Verify future CLI release artifacts before execution

Author: RomainCscn

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ jobs:
           persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Lint shell scripts
-        run: shellcheck install.sh run.sh
+        run: shellcheck install.sh run.sh tests/install.test.sh tests/mocks/*
+
+      - name: Test installer verification
+        run: bash tests/install.test.sh
 
       - name: Validate action.yml
         run: |

README.md

@@ -246,6 +246,8 @@ Set `dry_run: true` to preview what the action would do without touching Linear.
 
 Each release of this action defaults to a specific [Linear Release CLI](https://github.com/linear/linear-release) version. Pinning the action — whether by tag (`@v0`) or commit SHA — also pins the CLI. Set `cli_version` to override.
 
+CLI releases through `v0.16.0` predate artifact verification and remain available through a legacy compatibility path. For newer releases, the action requires an immutable GitHub release and verifies the downloaded executable against the release's `checksums.txt` before making it executable. Missing, malformed, or mismatched integrity metadata causes installation to fail.
+
 ## Troubleshooting
 
 **"Unsupported OS" or "Unsupported arch" error**

action.yml

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ inputs:
     required: false
     default: v0.16.0
   github_token:
-    description: GitHub token used to authenticate release downloads through the GitHub CLI. Defaults to the workflow's automatic token. Pass a personal access token or GitHub App token when downloading from another repository or when you need higher rate limits than the default token provides.
+    description: GitHub token used to authenticate release metadata and downloads. Defaults to the workflow's automatic token, which avoids the lower anonymous API rate limit.
     required: false
     default: ${{ github.token }}
 

install.sh

@@ -2,8 +2,56 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 CLI_VERSION="${CLI_VERSION:-latest}"
+SCRIPT_PATH="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 ACTION_PATH="${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH:-$(pwd)}"
 BIN_PATH="${ACTION_PATH}/linear-release"
+LEGACY_VERSIONS_PATH="${SCRIPT_PATH}/legacy-versions.txt"
+RELEASES_API="https://api.github.com/repos/linear/linear-release/releases"
+
+error() {
+  echo "::error::$*" >&2
+}
+
+is_legacy_version() {
+  grep -Fqx -- "$1" "$LEGACY_VERSIONS_PATH"
+}
+
+fetch_release() {
+  local endpoint="$1"
+  local api_curl_args=(
+    -fsSL
+    -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json"
+    -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10"
+  )
+  if [[ -n "${GITHUB_TOKEN:-}" ]]; then
+    api_curl_args+=(-H "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}")
+  fi
+  curl "${api_curl_args[@]}" "${RELEASES_API}/${endpoint}"
+}
+
+release_asset_url() {
+  local release_json="$1"
+  local asset_name="$2"
+  local count
+  count=$(jq --arg name "$asset_name" '[.assets[] | select(.name == $name and .state == "uploaded")] | length' <<<"$release_json")
+  if [[ "$count" -ne 1 ]]; then
+    error "Expected exactly one '$asset_name' asset, found $count."
+    return 1
+  fi
+  jq -r --arg name "$asset_name" '.assets[] | select(.name == $name and .state == "uploaded") | .browser_download_url' <<<"$release_json"
+}
+
+sha256() {
+  local file="$1"
+  if command -v sha256sum &>/dev/null; then
+    sha256sum "$file" | awk '{print $1}'
+  elif command -v shasum &>/dev/null; then
+    shasum -a 256 "$file" | awk '{print $1}'
+  else
+    error "SHA-256 verification requires sha256sum or shasum."
+    return 1
+  fi
+}
 
 case "${RUNNER_OS:-}" in
   Linux)
@@ -29,15 +77,56 @@ case "${RUNNER_OS:-}" in
     fi
     ;;
   *)
-    echo "::error::Unsupported OS: ${RUNNER_OS:-unknown}"
+    error "Unsupported OS: ${RUNNER_OS:-unknown}"
     exit 1
     ;;
 esac
 
+if [[ ! -f "$LEGACY_VERSIONS_PATH" ]]; then
+  error "Legacy release metadata not found at $LEGACY_VERSIONS_PATH."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+RELEASE_JSON=""
+RESOLVED_VERSION="$CLI_VERSION"
 if [[ "$CLI_VERSION" == "latest" ]]; then
-  URL="https://github.com/linear/linear-release/releases/latest/download/$ASSET"
+  if ! command -v jq &>/dev/null; then
+    error "jq is required to resolve and verify the latest CLI release."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  RELEASE_JSON=$(fetch_release "latest")
+  RESOLVED_VERSION=$(jq -er '.tag_name | select(type == "string" and length > 0)' <<<"$RELEASE_JSON")
+  echo "Resolved latest Linear Release CLI to $RESOLVED_VERSION"
+fi
+
+VERIFY_RELEASE=false
+if ! is_legacy_version "$RESOLVED_VERSION"; then
+  VERIFY_RELEASE=true
+  if ! command -v jq &>/dev/null; then
+    error "jq is required to verify CLI release $RESOLVED_VERSION."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  if [[ -z "$RELEASE_JSON" ]]; then
+    ENCODED_VERSION=$(jq -rn --arg version "$RESOLVED_VERSION" '$version | @uri')
+    RELEASE_JSON=$(fetch_release "tags/${ENCODED_VERSION}")
+  fi
+
+  RELEASE_TAG=$(jq -er '.tag_name | select(type == "string" and length > 0)' <<<"$RELEASE_JSON")
+  if [[ "$RELEASE_TAG" != "$RESOLVED_VERSION" ]]; then
+    error "Release metadata returned tag '$RELEASE_TAG', expected '$RESOLVED_VERSION'."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  if [[ "$(jq -r '.immutable' <<<"$RELEASE_JSON")" != "true" ]]; then
+    error "CLI release $RESOLVED_VERSION is not immutable. Refusing to execute its assets."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  URL=$(release_asset_url "$RELEASE_JSON" "$ASSET")
+  CHECKSUMS_URL=$(release_asset_url "$RELEASE_JSON" "checksums.txt")
 else
-  URL="https://github.com/linear/linear-release/releases/download/$CLI_VERSION/$ASSET"
+  URL="https://github.com/linear/linear-release/releases/download/$RESOLVED_VERSION/$ASSET"
+  echo "::notice::CLI release $RESOLVED_VERSION predates artifact verification; continuing with the legacy installation path."
 fi
 
 echo "Downloading Linear Release CLI from $URL"
@@ -48,7 +137,38 @@ if [[ -n "${GITHUB_TOKEN:-}" ]]; then
   curl_args+=(-H "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}")
 fi
 
-curl "${curl_args[@]}" "$URL" -o "$BIN_PATH"
-chmod +x "$BIN_PATH"
+TEMP_ROOT="${RUNNER_TEMP:-${TMPDIR:-/tmp}}"
+TEMP_DIR=$(mktemp -d "${TEMP_ROOT%/}/linear-release.XXXXXX")
+trap 'rm -rf "$TEMP_DIR"' EXIT
+DOWNLOADED_BIN="${TEMP_DIR}/${ASSET}"
+
+curl "${curl_args[@]}" "$URL" -o "$DOWNLOADED_BIN"
+
+if [[ "$VERIFY_RELEASE" == "true" ]]; then
+  CHECKSUMS_PATH="${TEMP_DIR}/checksums.txt"
+  curl "${curl_args[@]}" "$CHECKSUMS_URL" -o "$CHECKSUMS_PATH"
+
+  MATCH_COUNT=$(awk -v asset="$ASSET" '$2 == asset {count++} END {print count + 0}' "$CHECKSUMS_PATH")
+  if [[ "$MATCH_COUNT" -ne 1 ]]; then
+    error "Expected exactly one checksum for '$ASSET', found $MATCH_COUNT."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  EXPECTED_SHA256=$(awk -v asset="$ASSET" '$2 == asset {print $1}' "$CHECKSUMS_PATH")
+  if [[ ! "$EXPECTED_SHA256" =~ ^[[:xdigit:]]{64}$ ]]; then
+    error "Malformed SHA-256 checksum for '$ASSET'."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  EXPECTED_SHA256=$(tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' <<<"$EXPECTED_SHA256")
+  ACTUAL_SHA256=$(sha256 "$DOWNLOADED_BIN")
+  if [[ "$ACTUAL_SHA256" != "$EXPECTED_SHA256" ]]; then
+    error "SHA-256 checksum mismatch for '$ASSET'."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  echo "Verified SHA-256 checksum for $ASSET from immutable release $RESOLVED_VERSION"
+fi
+
+chmod +x "$DOWNLOADED_BIN"
+mv -f "$DOWNLOADED_BIN" "$BIN_PATH"
 
 echo "Linear Release CLI installed at $BIN_PATH"

legacy-versions.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# Releases published before immutable checksum verification was introduced.
+# Do not add new releases to this compatibility list.
+v0.1.0
+v0.2.0
+v0.3.0
+v0.4.0
+v0.5.0
+v0.6.0
+v0.6.1
+v0.6.2
+v0.6.3
+v0.6.4
+v0.7.0
+v0.7.1
+v0.8.0
+v0.9.0
+v0.10.0
+v0.11.0
+v0.11.1
+v0.11.2
+v0.12.0
+v0.13.0
+v0.14.0
+v0.14.1
+v0.14.2
+v0.14.3
+v0.14.4
+v0.15.0
+v0.16.0