exactly as it was.
diff --git a/internal/apply/user_test.go b/internal/apply/user_test.go
index e6e81a9..308268e 100644
--- a/internal/apply/user_test.go
+++ b/internal/apply/user_test.go
@@ -292,3 +292,32 @@ func TestTheFoundShellIsNotOverwrittenByASecondChange(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("given back %q, not the shell from before the mesh", l.shells["operator"])
 	}
 }
+
+// An account declared never to become root is never a system account taken over (novox/hq ADR 0266): the
+// controller cannot tell a service's account from a free name, so the node-engine refuses it, touching nothing.
+func TestARootNeverAccountIsNotASystemAccountTakenOver(t *testing.T) {
+	l := &logins{shells: map[string]string{}}
+	run := func(ctx context.Context, name string, args ...string) (string, error) {
+		if name == "getent" && args[len(args)-1] == "postgres" {
+			l.asked = append(l.asked, name+" "+strings.Join(args, " "))
+			return "postgres:x:70:70::/var/lib/postgres:/usr/bin/nologin\n", nil
+		}
+		return l.run(ctx, name, args...)
+	}
+	declared := func(name string) string {
+		return `{"declaration":1,"resources":[{"id":"claude-code.agent-account","type":"user","name":"` + name + `","root":"never"}]}`
+	}
+	report, _, err := Apply(context.Background(), archHost(t), parse(t, declared("postgres")), store.State{},
+		store.OriginDeclared, run, nil, nil)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "system account") {
+		t.Fatalf("a system account is refused as the agents' account: %v %+v", err, report)
+	}
+	if l.did("usermod") || l.did("useradd") {
+		t.Fatalf("nothing is changed on the refused account: %v", l.asked)
+	}
+	l.shells["agent"] = "/bin/bash" // uid 1500 in the fake: a login
+	if _, _, err := Apply(context.Background(), archHost(t), parse(t, declared("agent")), store.State{},
+		store.OriginDeclared, run, nil, nil); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a login's account is taken: %v", err)
+	}
+}