feat: real media antivirus scanning via custom Synapse module (Issue #19)
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Deploys ClamAV and a small stdlib-only Synapse spam-checker module
implementing check_media_file_for_spam over clamd's INSTREAM protocol.
Unlike the originally-considered matrix-content-scanner proxy (which
needs client-side cooperation neither Element Web nor Element X
provide), this hooks Synapse's own module API directly - transparent
to every client for unencrypted media. No custom Synapse image needed:
the module is mounted via a ConfigMap onto PYTHONPATH using the ESS
chart's extraVolumes/extraVolumeMounts/extraEnv support. Fails open on
scanner errors so a ClamAV outage can't block all uploads.
This commit is contained in:
Thore Cimbal
2026-07-29 15:29:47 +02:00
parent 7bd67a53a6
commit db77785b6b
6 changed files with 232 additions and 1 deletions
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# Synapse spam-checker module (Issue #19): scans locally-stored and remote/federated media
# through ClamAV's clamd daemon via its native INSTREAM protocol, before Synapse serves it.
#
# Talks to clamd using only the standard library (asyncio/socket) - no third-party
# dependency, since Synapse's container runs with a read-only root filesystem and this
# module is mounted in via a ConfigMap, not baked into a custom image.
#
# clamd INSTREAM protocol (docs.clamav.net/manual/Usage/ClamdProtocol.html):
# 1. send b"zINSTREAM\0"
# 2. send one or more chunks, each framed as a 4-byte big-endian length + that many
# data bytes
# 3. send a zero-length chunk (b"\x00\x00\x00\x00") to signal end of stream
# 4. read the reply: "stream: OK\0" (clean) or "stream: <name> FOUND\0" (infected)
#
# Fails open (allows the file through) on any connection/timeout error against clamd,
# so a scanner outage can't take down media uploads for the whole homeserver - logged
# loudly so an outage is still visible in the logs.
import asyncio
import logging
from typing import Any, Union
from synapse.module_api import ModuleApi, NOT_SPAM
from synapse.module_api.errors import Codes
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
CHUNK_SIZE = 2**14 # matches ReadableFileWrapper.CHUNK_SIZE
CLAMD_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 30
class ClamAVSpamChecker:
def __init__(self, config: dict, api: ModuleApi):
self.api = api
self.clamd_host = config["clamd_host"]
self.clamd_port = config["clamd_port"]
self.api.register_spam_checker_callbacks(
check_media_file_for_spam=self.check_media_file_for_spam,
)
@staticmethod
def parse_config(config: dict) -> dict:
if "clamd_host" not in config or "clamd_port" not in config:
raise ValueError(
"clamav_spam_checker config requires 'clamd_host' and 'clamd_port'"
)
return config
async def check_media_file_for_spam(
self, file_wrapper: Any, file_info: Any
) -> Union[Any, Codes, bool]:
buffer = bytearray()
await file_wrapper.write_chunks_to(buffer.extend)
try:
verdict = await asyncio.wait_for(
self._scan(bytes(buffer)), timeout=CLAMD_TIMEOUT_SECONDS
)
except Exception:
logger.exception(
"ClamAV scan failed (clamd at %s:%s unreachable?) - "
"allowing file through (fail-open)",
self.clamd_host,
self.clamd_port,
)
return NOT_SPAM
if verdict is None:
return NOT_SPAM
logger.warning("ClamAV rejected an upload: %s", verdict)
return Codes.FORBIDDEN
async def _scan(self, data: bytes) -> "str | None":
"""Returns the detected signature name, or None if the file is clean."""
reader, writer = await asyncio.open_connection(self.clamd_host, self.clamd_port)
try:
writer.write(b"zINSTREAM\0")
for offset in range(0, len(data), CHUNK_SIZE):
chunk = data[offset : offset + CHUNK_SIZE]
writer.write(len(chunk).to_bytes(4, "big") + chunk)
writer.write((0).to_bytes(4, "big"))
await writer.drain()
response = await reader.read()
finally:
writer.close()
await writer.wait_closed()
text = response.decode("utf-8", errors="replace").strip("\x00 \n")
# "stream: OK" or "stream: <signature name> FOUND"
if text.endswith("FOUND"):
return text.removeprefix("stream:").removesuffix("FOUND").strip()
return None