adds documentation on what an exploit is (#30382)

* adds documentation on what an exploit is

* Update docs/contributing/exploits.md

Co-authored-by: Christer2222 <25958019+Christer2222@users.noreply.github.com>
Signed-off-by: Burzah <116982774+Burzah@users.noreply.github.com>

---------

Signed-off-by: Burzah <116982774+Burzah@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Burzah <116982774+Burzah@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Christer2222 <25958019+Christer2222@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: 3 people

docs/contributing/exploits.md

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+# Exploits
+
+If you are filing an issue report you believe to be an exploit, please file it
+in the [Exploit Forum](https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/179-exploit-reports/).
+
+If you are unsure what an exploit is, read on.
+
+## Definition
+
+_Exploits_ refer to ways for players to:
+
+- gain an unintended or unexpectedly disproportionate mechanical advantage over
+  other players or some aspect of the game,
+- degrade or perversely affect the stability and performance of the game server,
+- or damage or destroy any of the services, infrastructure, or data used to run
+  Paradise and its associated tooling
+
+This definition is not exhaustive or exclusive. Ultimately issue managers,
+maintainers, and headcoders are responsible for determining if an issue is an
+exploit.
+
+Exploits are reported in a different venue than ordinary bugs or other game
+issues because the possibility exists that other players can reproduce the
+behavior and propagate knowledge of the advantage or destructive activity to
+themselves and others.
+
+## Examples
+
+Some examples of a mechanical exploit might be:
+
+1. A player finds an item that, when inserted into an autolathe, returns more
+   materials than it requires to print the item from the autolathe. In this way, by
+   constantly recycling and printing the same item, they are able to create an
+   unbounded amount of material for free. This is an exploit because it subverts
+   the intended design of the autolathe, which is that things should cost
+   consistent resources and should never lead to runaway amounts of materials
+   that would normally have to be mined or found elsewhere.
+
+2. A player finds that when holding a certain jetpack and wearing a certain
+   suit, that they move faster in space than they would otherwise. This is an
+   exploit because it makes them faster when they didn't actually do so in a way
+   the game intended. Note that whether or not there's a fair counter for this
+   behavior is irrelevant.
+
+Some examples of a server exploit might be:
+
+1. A player finds a command that, while only intended for admins, does not
+   perform a permissions check, leading to the ability for non-admins to execute
+   the command and potentially change player records or change the course of a
+   game not meant for non-admins to be able to do. This is an exploit because it
+   bypasses the permissions system, giving ordinary players privileged access to
+   game behavior.
+
+2. A player finds that when upgrading a certain machine that produces output,
+   the creation of so many of a certain kind of object causes server lag for all
+   players. This is an exploit because while the player may not have been
+   performing any malicious actions, a coding error causes performance issues in
+   an otherwise unremarkable situation, meaning the player can lag the server
+   and hurt the experience for players simply by performing the same otherwise
+   mundane action repeatedly.
+
+An example of an infrastructure exploit might be:
+
+1. A player finds that an API call to Parastats causes degraded service as the
+   API server attempts to fill the request, and them performs that call
+   repeatedly for no reason other than to cause performance issues for other
+   people attempting to access the server.

mkdocs.yml

@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ nav:
       - 'Getting Started': './contributing/getting_started.md'
       - 'Reviewer Crash Course': './contributing/reviewer.md'
       - 'Writing Quality PRs': './contributing/quality_prs.md'
+      - 'Reporting Exploits': './contributing/exploits.md'
 
   - 'Coding':
       - 'Coding Quickstart': './coding/quickstart.md'