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Interview question · Agent, Tool & MCP Security

Secure a coding agent that can run shell commands on a developer machine or in CI.

Treat repository code and shell execution as part of the threat model. Define reachable files, credentials, services and publication paths, then verify the actual sandbox and CI handoff rather than trusting command names.

hardNewUpdated Nov 2026

Treat repository code and shell execution as part of the threat model. Define reachable files, credentials, services and publication paths, then verify the actual sandbox and CI handoff rather than trusting command names.

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What would you say before reading the answer?

  1. 01 State the assumptions your answer depends on.
  2. 02 Explain the mechanism and choose a control.
  3. 03 Name a condition that would change your decision.

The worked answer includes an approach, scoring criteria and follow-up questions. Compare the reasoning with your own.

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What if · the follow-ups in this answer

The answer works through 4 follow-ups like an interviewer would

Alder’s coding task edits a parser and runs local tests. The team proposes a container with a shared build cache and an allowlisted package registry.

  1. Does the container name establish the task’s containment?
  2. Can the test command run outside the sandbox because it is allowlisted?
  3. What if a privileged CI job applies the artifact produced by this task?
  4. What should the review demonstrate?

Each rung has a nudge, a model answer, the principle that carries over and the weak answer to avoid. Premium opens every answer and ladder.

UP NEXT ON YOUR JOURNEY
Next in this trackYour agent browses the web and reads the user's email. What is the worst a poisoned web page can do?Next in this trackWhat do you log about agent actions so you can audit them and respond to an incident?Next in this trackIn an agent, where may the model reason, and where must deterministic code own the decision?
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