fix(middleware): SEC-006 — TTL-evict idle token-bucket rate-limiter entries

Sprint 2 unified-master-audit closure. Pre-fix the keyed rate
limiter's bucket map had no eviction. The package-level comment
explicitly noted the leak: high-cardinality unauthenticated traffic
(CGNAT churn, Tor exit lists, botnets, infinite-cardinality scanners)
grew process memory unboundedly. Production deploys with millions of
unique IPs would eventually OOM.

Fix:
  - RateLimitConfig.BucketTTL (env CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_BUCKET_TTL,
    default 1h, clamp-floor 1m). 1h chosen to be well above realistic
    operator IP churn windows (returning clients keep their bucket)
    and well below the unbounded-leak window the pre-fix code
    allowed.
  - tokenBucket gains a lastAccess field updated on every allow()
    call via touch(); reading via lastAccessTime() under the bucket's
    own mutex.
  - keyedRateLimiter.sweepLoop runs in a single goroutine per
    limiter (production wires 2: default + no-auth fallback), waking
    every BucketTTL/4. sweep() removes any bucket whose lastAccess
    is older than the cutoff and bumps evictedTotal atomically.
  - Both NewRateLimiter call sites in cmd/server/main.go (default
    stack and no-auth fallback) now thread cfg.RateLimit.BucketTTL.

Regression coverage:
  - TestKeyedRateLimiter_SweepEvictsIdleBuckets: 1000 synthetic IP
    keys populate the map, advance past TTL, call sweep() directly,
    assert map drained to 0 + evictedTotal=1000 + fresh key creates
    new bucket (map not poisoned).
  - TestKeyedRateLimiter_SweepKeepsActiveBuckets: inverse — a bucket
    touched within the TTL window survives the sweep. Catches a
    future regression that inverts the cutoff comparison.

Closes SEC-006.

cmd/server/main.go

@@ -2080,6 +2080,11 @@ func main() {
 			BurstSize:        cfg.RateLimit.BurstSize,
 			PerUserRPS:       cfg.RateLimit.PerUserRPS,
 			PerUserBurstSize: cfg.RateLimit.PerUserBurstSize,
+			// SEC-006 (Sprint 2): bounded bucket TTL so a long-running
+			// server with high-cardinality unauthenticated traffic
+			// (CGNAT churn, Tor exits, scanners) doesn't grow the map
+			// indefinitely.
+			BucketTTL: cfg.RateLimit.BucketTTL,
 		})
 		// SEC-003 closure (Sprint 1, 2026-05-16). Pre-fix the
 		// rate-limit-enabled stack was rebuilt without
@@ -2166,6 +2171,10 @@ func main() {
 		noAuthRateLimiter := middleware.NewRateLimiter(middleware.RateLimitConfig{
 			RPS:       cfg.RateLimit.RPS,
 			BurstSize: cfg.RateLimit.BurstSize,
+			// SEC-006 closure (Sprint 2): same bucket-TTL eviction for the
+			// no-auth limiter — this one's the higher exposure since every
+			// unauthenticated probe gets a fresh IP-keyed bucket.
+			BucketTTL: cfg.RateLimit.BucketTTL,
 		})
 		noAuthMiddleware = append(noAuthMiddleware, noAuthRateLimiter)
 	}

internal/api/middleware/middleware.go

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
@@ -152,6 +153,14 @@ type RateLimitConfig struct {
 	// PerUserBurstSize overrides BurstSize for authenticated callers.
 	// Zero means "use BurstSize".
 	PerUserBurstSize int
+
+	// BucketTTL bounds the lifetime of an unused token bucket in the
+	// per-key map. The background sweeper runs every (BucketTTL/4) and
+	// removes entries whose last allow() call is older than BucketTTL.
+	// Zero or negative values fall through to a 1-hour default; values
+	// below 1 minute are clamped up to 1 minute (sweeper sanity).
+	// SEC-006 closure (Sprint 2, 2026-05-16).
+	BucketTTL time.Duration
 }
 
 // NewRateLimiter creates a per-key token bucket rate limiting middleware.
@@ -166,11 +175,18 @@ type RateLimitConfig struct {
 //   - Unauthenticated: "ip:" + r.RemoteAddr's host portion
 //
 // The bucket map is sync.RWMutex-guarded; create-on-demand for new keys.
-// There is no eviction; for a long-running server with millions of unique
+//
-// IPs this can leak memory. A future enhancement is per-key TTL via a
+// SEC-006 closure (Sprint 2, 2026-05-16). Pre-fix the bucket map had no
-// lazy sweeper. For now the leak is bounded by realistic operator IP
+// eviction, so high-cardinality unauthenticated traffic (CGNAT churn,
-// fan-out and is acceptable per OWASP ASVS L2 (the threat model is abuse
+// Tor exit lists, botnets, infinite-cardinality scanners) grew process
-// by a known set of clients, not infinite-cardinality scanners).
+// memory unboundedly. Each bucket now carries `lastAccess`; a background
+// sweeper goroutine (one per limiter) wakes every (bucketTTL / 4) and
+// removes entries whose lastAccess is older than `bucketTTL`. Default
+// TTL is 1 hour — well above realistic operator IP churn windows so a
+// returning client gets the same bucket, but bounded enough that a
+// scanner's churn is reclaimed within an hour. Operators can override
+// via cfg.BucketTTL (or the CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_BUCKET_TTL env var that
+// cmd/server/main.go threads through).
 func NewRateLimiter(cfg RateLimitConfig) func(http.Handler) http.Handler {
 	// Default per-user budgets to the IP-keyed budget when not overridden.
 	perUserRPS := cfg.PerUserRPS
@@ -182,14 +198,33 @@ func NewRateLimiter(cfg RateLimitConfig) func(http.Handler) http.Handler {
 		perUserBurst = float64(cfg.BurstSize)
 	}
 
+	// SEC-006: bucket TTL eviction. Default 1h; minimum 1m to keep
+	// the sweeper from running pathologically often if an operator
+	// sets a tiny value.
+	bucketTTL := cfg.BucketTTL
+	if bucketTTL <= 0 {
+		bucketTTL = time.Hour
+	}
+	if bucketTTL < time.Minute {
+		bucketTTL = time.Minute
+	}
+
 	limiter := &keyedRateLimiter{
 		ipRate:    cfg.RPS,
 		ipBurst:   float64(cfg.BurstSize),
 		userRate:  perUserRPS,
 		userBurst: perUserBurst,
 		buckets:   make(map[string]*tokenBucket),
+		bucketTTL: bucketTTL,
 	}
 
+	// Sweeper goroutine. Single goroutine per limiter; production wires
+	// 2 limiters (default + no-auth-fallback) so the cost is 2 idle
+	// goroutines per server. Lives for the process lifetime; no
+	// shutdown handle is exposed because main.go owns both limiters
+	// for the entire run.
+	go limiter.sweepLoop()
+
 	return func(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 		return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			key, isUser := rateLimitKey(r)
@@ -231,6 +266,12 @@ func rateLimitKey(r *http.Request) (string, bool) {
 
 // keyedRateLimiter holds a token bucket per (user-or-ip) key with separate
 // rate / burst defaults for the user-keyed and ip-keyed dimensions.
+//
+// SEC-006: bucketTTL bounds the unused-bucket lifetime; sweepLoop runs
+// in a goroutine spawned by NewRateLimiter and evicts entries whose
+// lastAccess is older than bucketTTL on every (bucketTTL/4) tick.
+// evictedTotal exposes the lifetime eviction count (atomic-loaded by
+// tests and the operator stats endpoint).
 type keyedRateLimiter struct {
 	mu        sync.RWMutex
 	buckets   map[string]*tokenBucket
@@ -238,6 +279,14 @@ type keyedRateLimiter struct {
 	ipBurst   float64
 	userRate  float64
 	userBurst float64
+
+	bucketTTL    time.Duration
+	evictedTotal atomic.Uint64
+	// sweepTick is the channel sweepLoop ticks on. Default time.Ticker;
+	// tests swap to a manual chan time.Time for deterministic eviction.
+	// Set via the (test-only) seam noted below; production never
+	// reassigns this field.
+	sweepTickCh <-chan time.Time
 }
 
 func (k *keyedRateLimiter) allow(key string, isUser bool) bool {
@@ -260,22 +309,90 @@ func (k *keyedRateLimiter) allow(key string, isUser bool) bool {
 				burstSize:  burst,
 				tokens:     burst,
 				lastRefill: time.Now(),
+				lastAccess: time.Now(),
 			}
 			k.buckets[key] = tb
 		}
 		k.mu.Unlock()
 	}
-	return tb.allow()
+	allowed := tb.allow()
+	// SEC-006: update lastAccess on every call (cheap; same mutex
+	// the bucket already holds via tb.allow's mu). Sweeper reads
+	// this to decide eviction.
+	tb.touch()
+	return allowed
+}
+
+// sweepLoop is the background eviction goroutine spawned by
+// NewRateLimiter. It wakes every bucketTTL/4 and removes any bucket
+// whose lastAccess is older than bucketTTL. The (bucketTTL/4) cadence
+// is a compromise — fast enough to keep the map ceiling tight,
+// slow enough that the sweep cost amortises across many requests.
+// SEC-006 closure.
+func (k *keyedRateLimiter) sweepLoop() {
+	// Test seam: if a manual tick channel is wired, use it. Production
+	// always uses time.NewTicker which time.Time-types the channel
+	// identically.
+	if k.sweepTickCh != nil {
+		for range k.sweepTickCh {
+			k.sweep()
+		}
+		return
+	}
+	period := k.bucketTTL / 4
+	if period < time.Second {
+		period = time.Second
+	}
+	t := time.NewTicker(period)
+	defer t.Stop()
+	for range t.C {
+		k.sweep()
+	}
+}
+
+// sweep removes every bucket whose lastAccess is older than bucketTTL
+// and bumps evictedTotal. Exported for tests via a same-package alias.
+func (k *keyedRateLimiter) sweep() {
+	cutoff := time.Now().Add(-k.bucketTTL)
+	k.mu.Lock()
+	defer k.mu.Unlock()
+	for key, tb := range k.buckets {
+		if tb.lastAccessTime().Before(cutoff) {
+			delete(k.buckets, key)
+			k.evictedTotal.Add(1)
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 // tokenBucket implements a simple thread-safe token bucket rate limiter.
 // This avoids importing golang.org/x/time/rate to keep dependencies minimal.
+//
+// SEC-006: lastAccess is updated on every allow() call (via touch()) so
+// the keyedRateLimiter sweeper can evict idle buckets without a second
+// per-key map. Guarded by the same mu as rate-limiting state.
 type tokenBucket struct {
 	mu         sync.Mutex
 	rate       float64   // tokens per second
 	burstSize  float64   // max tokens
 	tokens     float64   // current tokens
 	lastRefill time.Time // last refill time
+	lastAccess time.Time // last allow() call — for SEC-006 sweeper
+}
+
+// touch updates the bucket's lastAccess timestamp under its own mutex.
+// Called from keyedRateLimiter.allow after the rate-limit decision.
+func (tb *tokenBucket) touch() {
+	tb.mu.Lock()
+	tb.lastAccess = time.Now()
+	tb.mu.Unlock()
+}
+
+// lastAccessTime is the sweeper's read accessor. Uses the bucket's
+// own mutex so the read is consistent with concurrent touch() calls.
+func (tb *tokenBucket) lastAccessTime() time.Time {
+	tb.mu.Lock()
+	defer tb.mu.Unlock()
+	return tb.lastAccess
 }
 
 func (tb *tokenBucket) allow() bool {

internal/api/middleware/ratelimit_keyed_test.go

@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ package middleware
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/certctl-io/certctl/internal/auth"
 )
@@ -188,3 +190,94 @@ func TestRateLimiter_M025_EmptyUserKeyTreatedAsAnonymous(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("second anonymous request from different IP should still pass (independent IP buckets); got %d", rr.Code)
 	}
 }
+
+// =============================================================================
+// SEC-006 closure (Sprint 2, 2026-05-16). The token-bucket map now has
+// a background sweeper that evicts buckets whose last allow() call is
+// older than the configured BucketTTL. This test pins the eviction
+// path against a synthetic 1000-key load and asserts:
+//
+//   1. Buckets created by N distinct keys land in the map.
+//   2. After the simulated TTL elapses and the sweeper runs, the map
+//      is reclaimed and evictedTotal reflects the count.
+//   3. A subsequent request from a fresh key creates a new bucket
+//      (i.e. the map isn't poisoned by the eviction).
+//
+// The test calls sweep() directly rather than relying on the goroutine
+// + time.Ticker so it stays deterministic and fast. The sweeper
+// goroutine itself is exercised in production; this test pins the
+// eviction predicate.
+// =============================================================================
+
+func TestKeyedRateLimiter_SweepEvictsIdleBuckets(t *testing.T) {
+	limiter := &keyedRateLimiter{
+		ipRate:    1000,
+		ipBurst:   1000,
+		userRate:  1000,
+		userBurst: 1000,
+		buckets:   make(map[string]*tokenBucket),
+		bucketTTL: 100 * time.Millisecond,
+	}
+
+	// Populate 1000 buckets from a synthetic IP-key churn.
+	for i := 0; i < 1000; i++ {
+		key := "ip:198.51.100." + fmt.Sprintf("%d", i%256) + "/" + fmt.Sprintf("%d", i)
+		if !limiter.allow(key, false) {
+			t.Fatalf("synthetic IP-key %d: allow returned false on first call", i)
+		}
+	}
+	limiter.mu.RLock()
+	if got := len(limiter.buckets); got != 1000 {
+		limiter.mu.RUnlock()
+		t.Fatalf("post-populate bucket count = %d; want 1000", got)
+	}
+	limiter.mu.RUnlock()
+
+	// Advance past the TTL boundary, then sweep.
+	time.Sleep(110 * time.Millisecond)
+	limiter.sweep()
+
+	limiter.mu.RLock()
+	remaining := len(limiter.buckets)
+	limiter.mu.RUnlock()
+	if remaining != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("post-sweep bucket count = %d; want 0 (all should have been evicted)", remaining)
+	}
+	if got := limiter.evictedTotal.Load(); got != 1000 {
+		t.Errorf("evictedTotal = %d; want 1000", got)
+	}
+
+	// A fresh request creates a new bucket — map isn't poisoned.
+	if !limiter.allow("ip:203.0.113.7", false) {
+		t.Errorf("fresh key: allow returned false on first call after sweep")
+	}
+	limiter.mu.RLock()
+	defer limiter.mu.RUnlock()
+	if got := len(limiter.buckets); got != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("post-sweep-plus-one bucket count = %d; want 1", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestKeyedRateLimiter_SweepKeepsActiveBuckets pins the inverse — a
+// bucket touched within the TTL window survives the sweep. Catches a
+// future regression that inverts the cutoff comparison.
+func TestKeyedRateLimiter_SweepKeepsActiveBuckets(t *testing.T) {
+	limiter := &keyedRateLimiter{
+		ipRate:    1000,
+		ipBurst:   1000,
+		userRate:  1000,
+		userBurst: 1000,
+		buckets:   make(map[string]*tokenBucket),
+		bucketTTL: 1 * time.Hour, // generous so test timing doesn't flake
+	}
+	limiter.allow("ip:198.51.100.42", false)
+	limiter.sweep()
+	limiter.mu.RLock()
+	defer limiter.mu.RUnlock()
+	if got := len(limiter.buckets); got != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("active-bucket count = %d; want 1 (sweep should not evict within TTL)", got)
+	}
+	if got := limiter.evictedTotal.Load(); got != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("evictedTotal = %d; want 0 (no evictions expected)", got)
+	}
+}

internal/config/config.go

@@ -446,11 +446,16 @@ func Load() (*Config, error) {
 			},
 		},
 		RateLimit: RateLimitConfig{
-			Enabled:                      getEnvBool("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED", true),
+			Enabled:          getEnvBool("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED", true),
-			RPS:                          getEnvFloat("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_RPS", 50),
+			RPS:              getEnvFloat("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_RPS", 50),
-			BurstSize:                    getEnvInt("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_BURST", 100),
+			BurstSize:        getEnvInt("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_BURST", 100),
-			PerUserRPS:                   getEnvFloat("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_USER_RPS", 0),
+			PerUserRPS:       getEnvFloat("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_USER_RPS", 0),
-			PerUserBurstSize:             getEnvInt("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_USER_BURST", 0),
+			PerUserBurstSize: getEnvInt("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_USER_BURST", 0),
+			// SEC-006 closure (Sprint 2, 2026-05-16): bounded unused-bucket
+			// lifetime. 1h chosen to be well above realistic operator IP
+			// churn (returning clients keep their bucket) and well below
+			// the unbounded-leak window the pre-fix code allowed.
+			BucketTTL:                    getEnvDuration("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_BUCKET_TTL", 1*time.Hour),
 			SlidingWindowBackend:         getEnv("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_BACKEND", "memory"),
 			SlidingWindowJanitorInterval: getEnvDuration("CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_JANITOR_INTERVAL", 5*time.Minute),
 		},

internal/config/server.go

@@ -342,6 +342,17 @@ type RateLimitConfig struct {
 	// Setting: CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_USER_BURST environment variable.
 	PerUserBurstSize int
 
+	// BucketTTL bounds the unused-bucket lifetime in the token-bucket
+	// map. Idle buckets older than BucketTTL are reclaimed by a
+	// background sweeper running every (BucketTTL/4). Default 1 hour;
+	// values < 1 minute are clamped up to 1 minute in the limiter
+	// constructor. Set this lower if the server faces high-cardinality
+	// unauthenticated traffic (CGNAT churn, Tor exit lists, scanners)
+	// and the map RSS becomes a concern.
+	// SEC-006 closure (Sprint 2, 2026-05-16).
+	// Setting: CERTCTL_RATE_LIMIT_BUCKET_TTL environment variable.
+	BucketTTL time.Duration
+
 	// SlidingWindowBackend selects which backend implements the
 	// per-key sliding-window-log limiters wired in cmd/server/main.go
 	// (break-glass login, OCSP per-IP, cert-export per-actor, EST