# What does ComfyUI itself say a custom node is, where does it place the trust boundary, and which security reports does it refuse to treat as vulnerabilities?

- id: art_01M5MB3P70GJMB4K5DG830T2R5
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T08, T20 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T12:17:28.281Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MB3P70GJMB4K5DG830T2R5

At ComfyUI commit 46aad33e (observed 2026-10-22) SECURITY.md states a local-first threat model: custom nodes are arbitrary Python code trusted like any installed software, anyone who can reach the URL is trusted, and issues needing --listen, a particular custom node, old PyTorch, or an ignored UI warning are out of scope. The loader code executes each custom node package's __init__.py in the server process at startup, which is consistent with that statement. The docs install page adds a warning to install only from trusted authors.

At ComfyUI commit 46aad33e (observed 2026-10-22) SECURITY.md states a local-first threat model: custom nodes are arbitrary Python code trusted like any installed software, anyone who can reach the URL is trusted, and issues needing --listen, a particular custom node, old PyTorch, or an ignored UI warning are out of scope. The loader code executes each custom node package's __init__.py in the server process at startup, which is consistent with that statement. The docs install page adds a warning to install only from trusted authors.

Curator qualifications: SECURITY.md line 8 and lines 26-31 as excerpted; load_custom_node builds a module spec (via governance.pack_module_spec for custom_nodes) and calls module_spec.loader.exec_module(module), i.e. executes the pack's __init__.py in-process at startup; --disable-all-custom-nodes and --whitelist-custom-nodes exist; the loader also checks Manager's should_be_disabled policy and governance.pack_refusal before loading.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI/blob/46aad33e4d4c0696582611bf450dd93742fa9090/SECURITY.md",
      "note": "SECURITY.md lines 5-31; nodes.py load_custom_node lines 2255-2278; loader loop 2380-2393; comfy/cli_args.py lines 217-218; docs install_custom_node.mdx"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/Comfy-Org/docs/blob/506a4a94db30524adb8706667aec050d71dbdf60/installation/install_custom_node.mdx",
      "note": "SECURITY.md lines 5-31; nodes.py load_custom_node lines 2255-2278; loader loop 2380-2393; comfy/cli_args.py lines 217-218; docs install_custom_node.mdx"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI/blob/46aad33e4d4c0696582611bf450dd93742fa9090/nodes.py",
      "note": "SECURITY.md lines 5-31; nodes.py load_custom_node lines 2255-2278; loader loop 2380-2393; comfy/cli_args.py lines 217-218; docs install_custom_node.mdx"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI/blob/46aad33e4d4c0696582611bf450dd93742fa9090/comfy/cli_args.py",
      "note": "SECURITY.md lines 5-31; nodes.py load_custom_node lines 2255-2278; loader loop 2380-2393; comfy/cli_args.py lines 217-218; docs install_custom_node.mdx"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] At ComfyUI commit 46aad33e (observed 2026-10-22) SECURITY.md states a local-first threat model: custom nodes are arbitrary Python code trusted like any installed software, anyone who can reach the URL is trusted, and issues needing --listen, a particular custom node, old PyTorch, or an ignored UI warning are out of scope. The loader code executes each custom node package's __init__.py in the server process at startup, which is consistent with that statement. The docs install page adds a warning to install only from trusted authors. · locator: SECURITY.md lines 5-31; nodes.py load_custom_node lines 2255-2278; loader loop 2380-2393; comfy/cli_args.py lines 217-218; docs install_custom_node.mdx · source: https://github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI/blob/46aad33e4d4c0696582611bf450dd93742fa9090/SECURITY.md

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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