Safer use of filepath.EvalSymlinks() on Windows

pkg/machine/machine_windows.go

@@ -251,14 +251,36 @@ func FindExecutablePeer(name string) (string, error) {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	exe, err = filepath.EvalSymlinks(exe)
+	exe, err = EvalSymlinksOrClean(exe)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
 	return filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(exe), name), nil
 }
 
+func EvalSymlinksOrClean(filePath string) (string, error) {
+	fileInfo, err := os.Lstat(filePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	if fileInfo.Mode()&fs.ModeSymlink != 0 {
+		// Only call filepath.EvalSymlinks if it is a symlink.
+		// Starting with v1.23, EvalSymlinks returns an error for mount points.
+		// See https://go-review.googlesource.com/c/go/+/565136 for reference.
+		filePath, err = filepath.EvalSymlinks(filePath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+	} else {
+		// Call filepath.Clean when filePath is not a symlink. That's for
+		// consistency with the symlink case (filepath.EvalSymlinks calls
+		// Clean after evaluating filePath).
+		filePath = filepath.Clean(filePath)
+	}
+	return filePath, nil
+}
+
 func GetWinProxyStateDir(name string, vmtype define.VMType) (string, error) {
 	dir, err := env.GetDataDir(vmtype)
 	if err != nil {

pkg/machine/machine_windows_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+//go:build windows
+
+package machine
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// CreateNewItemWithPowerShell creates a new item using PowerShell.
+// It's an helper to easily create junctions on Windows (as well as other file types).
+// It constructs a PowerShell command to create a new item at the specified path with the given item type.
+// If a target is provided, it includes it in the command.
+//
+// Parameters:
+//   - t: The testing.T instance.
+//   - path: The path where the new item will be created.
+//   - itemType: The type of the item to be created (e.g., "File", "SymbolicLink", "Junction").
+//   - target: The target for the new item, if applicable.
+func CreateNewItemWithPowerShell(t *testing.T, path string, itemType string, target string) {
+	var pwshCmd string
+	pwshCmd = "New-Item -Path " + path + " -ItemType " + itemType
+	if target != "" {
+		pwshCmd += " -Target " + target
+	}
+	cmd := exec.Command("pwsh", "-Command", pwshCmd)
+	cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
+	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+	err := cmd.Run()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+}
+
+// TestEvalSymlinksOrClean tests the EvalSymlinksOrClean function.
+// In particular it verifies that EvalSymlinksOrClean behaves as
+// filepath.EvalSymlink before Go 1.23 - with the exception of
+// files under a mount point (juntion) that aren't resolved
+// anymore.
+// The old behavior of filepath.EvalSymlinks can be tested with
+// the directive "//go:debug winsymlink=0" and replacing EvalSymlinksOrClean()
+// with filepath.EvalSymlink().
+func TestEvalSymlinksOrClean(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create a temporary directory to store the normal file
+	normalFileDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	// Create a temporary directory to store the (hard/sym)link files
+	linkFilesDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	// Create a temporary directory where the mount point will be created
+	mountPointDir := t.TempDir()
+
+	// Create a normal file
+	normalFile := filepath.Join(normalFileDir, "testFile")
+	CreateNewItemWithPowerShell(t, normalFile, "File", "")
+
+	// Create a symlink file
+	symlinkFile := filepath.Join(linkFilesDir, "testSymbolicLink")
+	CreateNewItemWithPowerShell(t, symlinkFile, "SymbolicLink", normalFile)
+
+	// Create a hardlink file
+	hardlinkFile := filepath.Join(linkFilesDir, "testHardLink")
+	CreateNewItemWithPowerShell(t, hardlinkFile, "HardLink", normalFile)
+
+	// Create a mount point file
+	mountPoint := filepath.Join(mountPointDir, "testJunction")
+	mountPointFile := filepath.Join(mountPoint, "testFile")
+	CreateNewItemWithPowerShell(t, mountPoint, "Junction", normalFileDir)
+
+	// Replaces the backslashes with forward slashes in the normal file path
+	normalFileWithBadSeparators := filepath.ToSlash(normalFile)
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		filePath string
+		want     string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "Normal file",
+			filePath: normalFile,
+			want:     normalFile,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "File under a mount point (juntion)",
+			filePath: mountPointFile,
+			want:     mountPointFile,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "Symbolic link",
+			filePath: symlinkFile,
+			want:     normalFile,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "Hard link",
+			filePath: hardlinkFile,
+			want:     hardlinkFile,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "Bad separators in path",
+			filePath: normalFileWithBadSeparators,
+			want:     normalFile,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		assert := assert.New(t)
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, err := EvalSymlinksOrClean(tt.filePath)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(tt.want, got)
+		})
+	}
+}