fix(gateway): enforce safe download for active artifact MIME types to mitigate stored XSS (#1389)

* docs: refocus security review on high-confidence artifact XSS

* fix(gateway): block inline active-content artifacts to mitigate XSS

* chore: remove security review markdown from PR

* Delete SECURITY_REVIEW.md

* fix(gateway): harden artifact attachment handling

README.md

@@ -534,6 +534,7 @@ All dict-returning methods are validated against Gateway Pydantic response model
 We welcome contributions! Please see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for development setup, workflow, and guidelines.
 
 Regression coverage includes Docker sandbox mode detection and provisioner kubeconfig-path handling tests in `backend/tests/`.
+Gateway artifact serving now forces active web content types (`text/html`, `application/xhtml+xml`, `image/svg+xml`) to download as attachments instead of inline rendering, reducing XSS risk for generated artifacts.
 
 ## License
 

backend/CLAUDE.md

@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ FastAPI application on port 8001 with health check at `GET /health`.
 | **Memory** (`/api/memory`) | `GET /` - memory data; `POST /reload` - force reload; `GET /config` - config; `GET /status` - config + data |
 | **Uploads** (`/api/threads/{id}/uploads`) | `POST /` - upload files (auto-converts PDF/PPT/Excel/Word); `GET /list` - list; `DELETE /{filename}` - delete |
 | **Threads** (`/api/threads/{id}`) | `DELETE /` - remove DeerFlow-managed local thread data after LangGraph thread deletion; unexpected failures are logged server-side and return a generic 500 detail |
-| **Artifacts** (`/api/threads/{id}/artifacts`) | `GET /{path}` - serve artifacts; `?download=true` for file download |
+| **Artifacts** (`/api/threads/{id}/artifacts`) | `GET /{path}` - serve artifacts; active content types (`text/html`, `application/xhtml+xml`, `image/svg+xml`) are always forced as download attachments to reduce XSS risk; `?download=true` still forces download for other file types |
 | **Suggestions** (`/api/threads/{id}/suggestions`) | `POST /` - generate follow-up questions; rich list/block model content is normalized before JSON parsing |
 
 Proxied through nginx: `/api/langgraph/*` → LangGraph, all other `/api/*` → Gateway.

backend/app/gateway/routers/artifacts.py

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from urllib.parse import quote
 
 from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException, Request
-from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, HTMLResponse, PlainTextResponse, Response
+from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, PlainTextResponse, Response
 
 from app.gateway.path_utils import resolve_thread_virtual_path
 
@@ -13,6 +13,24 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 router = APIRouter(prefix="/api", tags=["artifacts"])
 
+ACTIVE_CONTENT_MIME_TYPES = {
+    "text/html",
+    "application/xhtml+xml",
+    "image/svg+xml",
+}
+
+
+def _build_content_disposition(disposition_type: str, filename: str) -> str:
+    """Build an RFC 5987 encoded Content-Disposition header value."""
+    return f"{disposition_type}; filename*=UTF-8''{quote(filename)}"
+
+
+def _build_attachment_headers(filename: str, extra_headers: dict[str, str] | None = None) -> dict[str, str]:
+    headers = {"Content-Disposition": _build_content_disposition("attachment", filename)}
+    if extra_headers:
+        headers.update(extra_headers)
+    return headers
+
 
 def is_text_file_by_content(path: Path, sample_size: int = 8192) -> bool:
     """Check if file is text by examining content for null bytes."""
@@ -61,13 +79,13 @@ def _extract_file_from_skill_archive(zip_path: Path, internal_path: str) -> byte
 @router.get(
     "/threads/{thread_id}/artifacts/{path:path}",
     summary="Get Artifact File",
-    description="Retrieve an artifact file generated by the AI agent. Supports text, HTML, and binary files.",
+    description="Retrieve an artifact file generated by the AI agent. Text and binary files can be viewed inline, while active web content is always downloaded.",
 )
-async def get_artifact(thread_id: str, path: str, request: Request) -> Response:
+async def get_artifact(thread_id: str, path: str, request: Request, download: bool = False) -> Response:
     """Get an artifact file by its path.
 
     The endpoint automatically detects file types and returns appropriate content types.
-    Use the `?download=true` query parameter to force file download.
+    Use the `download` query parameter to force file download for non-active content.
 
     Args:
         thread_id: The thread ID.
@@ -76,7 +94,7 @@ async def get_artifact(thread_id: str, path: str, request: Request) -> Response:
 
     Returns:
         The file content as a FileResponse with appropriate content type:
-        - HTML files: Rendered as HTML
+        - Active content (HTML/XHTML/SVG): Served as download attachment
         - Text files: Plain text with proper MIME type
         - Binary files: Inline display with download option
 
@@ -87,11 +105,14 @@ async def get_artifact(thread_id: str, path: str, request: Request) -> Response:
             - 404 if file not found
 
     Query Parameters:
-        download (bool): If true, returns file as attachment for download
+        download (bool): If true, forces attachment download for file types that are
+            otherwise returned inline or as plain text. Active HTML/XHTML/SVG content
+            is always downloaded regardless of this flag.
 
     Example:
-        - Get HTML file: `/api/threads/abc123/artifacts/mnt/user-data/outputs/index.html`
+        - Get text file inline: `/api/threads/abc123/artifacts/mnt/user-data/outputs/notes.txt`
         - Download file: `/api/threads/abc123/artifacts/mnt/user-data/outputs/data.csv?download=true`
+        - Active web content such as `.html`, `.xhtml`, and `.svg` artifacts is always downloaded
     """
     # Check if this is a request for a file inside a .skill archive (e.g., xxx.skill/SKILL.md)
     if ".skill/" in path:
@@ -118,6 +139,10 @@ async def get_artifact(thread_id: str, path: str, request: Request) -> Response:
         mime_type, _ = mimetypes.guess_type(internal_path)
         # Add cache headers to avoid repeated ZIP extraction (cache for 5 minutes)
         cache_headers = {"Cache-Control": "private, max-age=300"}
+        download_name = Path(internal_path).name or actual_skill_path.stem
+        if download or mime_type in ACTIVE_CONTENT_MIME_TYPES:
+            return Response(content=content, media_type=mime_type or "application/octet-stream", headers=_build_attachment_headers(download_name, cache_headers))
+
         if mime_type and mime_type.startswith("text/"):
             return PlainTextResponse(content=content.decode("utf-8"), media_type=mime_type, headers=cache_headers)
 
@@ -139,15 +164,13 @@ async def get_artifact(thread_id: str, path: str, request: Request) -> Response:
 
     mime_type, _ = mimetypes.guess_type(actual_path)
 
-    # Encode filename for Content-Disposition header (RFC 5987)
+    if download:
-    encoded_filename = quote(actual_path.name)
+        return FileResponse(path=actual_path, filename=actual_path.name, media_type=mime_type, headers=_build_attachment_headers(actual_path.name))
 
-    # if `download` query parameter is true, return the file as a download
+    # Always force download for active content types to prevent script execution
-    if request.query_params.get("download"):
+    # in the application origin when users open generated artifacts.
-        return FileResponse(path=actual_path, filename=actual_path.name, media_type=mime_type, headers={"Content-Disposition": f"attachment; filename*=UTF-8''{encoded_filename}"})
+    if mime_type in ACTIVE_CONTENT_MIME_TYPES:
-
+        return FileResponse(path=actual_path, filename=actual_path.name, media_type=mime_type, headers=_build_attachment_headers(actual_path.name))
-    if mime_type and mime_type == "text/html":
-        return HTMLResponse(content=actual_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
 
     if mime_type and mime_type.startswith("text/"):
         return PlainTextResponse(content=actual_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"), media_type=mime_type)
@@ -155,4 +178,4 @@ async def get_artifact(thread_id: str, path: str, request: Request) -> Response:
     if is_text_file_by_content(actual_path):
         return PlainTextResponse(content=actual_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"), media_type=mime_type)
 
-    return Response(content=actual_path.read_bytes(), media_type=mime_type, headers={"Content-Disposition": f"inline; filename*=UTF-8''{encoded_filename}"})
+    return Response(content=actual_path.read_bytes(), media_type=mime_type, headers={"Content-Disposition": _build_content_disposition("inline", actual_path.name)})

backend/tests/test_artifacts_router.py

@@ -1,10 +1,25 @@
 import asyncio
+import zipfile
 from pathlib import Path
 
+import pytest
+from fastapi import FastAPI
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
 from starlette.requests import Request
+from starlette.responses import FileResponse
 
 import app.gateway.routers.artifacts as artifacts_router
 
+ACTIVE_ARTIFACT_CASES = [
+    ("poc.html", "<html><body><script>alert('xss')</script></body></html>"),
+    ("page.xhtml", '<?xml version="1.0"?><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><body>hello</body></html>'),
+    ("image.svg", '<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><script>alert("xss")</script></svg>'),
+]
+
+
+def _make_request(query_string: bytes = b"") -> Request:
+    return Request({"type": "http", "method": "GET", "path": "/", "headers": [], "query_string": query_string})
+
 
 def test_get_artifact_reads_utf8_text_file_on_windows_locale(tmp_path, monkeypatch) -> None:
     artifact_path = tmp_path / "note.txt"
@@ -20,8 +35,70 @@ def test_get_artifact_reads_utf8_text_file_on_windows_locale(tmp_path, monkeypat
     monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "read_text", read_text_with_gbk_default)
     monkeypatch.setattr(artifacts_router, "resolve_thread_virtual_path", lambda _thread_id, _path: artifact_path)
 
-    request = Request({"type": "http", "method": "GET", "path": "/", "headers": [], "query_string": b""})
+    request = _make_request()
     response = asyncio.run(artifacts_router.get_artifact("thread-1", "mnt/user-data/outputs/note.txt", request))
 
     assert bytes(response.body).decode("utf-8") == text
     assert response.media_type == "text/plain"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(("filename", "content"), ACTIVE_ARTIFACT_CASES)
+def test_get_artifact_forces_download_for_active_content(tmp_path, monkeypatch, filename: str, content: str) -> None:
+    artifact_path = tmp_path / filename
+    artifact_path.write_text(content, encoding="utf-8")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(artifacts_router, "resolve_thread_virtual_path", lambda _thread_id, _path: artifact_path)
+
+    response = asyncio.run(artifacts_router.get_artifact("thread-1", f"mnt/user-data/outputs/{filename}", _make_request()))
+
+    assert isinstance(response, FileResponse)
+    assert response.headers.get("content-disposition", "").startswith("attachment;")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(("filename", "content"), ACTIVE_ARTIFACT_CASES)
+def test_get_artifact_forces_download_for_active_content_in_skill_archive(tmp_path, monkeypatch, filename: str, content: str) -> None:
+    skill_path = tmp_path / "sample.skill"
+    with zipfile.ZipFile(skill_path, "w") as zip_ref:
+        zip_ref.writestr(filename, content)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(artifacts_router, "resolve_thread_virtual_path", lambda _thread_id, _path: skill_path)
+
+    response = asyncio.run(artifacts_router.get_artifact("thread-1", f"mnt/user-data/outputs/sample.skill/{filename}", _make_request()))
+
+    assert response.headers.get("content-disposition", "").startswith("attachment;")
+    assert bytes(response.body) == content.encode("utf-8")
+
+
+def test_get_artifact_download_false_does_not_force_attachment(tmp_path, monkeypatch) -> None:
+    artifact_path = tmp_path / "note.txt"
+    artifact_path.write_text("hello", encoding="utf-8")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(artifacts_router, "resolve_thread_virtual_path", lambda _thread_id, _path: artifact_path)
+
+    app = FastAPI()
+    app.include_router(artifacts_router.router)
+
+    with TestClient(app) as client:
+        response = client.get("/api/threads/thread-1/artifacts/mnt/user-data/outputs/note.txt?download=false")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert response.text == "hello"
+    assert "content-disposition" not in response.headers
+
+
+def test_get_artifact_download_true_forces_attachment_for_skill_archive(tmp_path, monkeypatch) -> None:
+    skill_path = tmp_path / "sample.skill"
+    with zipfile.ZipFile(skill_path, "w") as zip_ref:
+        zip_ref.writestr("notes.txt", "hello")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(artifacts_router, "resolve_thread_virtual_path", lambda _thread_id, _path: skill_path)
+
+    app = FastAPI()
+    app.include_router(artifacts_router.router)
+
+    with TestClient(app) as client:
+        response = client.get("/api/threads/thread-1/artifacts/mnt/user-data/outputs/sample.skill/notes.txt?download=true")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert response.text == "hello"
+    assert response.headers.get("content-disposition", "").startswith("attachment;")