Skip to main content
← Back to list
01Issue
BugShippedSwamp CLI
Assigneesstack72

Relationships

#1213 Grant *revoke* is never applied to the running server — under `--grant-reload auto` and `manual` alike, a revoked grant stays in force until an explicit `access reload`

Opened by ehazlett · 7/17/2026· Shipped 7/17/2026

Summary

On swamp serve --auth-mode token, a grant revoke does not update the running server's policy snapshot. The revoke persists to the store (access grant list shows it gone), but the live server keeps enforcing the revoked grant until someone runs swamp access reload. This holds under --grant-reload auto as well as manual.

Under --grant-reload auto a grant create does auto-apply, but a revoke does not — so auto watches the create path but not the revoke path, and revocation, the security-critical direction, is reload-gated in every mode.

Environment

  • swamp 20260717.005557.0-sha.75fb2767
  • --auth-mode token, --grant-reload auto, filesystem datastore, Linux
  • Reproduced through the server (--server, admin token) — not only local CLI

Steps to reproduce

Placeholders below: $SERVER is the serve WebSocket URL; $ADMIN and $TEST are the minted tokens for user:atlas-admin and user:test.

  1. Start the server with auto reload:
    swamp serve --port 9099 --host [IP-1] --auth-mode token --grant-reload auto --admins user:atlas-admin
    Log confirms: Policy snapshot loaded (reload mode: "auto").
  2. Mint two tokens: $TEST for user:test, $ADMIN for user:atlas-admin.
  3. Create a grant through the server (as admin), then check as the subject — no manual reload:
    swamp access grant create --server $SERVER --token $ADMIN --subject user:test --allow read --on model:reload-test
swamp access can-i --server $SERVER --token $TEST --action read --on model:reload-test
    → ALLOW. Server log reloaded on its own: Loaded policy snapshot: 2 active grant(s). (Create path works — good.)
  4. Revoke that grant (as admin), then re-check as the subject — no manual reload:
    swamp access grant revoke GRANT_ID --server $SERVER --token $ADMIN
swamp access grant list --server $SERVER --token $ADMIN
swamp access can-i --server $SERVER --token $TEST --action read --on model:reload-test
    grant list shows the grant gone, but can-i still returns ALLOW, and the server log shows no new snapshot reload.
  5. Run an explicit reload, then re-check:
    swamp access reload --server $SERVER --token $ADMIN
swamp access can-i --server $SERVER --token $TEST --action read --on model:reload-test
    → now DENY. Server log: Loaded policy snapshot: 1 active grant(s).

Expected vs. actual

  • Expected: after access grant revoke, the running server stops enforcing the grant — immediately under auto, and ideally regardless of reload mode, since this is revocation.
  • Actual: the revoke is written to the store but the live policy snapshot is not reloaded, so the revoked grant keeps being enforced until a manual access reload.

Likely cause

Create and revoke appear to take different internal paths: the create path triggers the auto snapshot reload (observed in the log), the revoke path does not. grant create produced no method report and reloaded the snapshot; grant revoke ran as a @swamp/grant revoke model method and did not reload. So auto's trigger fires for create but is missing on revoke.

Impact (security)

Revocation is the security-critical direction. An operator who revokes a grant during an incident sees access grant list confirm the removal and reasonably believes it took effect — but the server continues to honor the revoked permission. Because a create auto-applies while a revoke does not, the inconsistency is easy to trust wrongly. Contrast: token revocation is immediate (connection refused, no reload needed); grant revocation is not.

Suggested fix (any one, in order of preference)

  1. Fire the same snapshot reload on the revoke path under --grant-reload auto that already fires on create.
  2. Make grant revocation take effect immediately regardless of reload mode.
  3. At minimum, emit a loud warning at grant revoke time that access reload is required for it to take effect on a running server.
02Bog Flow
✓OPEN✓TRIAGED✓IN PROGRESS✓SHIPPED+ 1 MOREASSIGNED+ 2 MOREREVIEW+ 4 MOREPR_MERGED+ 1 MORECONTRIBUTOR_NOTIFIED

Shipped

7/17/2026, 4:31:40 PM

Click a lifecycle step above to view its details.

03Sludge Pulse
stack72 assigned stack727/17/2026, 2:48:45 PM
Editable. Press Enter to edit.

stack72 commented 7/17/2026, 4:31:50 PM

Thanks @ehazlett for reporting this! The fix has been merged and a release is on its way. We appreciate your contribution to swamp.

Sign in to post a ripple.