influxdata/influxdb · error · PluginError

Path traversal detected: plugin filename

Error message

Path traversal detected: plugin filename '{0}' attempts to access files outside the plugin directory

What it means

PluginError::PathTraversal is thrown when a requested plugin filename escapes the configured plugin directory (contains '..' segments or absolute paths), a security guard against arbitrary file reads/writes via the plugin API.

Solutions

1. Pass only a bare filename with no path separators or '..' segments.
2. Sanitize/normalize the name (keep alphanumerics, dot, underscore, hyphen) before calling the API.
3. Place required files inside the plugin directory and reference them by name only.

Example fix

// before
client.install_plugin("../../etc/passwd")
// after
client.install_plugin("my_plugin.py")

fn is_safe_plugin_name(name: &str) -> bool {
    !name.is_empty()
        && !name.contains(['/', '\\'])
        && !name.contains("..")
        && name.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_alphanumeric() || matches!(c, '.' | '_' | '-'))
}

fn is_bare_filename(name: &str) -> bool { name == std::path::Path::new(name).file_name().and_then(|s| s.to_str()).unwrap_or("") }

When it happens

Trigger: Requesting a plugin whose filename resolves outside the plugin dir, e.g. '../../etc/passwd' or '/etc/cron.d/evil' passed to the install/lookup API.

Common situations: Malicious or mistaken API calls using relative paths; automation scripts constructing filenames from untrusted input; copy-pasted paths with directory components.

Understand the failure class

Background: Path traversal blocked: "path escapes the workspace" and "outside site root" errors when a path will not stay inside its allowed directory — this error's family across 26 libraries.

Related errors

• database not found for trigger
• Failed to import plugin module
• Node not configured with plugin directory
• Plugin error
• Python environment initialization failed

AI-assisted analysis of influxdata/influxdb@06200ef96b (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e2e7e00e3d825473. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at influxdb3_processing_engine/src/plugins.rs:79

    #[error("non-schedule plugin with schedule trigger: {0}")]
    NonSchedulePluginWithScheduleTrigger(String),

    #[error("error fetching plugin from repository: {0} {1}")]
    FetchingFromRepository(reqwest::StatusCode, String),

    #[error(
        "plugin installation is disabled; plugins must already exist in the configured plugin directory"
    )]
    PluginInstallationDisabled,

    #[error("Join error, please report: {0}")]
    JoinError(#[from] tokio::task::JoinError),

    #[error("Node not configured with plugin directory")]
    NoPluginDir,

    #[error(
        "Path traversal detected: plugin filename '{0}' attempts to access files outside the plugin directory"
    )]
    PathTraversal(String),
}

#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
pub struct ProcessingEngineEnvironmentManager {
    pub plugin_dir: Option<PathBuf>,
    pub virtual_env_location: Option<PathBuf>,
    pub package_manager: Arc<dyn PythonEnvironmentManager>,
    pub plugin_dir_only: bool,
    pub plugin_repo: Option<String>,
}

pub(crate) fn run_schedule_event_source(
    trigger_definition: Arc<TriggerDefinition>,
    time_provider: Arc<dyn TimeProvider>,
    scheduler: Scheduler,

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