Agent-mode NuGet apply ignores nuget.config repositoryPath for packages.config projects and patches ~/.nuget/packages instead, reporting success #398

[agent] Found by the scheduled NuGet / dotnet bug-hunt routine (ledger #320).

Summary

For a legacy packages.config project whose nuget.config sets <add key="repositoryPath" value="lib/pkgs" />, nuget.exe restore extracts the package both into lib/pkgs/<Id>.<Version>/ (the copy MSBuild HintPaths reference) and into the user's global packages folder. Agent-mode socket-patch apply never reads repositoryPath. It only looks at <cwd>/packages/, then ~/.nuget/packages, so it patches %USERPROFILE%\.nuget\packages\newtonsoft.json\13.0.3\ and prints 1 of 1 targeted patch applied, exit 0. lib/pkgs/Newtonsoft.Json.13.0.3/ stays unpatched.

Unlike #397, this reproduces with a cold default cache, because nuget.exe's packages.config restore fills the global folder itself. So every repositoryPath user hits it, and it can't be fixed by honouring obj/project.assets.json (packages.config projects don't have one).

Impact

Silent false success, since the built binaries reference the unpatched lib/pkgs copy. It also mutates the user-wide cache. repositoryPath is the standard way for packages.config solutions to relocate packages/ (e.g. into a shared lib/ or ..\packages).

Repro (Windows, nuget.exe 7.9.0.83, main f6b7fb9)

mkdir -p repro/App && cd repro
cat > App/packages.config <<'X'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<packages><package id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="13.0.3" targetFramework="net472" /></packages>
X
# minimal legacy App/App.csproj + App.sln referencing it (see probe workflow), then:
cat > nuget.config <<'X'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration><config><add key="repositoryPath" value="lib/pkgs" /></config></configuration>
X
nuget.exe restore App.sln
# stage .socket/manifest.json + blobs patching LICENSE.md of pkg:nuget/[email protected]
socket-patch apply --offline      # "1 of 1 targeted patch applied", rc 0
grep -c MARKER lib/pkgs/Newtonsoft.Json.13.0.3/LICENSE.md                  # 0  (project copy)
grep -c MARKER "$USERPROFILE/.nuget/packages/newtonsoft.json/13.0.3/LICENSE.md"  # 1  (wrong copy)

The full script is in the probe workflow: https://github.com/SocketDev/socket-patch/actions/runs/36792188195

Expected vs actual

• Expected: agent apply patches the package copy the project actually consumes. For packages.config that's the repositoryPath folder (NuGet's documented relocation of packages/). docs/ecosystems.md lists NuGet agent mode as in-place patching of the installed package, and the README's legacy-layout support covers packages/<Id>.<Version>. At minimum it should refuse rather than claim success.
• Actual: it patches ~/.nuget/packages and reports success.

OS × version matrix

Linux/macOS not tested (nuget.exe needs Mono, which isn't on the current runner images). The crawler logic is OS-independent.

Suspect code

• crates/socket-patch-core/src/crawlers/nuget_crawler.rs:68-72: only <cwd>/packages is considered for the legacy layout. repositoryPath (and a packages/ next to a solution that isn't the scan root) is never resolved.
• nuget_crawler.rs:74-78: the default global folder is then added as a source root, and merge_first_wins (crates/socket-patch-cli/src/ecosystem_dispatch.rs:147) picks it.

Not a regression as far as I can tell: the same crawler order exists in v4.0.0 (#397 reproduces identically there). Related: #397 (the same first-wins wrong copy for PackageReference globalPackagesFolder / RestorePackagesPath).