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Fix input validation gaps in driver arguments and network aliases #40794

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Fix input validation gaps in driver arguments and network aliases #40794

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f7b2a48
Fix driver and network validation gaps: reject empty driver names, em…
beena352 Jun 12, 2026
7005ef0
Revert ParseDriverOption empty-key rejection: Docker allows empty key…
beena352 Jun 12, 2026
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4 changes: 4 additions & 0 deletions localization/strings/en-US/Resources.resw
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Expand Up @@ -3107,6 +3107,10 @@ On first run, creates the file with all settings commented out at their defaults
<value>Specify volume driver name, e.g. 'guest' or 'vhd' (default: guest)</value>
<comment>{Locked="guest"}{Locked="vhd"}Command line arguments, file names and string inserts should not be translated</comment>
</data>
<data name="WSLCCLI_DriverEmptyError" xml:space="preserve">
<value>Invalid {} value: driver name cannot be empty or whitespace</value>
<comment>{FixedPlaceholder="{}"}Command line arguments, file names and string inserts should not be translated</comment>
</data>
<data name="WSLCCLI_OptionsArgDescription" xml:space="preserve">
<value>Set driver specific options</value>
</data>
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11 changes: 11 additions & 0 deletions src/windows/wslc/arguments/ArgumentValidation.cpp
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Expand Up @@ -106,6 +106,17 @@ void Argument::Validate(const ArgMap& execArgs) const
break;
}

case ArgType::Driver:
{
const auto& value = execArgs.Get<ArgType::Driver>();
if (value.empty() ||

@dkbennett dkbennett Jun 12, 2026

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I think a standard validator for checking an argument is not empty or whitespace would be useful since we have now used it in multiple places. We have this for validating integers and such, so it makes sense to me that we'd have this as a standard validator that would likely be applicable for many value arguments in the future. A simple boolean result would allow us to still have separate exception messages for each argument but share the same empty/whitespace check.

@AmelBawa-msft AmelBawa-msft Jun 12, 2026

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I guess, I wonder if for those cases we should just fall back to using default (from runtime side). Again, I suspect this is a nit, but would be usefult for something like:

wslc network create --driver "$WSLC_DRIVER"

where if $WSLC_DRIVER is defined, then it is used, and if not the runtime would fallback to the default one. Again, not sure if those are valid use cases, but thinking out loud ✨

@dkbennett dkbennett Jun 12, 2026

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With the environment variable support pr we could add argument-specific environment variables such as this if we want to do that so the user can set their own default driver and not specify it, but I would think that's some nice convenience polish for GA and not something urgent.

With regards to falling bak on default, if the user enters emptystring or whitepsace for an argument value that is a big red flag to me that they made an argument CLI error, not that they intend to use a default value. I think that should be treated as an error and not a signal from the user to use the default. If they wanted to use the default they wouldn't specify anything at all.

std::all_of(value.begin(), value.end(), [](wchar_t c) { return std::iswspace(static_cast<wint_t>(c)); }))
{
throw ArgumentException(Localization::WSLCCLI_DriverEmptyError(m_name));
}
break;
}

case ArgType::Network:
{
for (const auto& value : execArgs.GetAll<ArgType::Network>())
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion src/windows/wslc/services/ContainerService.cpp
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Expand Up @@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ static wsl::windows::common::RunningWSLCContainer CreateInternal(
THROW_HR_WITH_USER_ERROR_IF(
E_INVALIDARG,
Localization::MessageWslcAliasRequiresUserDefinedNetwork(),
primary == "bridge" || primary == "host" || primary == "none" || primary.starts_with("container:"));
primary.empty() || primary == "bridge" || primary == "host" || primary == "none" || primary.starts_with("container:"));

for (const auto& alias : options.NetworkAliases)
{
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