security: require SCEP challenge password when SCEP enabled (fixes H-2)

Problem (CWE-306 Missing Authentication for Critical Function):
internal/service/scep.go PKCSReq skipped the shared-secret check when
s.challengePassword was empty. An unconfigured-but-enabled SCEP server
accepted any unauthenticated client reaching /scep and issued a
certificate against the configured issuer for any CSR with a valid
signature. No audit trail distinguished authenticated from
unauthenticated enrollments. This matches the two-layer fail-closed
pattern already used for C-2 (f549a7a): reject at startup AND reject
at the service boundary.

Fix (two layers, defense-in-depth):

Layer 1 — startup pre-flight in cmd/server/main.go:
  preflightSCEPChallengePassword returns a non-nil error when SCEP is
  enabled and CERTCTL_SCEP_CHALLENGE_PASSWORD is empty. main logs and
  os.Exit(1)s before the SCEP service is constructed. Disabled SCEP is
  unaffected. The helper is unit-testable in isolation.

Layer 2 — service-layer rejection in internal/service/scep.go:
  PKCSReq refuses enrollment when s.challengePassword == "" even though
  main already blocks this state — protects future call sites (tests,
  library reuse, a REST-over-HTTPS wrapper). When a secret is
  configured, the comparison now uses crypto/subtle.ConstantTimeCompare
  so response time does not leak the configured secret through a
  short-circuiting byte compare.

Files:
- cmd/server/main.go: preflightSCEPChallengePassword helper; call site
  inside the `if cfg.SCEP.Enabled` block before issuer lookup; fatal
  slog error references CWE-306 and names the env var so operators can
  diagnose the startup failure without reading code.
- cmd/server/main_test.go: TestPreflightSCEPChallengePassword with five
  table-driven subtests (disabled empty, disabled set, enabled empty
  rejected, enabled set, single-char boundary). The enabled-empty case
  asserts the error string contains both CERTCTL_SCEP_CHALLENGE_PASSWORD
  and CWE-306 so the log message remains actionable.
- internal/config/config.go: SCEPConfig.ChallengePassword godoc now
  states the field is REQUIRED when SCEP.Enabled and cross-references
  preflightSCEPChallengePassword.
- internal/service/scep.go: imports crypto/subtle; PKCSReq rewritten
  with the two-layer check; comment block cites H-2 / CWE-306 and the
  constant-time rationale.
- internal/service/scep_test.go: existing tests that relied on the
  vulnerable empty-password path now configure a secret on both sides.
  TestSCEPService_PKCSReq_ChallengePassword_NotRequired is replaced by
  TestSCEPService_PKCSReq_ChallengePassword_EmptyServerConfigRejected
  which iterates ["", "any-value", "guess"] against an unconfigured
  server and asserts "not configured" in the error. A new
  TestSCEPService_PKCSReq_ChallengePassword_ConstantTimeLengthIndependence
  exercises same-prefix-longer and wrong-case inputs to guard against a
  regression from ConstantTimeCompare to a short-circuiting byte compare.
- internal/service/m11c_crypto_enforcement_test.go: four tests
  (RejectsWeakKey, AcceptsStrongKey, MaxTTL_ForwardedToIssuer,
  NoProfileRepo_PassesThrough) constructed NewSCEPService with an empty
  challenge password and exercised PKCSReq through the now-rejected
  vulnerable path. All four now configure "secret123" on both sides with
  an inline H-2 comment; the crypto/MaxTTL/profile behavior they assert
  is unchanged.

Wire-format / behavioral invariants preserved:
- RFC 8894 SCEP handler is untouched (internal/api/handler/scep.go and
  internal/pkcs7/*): GetCACaps/GetCACert responses, PKIOperation request
  parsing, and the PKCS#7 certs-only response format are byte-identical.
- RFC 7030 EST handler is untouched
  (internal/api/handler/est.go + internal/pkcs7/*).
- Revocation idempotency composite key (H-1, migration 000012) untouched.
- AES-256-GCM config encryption (C-2) untouched.
- CRL DER bytes and OCSP response bytes unchanged.

Verification:
- go build ./...              silent success
- go vet ./...                silent success
- go test -race -count=1 ./internal/service/ ./cmd/server/
  ./internal/api/handler/ ./internal/integration/    all OK
- Coverage with comfortable headroom over CI gates:
    service     67.8% (gate 55%)
    handler     79.0% (gate 60%)
    domain      92.7% (gate 40%)
    middleware  80.0% (gate 30%)
    cmd/server  1.6%  (preflightSCEPChallengePassword: 100%)
  internal/service/scep.go PKCSReq statement coverage: 100%.
- rg sweeps: no `s.challengePassword != ""` remains;
  no `challengePassword != s.challengePassword` remains.

Operational note: operators with SCEP enabled but no challenge password
set will see a fatal startup error and a log line citing
CERTCTL_SCEP_CHALLENGE_PASSWORD and CWE-306 after upgrading. This is the
intended fail-closed behavior. Fix by either setting the env var to a
non-empty shared secret or setting CERTCTL_SCEP_ENABLED=false.

Audit report: certctl-audit-report.md (revision 5) logs this under
H-2 Resolution Log.
This commit is contained in:
shankar0123
2026-04-16 22:22:51 +00:00
parent 387fb555ac
commit b813660c74
6 changed files with 201 additions and 33 deletions
+38
View File
@@ -483,6 +483,24 @@ func main() {
// Register SCEP (RFC 8894) handlers if enabled
if cfg.SCEP.Enabled {
// H-2 fix: fail closed at startup when SCEP is enabled without a
// challenge password configured. Previously the service-layer guard
// at internal/service/scep.go:72-79 skipped the password check when
// s.challengePassword == "", meaning any client that could reach the
// /scep endpoint could enroll an arbitrary CSR against the configured
// issuer (CWE-306, missing authentication for a critical function).
// Refuse to start instead: the operator must set
// CERTCTL_SCEP_CHALLENGE_PASSWORD (or disable SCEP) before the control
// plane can boot.
if err := preflightSCEPChallengePassword(cfg.SCEP.Enabled, cfg.SCEP.ChallengePassword); err != nil {
logger.Error(
"startup refused: SCEP is enabled but CERTCTL_SCEP_CHALLENGE_PASSWORD is not set "+
"(would allow unauthenticated certificate enrollment, CWE-306). "+
"Set a non-empty challenge password or disable SCEP before restarting.",
"error", err,
)
os.Exit(1)
}
issuerConn, ok := issuerRegistry.Get(cfg.SCEP.IssuerID)
if !ok {
logger.Error("SCEP issuer not found in registry", "issuer_id", cfg.SCEP.IssuerID)
@@ -683,3 +701,23 @@ func main() {
logger.Info("certctl server stopped")
}
// preflightSCEPChallengePassword enforces the H-2 fix: if SCEP is enabled, a
// non-empty challenge password MUST be configured. Returns a non-nil error
// otherwise so the caller can refuse to start the control plane (CWE-306,
// missing authentication for a critical function).
//
// This helper is extracted so the check can be unit tested without booting
// the full server. The caller (main) is responsible for translating the
// returned error into a structured log line and os.Exit(1).
func preflightSCEPChallengePassword(enabled bool, challengePassword string) error {
if !enabled {
return nil
}
if challengePassword == "" {
return fmt.Errorf("SCEP enabled but CERTCTL_SCEP_CHALLENGE_PASSWORD is empty: " +
"SCEP enrollment would accept any client (CWE-306); " +
"configure a non-empty shared secret or set CERTCTL_SCEP_ENABLED=false")
}
return nil
}
+66
View File
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
"net/http"
"net/http/httptest"
"os"
"strings"
"testing"
"github.com/shankar0123/certctl/internal/api/middleware"
@@ -538,3 +539,68 @@ func TestMain_ContextPropagation(t *testing.T) {
t.Logf("Context value may not be propagated (status %d), this may be expected", w.Code)
}
}
// TestPreflightSCEPChallengePassword is the H-2 regression guard for the
// startup pre-flight check. The helper MUST return a non-nil error whenever
// SCEP is enabled with an empty challenge password — that configuration
// previously allowed unauthenticated certificate enrollment (CWE-306).
// Disabled-SCEP and configured-password cases must pass cleanly.
func TestPreflightSCEPChallengePassword(t *testing.T) {
tests := []struct {
name string
enabled bool
challengePassword string
wantErr bool
wantErrSubstring string
}{
{
name: "disabled_empty_password_ok",
enabled: false,
challengePassword: "",
wantErr: false,
},
{
name: "disabled_with_password_ok",
enabled: false,
challengePassword: "leftover-value",
wantErr: false,
},
{
name: "enabled_empty_password_rejected",
enabled: true,
challengePassword: "",
wantErr: true,
wantErrSubstring: "CERTCTL_SCEP_CHALLENGE_PASSWORD",
},
{
name: "enabled_with_password_ok",
enabled: true,
challengePassword: "hunter2",
wantErr: false,
},
{
name: "enabled_single_char_password_ok",
enabled: true,
challengePassword: "x",
wantErr: false,
},
}
for _, tt := range tests {
t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
err := preflightSCEPChallengePassword(tt.enabled, tt.challengePassword)
if tt.wantErr {
if err == nil {
t.Fatalf("expected error, got nil")
}
if tt.wantErrSubstring != "" && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), tt.wantErrSubstring) {
t.Errorf("expected error to mention %q, got: %v", tt.wantErrSubstring, err)
}
if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "CWE-306") {
t.Errorf("expected error to cite CWE-306 for traceability, got: %v", err)
}
} else if err != nil {
t.Errorf("expected no error, got: %v", err)
}
})
}
}