docs: clarify RPC credentials security boundary #33196

1. 
   crStiv commented at 1:56 pm on August 15, 2025: none

   Explicitly states that RPC credentials grant full administrative access to the node and filesystem resources accessible by bitcoind. Adds a new section in JSON-RPC-interface.md to address issue #32274 by documenting that providing RPC credentials to untrusted clients

   reopened #32424

   P.S. I’ve tried to somehow squash all the commits from the previous pr but accidentally closed the pr and had no idea how to return back, therefore created a new pr, I’m really sorry for the inconvenience

2. DrahtBot added the label Docs on Aug 15, 2025
3. 
   DrahtBot commented at 1:56 pm on August 15, 2025: contributor

   The following sections might be updated with supplementary metadata relevant to reviewers and maintainers.

   Code Coverage & Benchmarks

   For details see: https://corecheck.dev/bitcoin/bitcoin/pulls/33196.

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   Stale ACK	janb84, davidgumberg

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4. 
   janb84 commented at 9:03 am on August 18, 2025: contributor

   ACK 433954b6a5bd7480f7e05e58eafeac1dc6dfae7c

   This PR adds information about security considerations when using RPC clients. Although bitcoin-core has done everything to minimise the risks of using RPC, it’s good to inform the user of the risks and the extra security precautions the user can take.

   Informing the public about security risks and methods to mitigate them demonstrates responsible stewardship; therefore, I support this pull request.

5. 
   davidgumberg commented at 3:41 pm on October 21, 2025: contributor

   ACK 433954b
6. docs: clarify RPC credentials security boundary a5ba434a02
7. in doc/JSON-RPC-interface.md:139 in 433954b6a5

   134+  separate user accounts with restricted permissions) rather than relying solely on
   135+  RPC access controls. While Bitcoin Core provides the `-rpcwhitelist` option to
   136+  restrict which RPC commands specific users can access, and `-rpcwhitelistdefault`
   137+  to control the default behavior for users without explicit whitelists, these should
   138+  not be considered robust security boundaries, as users with access to certain
   139+  commands may still be able to exploit functionality in unexpected ways.
   

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   glozow commented at 4:52 pm on October 31, 2025:

   The first few sentences seem largely redundant with the rest of the docs (see few paragraphs of “Security” section, and “Secure authentication”. However, the bit about whitelisting RPC commands for specific users seems helpful.

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   davidgumberg commented at 9:55 pm on November 20, 2025:

   I think the existing docs make it pretty clear that other processes/users with access to the machine can comprise the node, but I think what is not obvious in the existing docs is that the other direction is true as well, someone with RPC access can probably compromise the machine the bitcoind node is running on.
8. crStiv force-pushed on Nov 3, 2025
9. crStiv requested review from glozow on Nov 3, 2025

Contributors
crStiv DrahtBot janb84 davidgumberg glozow

Review Requested
glozow

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