From de41ea18832b5eb7d2e68e88aa1ea341a876a4be Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "pulse-triage[bot]"
 <249995291+pulse-triage[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2026 17:21:00 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Preserve workflow taint across branches

Change-source: pulse-maintainer
---
 .github/workflows/create-release.yml     |  2 +-
 .github/workflows/publish-helm-chart.yml |  6 ++--
 .github/workflows/release-dry-run.yml    |  2 +-
 .github/workflows/update-demo-server.yml |  6 ++--
 scripts/check_workflow_trust.py          | 18 ++++++++++-
 scripts/tests/test_workflow_trust.py     | 39 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 6 files changed, 64 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
index fca418974..152811c3a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
@@ -1099,7 +1099,7 @@ jobs:
           rm -f "$NOTES_FILE" "$RELEASE_PAYLOAD" "$RELEASE_JSON_FILE" "$ACTUAL_BODY_FILE"
 
           echo "release_url=${RELEASE_URL}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "release_id=${RELEASE_ID}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          python3 scripts/write_github_output.py release_id "${RELEASE_ID}"
           echo "[OK] Draft release: ${TAG} (ID: ${RELEASE_ID})"
 
       - name: Upload checksums
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-helm-chart.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-helm-chart.yml
index 1337cf545..83763fa26 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-helm-chart.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-helm-chart.yml
@@ -88,9 +88,9 @@ jobs:
             IS_PRERELEASE="true"
           fi
 
-          echo "chart_version=$CHART_VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "app_version=$APP_VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "release_tag=$RELEASE_TAG" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          python3 scripts/write_github_output.py chart_version "$CHART_VERSION"
+          python3 scripts/write_github_output.py app_version "$APP_VERSION"
+          python3 scripts/write_github_output.py release_tag "$RELEASE_TAG"
           echo "is_prerelease=$IS_PRERELEASE" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Checkout repository
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-dry-run.yml b/.github/workflows/release-dry-run.yml
index dd4f923e2..ca1a32f62 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-dry-run.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-dry-run.yml
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ jobs:
             VERSION="$(tr -d '\r\n' < VERSION)"
           fi
           REQUIRED_BRANCH="$(python3 scripts/release_control/control_plane.py --branch-for-version "${VERSION}")"
-          echo "required_branch=${REQUIRED_BRANCH}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          python3 scripts/write_github_output.py required_branch "${REQUIRED_BRANCH}"
           echo "[OK] Governed release branch for ${VERSION} is ${REQUIRED_BRANCH}"
 
       - name: Resolve rehearsal metadata
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-demo-server.yml b/.github/workflows/update-demo-server.yml
index c0075119e..7e6862f26 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-demo-server.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-demo-server.yml
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ jobs:
           TARGET="${REQUESTED_TARGET:-auto}"
           if [ -z "$TARGET" ] || [ "$TARGET" = "auto" ]; then
             if [ "$IS_PRERELEASE" = "true" ]; then
-              echo "tag=$TAG" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+              python3 scripts/write_github_output.py tag "$TAG"
               echo "target=stable" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
               echo "environment_name=demo-stable" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
               echo "skip=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
@@ -132,8 +132,8 @@ jobs:
               ;;
           esac
 
-          echo "tag=$TAG" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "target=$TARGET" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          python3 scripts/write_github_output.py tag "$TAG"
+          python3 scripts/write_github_output.py target "$TARGET"
           echo "environment_name=$ENVIRONMENT_NAME" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "Resolved demo deployment: tag=${TAG}, target=${TARGET}, environment=${ENVIRONMENT_NAME}"
 
diff --git a/scripts/check_workflow_trust.py b/scripts/check_workflow_trust.py
index 10dbfc5c2..639f02d1f 100644
--- a/scripts/check_workflow_trust.py
+++ b/scripts/check_workflow_trust.py
@@ -34,6 +34,13 @@ SHELL_ASSIGNMENT_RE = re.compile(
 POWERSHELL_ASSIGNMENT_RE = re.compile(
     r"^\s*(?:\[[^\]\r\n]+\]\s*)?\$([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\s*="
 )
+# A trusted reassignment only clears possible taint when it is guaranteed to
+# execute. Assignments inside these Bash compound commands affect one branch or
+# iteration, so a later command can still observe the original workflow value.
+BASH_CONTROL_OPEN_RE = re.compile(
+    r"^\s*(?:if|case|for|select|while|until)\b"
+)
+BASH_CONTROL_CLOSE_RE = re.compile(r"^\s*(?:fi|esac|done)\b")
 # Workflow-call and dispatch inputs are data, not shell source. The legacy
 # github.event.inputs alias is identical data, and repository_dispatch callers
 # fully control client_payload. Step and job outputs are data too: they can
@@ -334,8 +341,12 @@ def _audit_command_file_data(
         if _is_untrusted_expression(value)
     }
     unsafe_names = set(bindings)
+    bash_control_depth = 0
 
     for script_index, script_line in _run_script_lines(lines, run_index):
+        if BASH_CONTROL_CLOSE_RE.match(script_line):
+            bash_control_depth = max(0, bash_control_depth - 1)
+        opens_bash_control = bool(BASH_CONTROL_OPEN_RE.match(script_line))
         assignment = SHELL_ASSIGNMENT_RE.match(script_line)
         powershell_assignment = False
         if assignment is None:
@@ -362,9 +373,14 @@ def _audit_command_file_data(
                         for name in unsafe_names
                         if name.casefold() != assigned_name.casefold()
                     }
-                elif _bash_assignment_persists(script_line, assignment):
+                elif (
+                    bash_control_depth == 0
+                    and _bash_assignment_persists(script_line, assignment)
+                ):
                     unsafe_names.discard(assigned_name)
 
+        if opens_bash_control:
+            bash_control_depth += 1
         if not GITHUB_COMMAND_FILE_RE.search(script_line):
             continue
         referenced_unsafe_names = sorted(
diff --git a/scripts/tests/test_workflow_trust.py b/scripts/tests/test_workflow_trust.py
index 09f598e87..bfcd82298 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/test_workflow_trust.py
+++ b/scripts/tests/test_workflow_trust.py
@@ -491,6 +491,45 @@ jobs:
             1,
         )
 
+    def test_conditional_bash_reassignment_does_not_clear_possible_taint(self) -> None:
+        findings = self.audit(
+            """permissions: {}
+jobs:
+  unsafe:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    timeout-minutes: 10
+    steps:
+      - env:
+          RELEASE_NAME: ${{ inputs.release_name }}
+        run: |
+          if [ "$RELEASE_NAME" = latest ]; then
+            RELEASE_NAME=v1.2.3
+          fi
+          printf 'release=%s\\n' "$RELEASE_NAME" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+"""
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            sum("validated or encoded" in finding for finding in findings),
+            1,
+        )
+
+    def test_unconditional_bash_reassignment_clears_possible_taint(self) -> None:
+        findings = self.audit(
+            """permissions: {}
+jobs:
+  safe:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    timeout-minutes: 10
+    steps:
+      - env:
+          RELEASE_NAME: ${{ inputs.release_name }}
+        run: |
+          RELEASE_NAME=v1.2.3
+          printf 'release=%s\\n' "$RELEASE_NAME" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+"""
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(findings, [])
+
     def test_powershell_trusted_reassignment_is_case_insensitive(self) -> None:
         findings = self.audit(
             """permissions: {}