fix(#2164): address argus review — Option<String> secret + stale hook cleanup

Two issues flagged by argus in PR #2388 review:

1. Empty-key fallback: when load_or_generate() failed, webhook_secret was
   String::new(). An attacker knowing this could forge deliveries with a
   valid HMAC of the empty key. Fix: change to Option<String>; on None,
   skip hook registration entirely and return 503 from /webhook/* handlers
   (rather than 401 with a misleadingly-verifiable empty-key HMAC).

2. Stale hook cleanup: on upgrade from old code, old loopback hooks
   (http://127.0.0.1:.../webhook/knowledge, .../webhook/config-pr) were
   left alongside the new domain-URL hook. Fix: during ensure_webhook /
   ensure_config_pr_webhook, after listing hooks, delete any that end with
   our path suffix but point at a different base URL.

clippy + nix fmt clean.

hive-c0re/src/dashboard/mod.rs

@@ -58,7 +58,9 @@ struct AppState {
     coord: Arc<Coordinator>,
     /// HMAC-SHA256 secret shared with Forgejo webhook registrations.
     /// Verified on every incoming `/webhook/*` POST.
-    webhook_secret: String,
+    /// `None` when the secret could not be loaded at startup — all
+    /// `/webhook/*` requests are rejected with 503 in that case.
+    webhook_secret: Option<String>,
 }
 
 #[allow(
@@ -68,7 +70,11 @@ struct AppState {
               handler; splitting that exhaustive list across helpers would \
               obscure the route map for no readability gain"
 )]
-pub async fn serve(port: u16, coord: Arc<Coordinator>, webhook_secret: String) -> Result<()> {
+pub async fn serve(
+    port: u16,
+    coord: Arc<Coordinator>,
+    webhook_secret: Option<String>,
+) -> Result<()> {
     // API-only: the gateway static-serves the dashboard dist and proxies
     // non-static requests here (see hive-gateway.nix). Unmatched paths 404.
     let app = Router::new()

hive-c0re/src/dashboard/webhook.rs

@@ -25,8 +25,13 @@ use super::AppState;
 // ── HMAC helper ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 /// Verify the `X-Hub-Signature-256` header on an incoming Forgejo webhook.
-/// Returns `Err` (with a safe-to-log message) on mismatch or missing header.
+/// Returns `Err` (with a safe-to-log message) on mismatch, missing header,
+/// or when the HMAC secret is unavailable (load failure at startup).
 fn verify_hmac(state: &AppState, headers: &HeaderMap, body: &Bytes) -> Result<(), String> {
+    let secret = state
+        .webhook_secret
+        .as_deref()
+        .ok_or_else(|| "webhook HMAC secret unavailable; endpoint disabled".to_owned())?;
     let sig = headers
         .get("x-hub-signature-256")
         .and_then(|v| v.to_str().ok())
@@ -34,8 +39,7 @@ fn verify_hmac(state: &AppState, headers: &HeaderMap, body: &Bytes) -> Result<()
     if sig.is_empty() {
         return Err("missing X-Hub-Signature-256 header".to_owned());
     }
-    crate::webhook_secret::verify_signature(&state.webhook_secret, body, sig)
+    crate::webhook_secret::verify_signature(secret, body, sig).map_err(|e| e.to_string())
-        .map_err(|e| e.to_string())
 }
 
 // ── knowledge webhook ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -72,7 +76,12 @@ pub(super) async fn post_webhook_knowledge(
 ) -> Response {
     if let Err(e) = verify_hmac(&state, &headers, &body) {
         tracing::warn!("webhook/knowledge: HMAC verification failed: {e}");
-        return (StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED, "signature mismatch").into_response();
+        let status = if e.contains("unavailable") {
+            StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
+        } else {
+            StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED
+        };
+        return (status, e).into_response();
     }
 
     let payload = match serde_json::from_slice::<PushWebhookPayload>(&body) {
@@ -174,7 +183,12 @@ pub(super) async fn post_webhook_config_pr(
 ) -> Response {
     if let Err(e) = verify_hmac(&state, &headers, &body) {
         tracing::warn!("webhook/config-pr: HMAC verification failed: {e}");
-        return (StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED, "signature mismatch").into_response();
+        let status = if e.contains("unavailable") {
+            StatusCode::SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
+        } else {
+            StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED
+        };
+        return (status, e).into_response();
     }
 
     let payload = match serde_json::from_slice::<PrWebhookPayload>(&body) {

hive-c0re/src/forge/mod.rs

@@ -358,6 +358,30 @@ pub async fn ensure_config_pr_webhook(
                 tracing::debug!(%target_url, "forge: config-pr webhook already configured");
                 return Ok(());
             }
+            // Delete stale hooks that point at our path but a different base
+            // (e.g. old loopback hooks from before the SSRF-bypass migration).
+            for h in &hooks {
+                let hook_url = h
+                    .config
+                    .as_ref()
+                    .and_then(|c| c.get("url"))
+                    .map_or("", String::as_str);
+                if hook_url.ends_with("/webhook/config-pr")
+                    && hook_url != target_url
+                    && let Some(id) = h.id
+                {
+                    tracing::info!(
+                        hook_url,
+                        org = CONFIG_ORG,
+                        "forge: deleting stale config-pr webhook (wrong base)"
+                    );
+                    let _ = tokio::time::timeout(
+                        HTTP_TIMEOUT,
+                        client.org_delete_hook(CONFIG_ORG, id).send(),
+                    )
+                    .await;
+                }
+            }
         }
         Err(e) => {
             tracing::debug!(error = %e, "forge: listing config-pr hooks failed; attempting create");

hive-c0re/src/main.rs

@@ -306,11 +306,14 @@ async fn cmd_serve(
     // Webhook HMAC secret: load from state dir or generate on first run.
     // Used by both the webhook handlers (verification) and the Forgejo
     // hook registrations (so Forgejo signs deliveries with the same key).
-    let webhook_secret = match hive_c0re::webhook_secret::load_or_generate() {
+    let webhook_secret: Option<String> = match hive_c0re::webhook_secret::load_or_generate() {
-        Ok(s) => s,
+        Ok(s) => Some(s),
         Err(e) => {
-            tracing::warn!(error = ?e, "webhook secret load/generate failed; webhooks will not verify HMAC");
+            tracing::error!(
-            String::new()
+                error = ?e,
+                "webhook secret load/generate failed; /webhook/* endpoints disabled and hooks not registered"
+            );
+            None
         }
     };
     // Webhook setup: ensure Forgejo webhooks are registered for both
@@ -319,9 +322,14 @@ async fn cmd_serve(
     // forge::ensure_all so the core token + repos + org are present.
     // URLs use the public hive domain (HYPERHIVE_HIVE_DOMAIN) so Forgejo
     // delivers through the gateway, bypassing the SSRF loopback guard.
-    // No-op when the core token or domain are absent.
+    // No-op when the core token or domain are absent, or when the HMAC
+    // secret is unavailable (load failure).
     let webhook_secret_reg = webhook_secret.clone();
     tokio::spawn(async move {
+        let Some(webhook_secret_reg) = webhook_secret_reg else {
+            tracing::debug!("webhook secret unavailable; skipping hook registration");
+            return;
+        };
         let Some(token) = forge::core_token() else {
             return;
         };

hive-c0re/src/workers/knowledge.rs

@@ -190,6 +190,26 @@ pub async fn ensure_webhook(
                 tracing::debug!(%target_url, "knowledge: push webhook already configured");
                 return Ok(());
             }
+            // Delete stale hooks that point at our path but a different base
+            // (e.g. old loopback hooks from before the SSRF-bypass migration).
+            for h in &hooks {
+                let hook_url = h
+                    .config
+                    .as_ref()
+                    .and_then(|c| c.get("url"))
+                    .map_or("", String::as_str);
+                if hook_url.ends_with("/webhook/knowledge")
+                    && hook_url != target_url
+                    && let Some(id) = h.id
+                {
+                    tracing::info!(hook_url, "knowledge: deleting stale webhook (wrong base)");
+                    let _ = tokio::time::timeout(
+                        HTTP_TIMEOUT,
+                        client.repo_delete_hook(ORG, REPO, id).send(),
+                    )
+                    .await;
+                }
+            }
         }
         Err(e) => {
             tracing::debug!(error = %e, "knowledge: listing hooks failed; attempting create");