docs(security): treat a fix or PR as disclosure, require private report first (#1785)

The disclosure rules only forbade publishing exploit/PoC code, so a
contributor who opens a public PR that fixes or hints at a suspected
vulnerability reads them as satisfied — the fix itself telegraphs the
weakness before a fixed release exists.

Add a dedicated "Do not disclose through a pull request, commit, or issue"
section directing reporters to email security@struts.apache.org first, and
extend the PoC rule in Report Quality Rules to state that a fix, patch, or
hardening change is a public disclosure in the same way a PoC is. Aligns
SECURITY.md with the rule already stated in CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md.

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Lukasz Lenart
2026-07-14 20:25:56 +02:00
committed by GitHub
parent 40fcae3101
commit cf22320e33
+26 -3
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@@ -52,6 +52,28 @@ The mailing address is: [security@struts.apache.org](mailto:security@struts.apac
[The Apache Security Team](http://www.apache.org/security/)
## Do not disclose through a pull request, commit, or issue
**A fix is a disclosure.** Opening a public pull request, pushing a commit, branch, or
fork, or filing a public Jira/GitHub issue that **fixes, describes, or hints at** a
suspected vulnerability reveals where the weakness is — often with a working roadmap to
exploit it — before a fixed release exists. This holds even if you never attach a
proof-of-concept, and even if you believe the impact is low or you are "just hardening"
the code.
If you have found, or suspect you have found, a security problem:
- **Do not** open a public PR, commit, branch, fork, Jira issue, or mailing-list thread
for it.
- **Do** email [security@struts.apache.org](mailto:security@struts.apache.org) first and
wait for the PMC to triage it and agree how the fix will be handled — the fix is
typically prepared privately and landed alongside the advisory and release.
If you notice a possible security issue while working on an unrelated bug or PR, stop and
email the private list before pushing the change. **When in doubt, treat it as
security-sensitive and email the list** — a private report that turns out to be a
non-issue costs far less than a public change that turns out to be exploitable.
## Before Reporting
Before sending a vulnerability report, run through the following checks. They exist to prevent duplicate reports, public disclosure of untriaged issues,
@@ -128,8 +150,9 @@ Do not speculate beyond what can be demonstrated. If severity is uncertain, say
- One vulnerability per report.
- Keep reproduction steps minimal and self-contained.
- Do not include unrelated findings.
- Do not publish exploit details or proof-of-concept code publicly before the Struts project has triaged the issue. **Pushing a PoC to a public GitHub
repository, gist, fork, or branch counts as public disclosure** — even a "test" or throwaway repo. Private repositories are acceptable for sharing a PoC,
but access must be granted individually to each PMC member who will triage the report.
- Do not publish exploit details or proof-of-concept code publicly before the Struts project has triaged the issue. **A fix, patch, or hardening change is a
public disclosure in the same way a PoC is** — see [Do not disclose through a pull request, commit, or issue](#do-not-disclose-through-a-pull-request-commit-or-issue).
**Pushing a PoC to a public GitHub repository, gist, fork, or branch counts as public disclosure** — even a "test" or throwaway repo. Private repositories
are acceptable for sharing a PoC, but access must be granted individually to each PMC member who will triage the report.
- Do not send ordinary bugs, usage questions, or generic denial-of-service concerns to the private security list.
- If the issue is not a vulnerability in Apache Struts source code, use the appropriate public support or issue channel instead.