Files
certctl/docs/operator/auth-threat-model.md
T
shankar0123 92c50d9e19 harden(oidc): relax alg-downgrade IdP-bind check to intersection-empty (Keycloak compat)
Phase-10 live-IdP smoke (Keycloak 26.x via testcontainers-go) revealed
the IdP-bind alg-downgrade check was too strict for real-world IdPs.
6 of the integration tests in internal/auth/oidc/integration_keycloak*_test.go
were failing with:

  oidc: IdP advertises weak signing algorithms (HS*/none);
  refusing to use as defense against downgrade attacks: HS256

Keycloak 26.x (and several other real-world IdPs — Auth0 when HS-mode is
enabled, some Authentik configs) advertise EVERY alg they're capable of
in the discovery doc's id_token_signing_alg_values_supported field, even
when the realm only signs with RS256 in practice. Pre-fix the IdP-bind
check refused on ANY HS* or 'none' advertisement → no real Keycloak deploy
could ever bind a provider row, hence the integration-test failures.

The strict-deny check was defense-in-depth on top of the load-bearing
per-token alg-pin at sig-verify time (isDisallowedAlg, service.go L1177):
that check rejects every ID token whose JWS header carries an alg outside
DefaultAllowedAlgs, regardless of what the discovery doc advertises.
A forged HS256 token signed with the IdP's RS256 pubkey as HMAC secret
is rejected at sig-verify time → the actual algorithm-confusion attack
is closed by the per-token pin, NOT by the discovery-doc check.

Fix: relax the IdP-bind check to refuse only when the intersection of
advertised vs DefaultAllowedAlgs is EMPTY (the pathological all-weak-alg
IdP case). Keycloak (RS256 + HS256 advertised) now binds successfully;
an HS-only IdP still fails closed.

Changes:
- internal/auth/oidc/service.go: rewrite the alg-check loop at L1067 in
  getOrLoad / RefreshKeys to compute the intersection set; refuse only
  when no acceptable alg is advertised. ErrIdPDowngradeAdvertised
  docstring updated to reflect new contract. DefaultAllowedAlgs
  docstring + the package-level design-comment block at L40-72 updated
  with v2.1.0-relaxed semantics callouts.
- internal/auth/oidc/test_discovery.go: TestDiscovery dry-run validator
  rewritten to surface HS*/none alongside RS* as an informational note
  ('note: IdP advertises weak algorithms %v alongside acceptable ones')
  rather than a hard-fail error. HS-only / none-only still hard-fails.
- internal/auth/oidc/service_test.go: TestService_IdPDowngradeDefense_*
  tests updated. Renamed:
  - RejectsHSAdvertised → RS256PlusHS256_BindsSuccessfully (positive)
  - RejectsNoneAdvertised → RejectsHSOnlyAdvertised (intersection-empty)
  - RefreshKeys_CatchesPostLoadDowngrade rotated to HS-only post-load
- internal/auth/oidc/coverage_fill_test.go: TestTestDiscovery_AlgDowngradeDetected
  split into _HS256AlongsideRS256_BindsWithNote (positive, asserts note
  but no hard-fail) + _HSOnly_StillTrips_HardFail (intersection-empty).
- docs/operator/auth-threat-model.md: OIDC token-validation alg-allow-list
  section rewritten to call out the load-bearing-defense hierarchy
  (per-token pin first, IdP-bind check defense-in-depth) and document
  the v2.1.0 relaxation rationale.
- CHANGELOG.md: ### Security entry under Unreleased.

Verify: go test ./internal/auth/oidc/ -short PASS; gofmt clean; go vet
clean. The Keycloak integration tests should now pass when the operator
re-runs 'make keycloak-integration-test'.
2026-05-11 15:34:59 +00:00

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40 KiB
Markdown

# Authentication & authorization threat model
> Last reviewed: 2026-05-10
This document describes the attack surface around authentication and
authorization in certctl after Bundle 1 (the RBAC primitive) AND Bundle
2 (OIDC + sessions + back-channel logout + break-glass) land. It
complements [`rbac.md`](rbac.md) and the per-IdP runbooks at
[`oidc-runbooks/index.md`](oidc-runbooks/index.md) - those docs
explain how to USE the controls; this one explains what those controls
defend against and which threats they explicitly do NOT close.
The post-Bundle-2 attack surface is meaningfully wider than Bundle 1's:
Bundle 1 closed the API-key axis (one credential type, one validation
path); Bundle 2 adds OIDC-federated humans, session cookies with
length-prefixed HMAC + CSRF, back-channel logout, OIDC first-admin
bootstrap, and a default-OFF break-glass admin path. Each surface
brings its own threat catalogue + mitigations, documented below
alongside the Bundle 1 ones.
## Threat actors
1. **External attacker with no credential** - probing the public
HTTP surface. The default trust boundary for everything except
the protocol-level endpoints (ACME / SCEP / EST / OCSP / CRL,
which authenticate via embedded credentials per their own RFCs).
2. **Authenticated caller with the wrong role** - has a valid API
key but the role doesn't grant the requested operation. The
primary RBAC threat model.
3. **Compromised API key** - attacker holds a valid Bearer token
that an honest operator originally provisioned. The key may
carry any role.
4. **Insider operator** - legitimate access; potentially trying
to escalate privilege or bypass the approval workflow.
5. **Compromised audit reviewer (auditor role)** - read-only
access to audit events but otherwise untrusted.
The following actors are NEW with Bundle 2:
6. **OIDC-federated end user** - authenticates via the
organization's IdP (Keycloak / Okta / Auth0 / Entra ID / Authentik
/ Workspace-via-broker). The user's credential lives at the IdP;
certctl never sees it. Attack vectors center on token forgery,
session hijacking, and group-claim manipulation.
7. **Stolen session cookie holder** - attacker holds a valid
`certctl_session` cookie value (typically via XSS, network MITM,
or a developer who pasted a token into a chat / pastebin). Holds
the attacker-side ability to make requests as the legitimate user
until the cookie expires (idle 1h / absolute 8h defaults) or is
revoked.
8. **Compromised IdP** - the upstream IdP itself is rogue: signs
tokens for arbitrary users, mints groups arbitrarily, etc. Largely
out of certctl's control; mitigations are bounded to "the audit
trail records the source provider on every login, blast radius is
bounded by group_role_mapping configured for that provider."
9. **Break-glass-password holder (Phase 7.5 path)** - operator with
the local Argon2id password set up for SSO outages. Bypasses the
OIDC + group-claim layer entirely. The default-OFF posture is the
load-bearing mitigation; once enabled the password is the entire
attack surface.
## Defenses Bundle 1 ships
### API-key authentication
- API keys live in `CERTCTL_API_KEYS_NAMED` (env-var) or
`api_keys` (DB row, written by Bundle 1 Phase 6 bootstrap and
the future role-management API). Keys hash via SHA-256; the
middleware compares hashes via `crypto/subtle.ConstantTimeCompare`
to defeat timing attacks.
- The auth middleware populates `ActorIDKey` / `ActorTypeKey` /
`TenantIDKey` on every authenticated request context. Audit rows
attribute every action to the named-key actor instead of the
pre-Bundle-1 hardcoded `api-key-user` placeholder.
- Demo mode (`CERTCTL_AUTH_TYPE=none`) injects the synthetic
`actor-demo-anon` actor with admin grants. Production deploys
MUST NOT use demo mode.
### Authorization (RBAC)
- Every gated handler routes through `auth.RequirePermission` (or
the router-level `rbacGate` wrap from Phase 3.5). The middleware
resolves the actor's effective permissions via the
`Authorizer.CheckPermission` service-layer call; on miss, the
handler returns HTTP 403 BEFORE the body runs. This is the
load-bearing gate.
- The five admin-only fine-grained perms (`cert.bulk_revoke` /
`crl.admin` / `scep.admin` / `est.admin` /
`ca.hierarchy.manage`) are seeded into `r-admin` only. To
delegate one, an operator creates a custom role with the
specific perm and grants it to the right actor.
- The auditor split: `r-auditor` holds only `audit.read` +
`audit.export`. Pinned by the
`internal/domain/auth/auditor_test.go` invariants. A regulator
with the auditor key cannot read certificates, profiles,
issuers, or any mutating surface.
- The privilege-escalation guard: granting or revoking a role
requires the caller to hold `auth.role.assign` (enforced in
`internal/service/auth/actor_role_service.go`). A non-admin
cannot self-grant admin.
- The reserved-actor guard: mutations against `actor-demo-anon`
return HTTP 409 from the service layer
(`ErrAuthReservedActor`). The synthetic actor is operator-
inaccessible.
### Day-0 bootstrap
- `CERTCTL_BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN` is constant-time-compared by
`EnvTokenStrategy.Validate`. The strategy is one-shot via
`sync.Mutex`-guarded `consumed` bool; the second call returns
`ErrDisabled` (HTTP 410), not `ErrInvalidToken` (HTTP 401), so
a probing attacker cannot distinguish "wrong token, retry"
from "already consumed".
- The strategy also re-probes admin existence on every Validate.
If an admin actor lands during the gap between Available and
Validate, the second caller still gets HTTP 410.
- The minted plaintext key is written to the response body once.
It is NEVER logged. The token-leak hygiene test in
`internal/api/handler/auth_bootstrap_test.go` redirects
`slog.Default` to a buffer and grep-asserts that neither the
bootstrap token nor the minted key appears in any log line,
audit row, or HTTP header.
- The minted key is hashed before persistence. Lost key →
rotate via the regular RBAC API; the plaintext is not
recoverable from the DB.
### Approval workflow + Phase 9 loophole closure
- `CertificateProfile.RequiresApproval=true` gates two surfaces:
(a) issuance + renewal of every cert pointing at the profile,
(b) edits to the profile itself (Bundle 1 Phase 9). The Phase 9
closure prevents the flip-flop bypass where an admin disables
approval, mutates, re-enables.
- Same-actor self-approve is rejected at the service layer with
`ErrApproveBySameActor` for both `cert_issuance` and
`profile_edit` kinds. Two-person integrity is the load-bearing
invariant; pinned by tests in
`internal/service/approval_test.go`.
### Audit trail
- Every mutating operation flows through `AuditService.RecordEvent`
or `RecordEventWithCategory`. Bundle 1 Phase 8 added the
`event_category` column with a `CHECK` constraint enforcing
the closed enum (`cert_lifecycle` / `auth` / `config`); the
category surfaces the auth-mutation slice to the auditor view.
- The WORM trigger from migration 000018
(`audit_events_worm_trigger`) blocks `UPDATE` and `DELETE` at
the database layer. Even an admin DB user cannot tamper with
audit history without dropping the trigger.
- Bundle-6's redactor (`internal/service/audit_redact.go`)
scrubs credentials + PII from the `details` JSONB before
persistence; an `_redacted_keys` field surfaces what the
redactor took out for compliance review.
### Protocol-endpoint allowlist
ACME / SCEP / EST / OCSP / CRL endpoints authenticate via
embedded credentials defined by their own RFCs (JWS-signed,
challenge passwords, mTLS, public-by-RFC). The auth middleware
explicitly bypasses these via `IsProtocolEndpoint`. The Phase 12
`internal/api/router/phase12_protocol_allowlist_test.go` pins
the invariant at three layers (middleware bypass, allowlist
constant, router-level no-rbacGate-wraps-protocol-paths).
## Defenses Bundle 2 ships
### OIDC token validation (Phase 3)
- **Algorithm allow-list, never `none`, never HMAC.** The service-
layer pinning lives in `internal/auth/oidc/service.go::disallowedAlgs`
+ `isDisallowedAlg`. The per-token alg check at sig-verify time
(`isDisallowedAlg`, line ~1177) is the load-bearing defense — every
ID token whose JWS header carries an alg outside the allow-list
(RS256 / RS512 / ES256 / ES384 / EdDSA) is rejected with
`ErrAlgRejected`. coreos/go-oidc additionally enforces the allow-list
per-token at verify time as defense-in-depth against an upstream
library regression. The IdP-downgrade-attack secondary defense at
provider creation / `RefreshKeys` (v2.1.0-relaxed semantics)
intersects the IdP's advertised `id_token_signing_alg_values_supported`
with the allow-list and rejects only when the intersection is EMPTY
— i.e., the IdP advertises NO acceptable alg. Pre-v2.1.0 the check
strict-denied on ANY HS*/`none` advertisement; that broke against
Keycloak 26.x (which lists every alg it's capable of in its discovery
doc, including HS*, even when the realm only signs with RS256). The
relaxation is safe because the per-token alg pin already prevents
a real algorithm-confusion attack — a forged HS256 token using the
IdP's RS256 pubkey as HMAC secret is rejected at sig-verify regardless
of what the discovery doc advertises. Operators worried about a
compromised IdP rotating to weak algs without rotating its certctl
provider config get defense-in-depth from `JWKSStatus` + the alert
hooks in the GUI panel.
- **Exact `iss` match.** ID-token `iss` claim must equal the
configured `OIDCProvider.IssuerURL` byte-for-byte (sentinel
`ErrIssuerMismatch`). A token from a different IdP - even one
with the same `aud` - cannot ride a misconfigured provider row.
- **`aud` + `azp` checks.** Service-layer re-verification of the
audience claim (must include `client_id`) plus the `azp` claim
for multi-aud tokens (per OIDC core §3.1.3.7 step 5; sentinels
`ErrAudienceMismatch`, `ErrAZPRequired`, `ErrAZPMismatch`). An
attacker with a token issued for a different client cannot replay
it against certctl.
- **`at_hash` REQUIRED when access_token is present.** OIDC core
treats `at_hash` as a "MAY"; certctl tightens to "MUST"
(`ErrATHashRequired`). A substituted access token cannot ride
alongside a clean ID token through the verifier.
- **Single-use state + nonce.** Both 32-byte random server-generated
values, persisted in the pre-login row keyed by the cookie. The
pre-login row is consumed via `DELETE...RETURNING` on lookup
(atomic single-use). `subtle.ConstantTimeCompare` on both. State
replay returns `ErrPreLoginNotFound`; nonce mismatch returns
`ErrNonceMismatch`.
- **PKCE-S256 mandatory.** RFC 9700 §2.1.1 requires PKCE on auth-
code; certctl hard-codes S256 via `oauth2.GenerateVerifier` +
`oauth2.S256ChallengeOption`. The `plain` method is not just
unsupported - the `ErrPKCEPlainRejected` sentinel exists so a
future regression that surfaces a plain path trips a test.
- **`iat` window.** Configurable per-provider (default 300s, capped
at 600s by the domain validator). Defends against clock-skew
attacks where an attacker submits a stale-but-valid token.
- **JWKS rotation handled transparently** by coreos/go-oidc's built-
in cache, plus the operator-triggered `Service.RefreshKeys` for
forced refresh (and the auto-refresh on JWKS-cache TTL expiry,
default 3600s).
- **JWKS-fetch failure during a key rotation: fail closed.** The
service maps go-oidc's network errors to `ErrJWKSUnreachable`
(HTTP 503 to the in-flight login). Existing sessions are
untouched. No exponential backoff, no auto-retry; the operator
triages.
- **Encrypted `client_secret` at rest.** AES-256-GCM via
`internal/crypto.EncryptIfKeySet` (the same v3-blob path issuer
+ target credentials use). The `client_secret_encrypted` column
is `json:"-"` on the domain type so a misconfigured handler
cannot wire-leak.
### Session minting + cookies (Phases 4 + 6)
- **Length-prefixed HMAC.** Cookie wire format is
`v1.<session_id>.<signing_key_id>.<base64url-no-pad(HMAC-SHA256)>`.
HMAC input is **length-prefixed** as `len(sid):sid:len(kid):kid`
- NOT bare-concat. The bare-concat form admits a collision
attack: `<a, bc>` and `<ab, c>` produce identical HMAC inputs,
letting a forger swap one byte across the boundary. Pinned by
`TestComputeHMAC_LengthPrefixDefeatsConcatCollision` +
`TestService_Validate_ConcatenationCollisionDefeatedByLengthPrefix`.
The `v1.` version prefix is reserved; unknown prefixes are
rejected with no fallback.
- **Cookie hardening.** `HttpOnly=true` (no JS access; defends XSS
cookie theft), `Secure=true` (HTTPS-only; defends network MITM
given HTTPS-Everywhere v2.2 milestone), `SameSite=Lax` default
(configurable to Strict via `CERTCTL_SESSION_SAMESITE`), `Path=/`,
no domain attribute (host-only).
- **Idle + absolute timeouts.** 1h idle / 8h absolute defaults
(configurable via `CERTCTL_SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT` /
`_ABSOLUTE_TIMEOUT`). The session row tracks `last_seen_at`,
`idle_expires_at`, `absolute_expires_at` independently; the
scheduler's `sessionGCLoop` (default 1h) sweeps expired rows.
- **CSRF defense.** Plaintext CSRF token in the JS-readable
`certctl_csrf` cookie (intentionally `HttpOnly=false` so the GUI
reads it for the `X-CSRF-Token` header). SHA-256 hash on the
session row. `CSRFMiddleware` on state-changing methods uses
`subtle.ConstantTimeCompare` against the hash. API-key actors
(no session row) are CSRF-exempt - pinned by the bundle-1-compat
CI guard.
- **Optional defense-in-depth IP / UA bind** (default OFF;
`CERTCTL_SESSION_BIND_IP` / `_BIND_USER_AGENT`). Mismatch
returns `ErrSessionIPMismatch` / `ErrSessionUAMismatch`. Use
with care - mobile clients on changing networks fail closed.
- **Signing-key rotation primitive.** `RotateSigningKey` mints a
new HMAC key; the old key stays valid for the configured
retention window (default 24h via
`CERTCTL_SESSION_SIGNING_KEY_RETENTION`) so existing cookies
validate during the rollover. Past retention, the old key's row
is dropped and any cookie still signed under it returns
`ErrSigningKeyNotFound`.
- **EnsureInitialSigningKey is fail-fatal at server boot.** Wired
in `cmd/server/main.go` via `logger.Error + os.Exit(1)` so a
server with a broken DB or RNG cannot boot into a state where
session validation is impossible.
- **Pre-login cookie discriminated from post-login.** Pre-login
carries the `pl-` id prefix; post-login carries `ses-`. Defense-
in-depth: `Validate` rejects pre-login cookies (pinned by
`TestService_Validate_RejectsPreLoginCookieAtPostLoginGate`) so a
stolen pre-login cookie cannot be replayed against the post-login
gate.
### Back-channel logout (Phase 5)
- **OpenID Connect Back-Channel Logout 1.0** (NOT RFC 8414).
Endpoint: `POST /auth/oidc/back-channel-logout`. The IdP signs a
logout JWT and POSTs it to certctl when a user logs out at the
IdP. The handler validates the JWT against the IdP's JWKS via
the same alg allow-list as the login flow.
- **Required claims pinned.** `iss` / `aud` / `iat` / `jti` /
`events` (with the spec-mandated logout event type); exactly
one of `sub` / `sid`; `nonce` MUST be absent (per spec §2.4
- logout tokens MUST NOT carry a nonce). All four pinned by
Phase 5 negative tests.
- **`jti`-based replay defense.** The Phase 5 implementation
tracks recently-seen `jti` values to defeat logout-token replay
attacks where an attacker captures a logout JWT and replays it.
- **Cache-Control: no-store** on the response per spec §2.5.
### OIDC first-admin bootstrap (Phase 7)
- **Coexists with Bundle 1's env-var-token bootstrap.** Both can be
configured; the admin-existence probe ensures only one wins.
- **Group-scoped.** `CERTCTL_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_GROUPS` is a comma-
separated allowlist of IdP group names; users in any one of those
groups become admins on FIRST login per tenant. Non-empty
intersection with the user's resolved groups is required.
- **One-shot per tenant via admin-existence probe.** Once any actor
holds `r-admin` in the tenant, the bootstrap hook silently falls
through to normal mapping (no admin grant). Operators rely on
this to avoid an "always-admin-on-login" backdoor.
- **Explicit OIDC provider gate.** `CERTCTL_BOOTSTRAP_OIDC_PROVIDER_ID`
pins which provider's tokens are eligible. A multi-IdP deploy
cannot have any provider's group claims become admin.
- **Audit row on every grant.** `bootstrap.oidc_first_admin` event
with `event_category=auth` + INFO log; the auditor monitors.
### Break-glass admin (Phase 7.5)
- **Default-OFF.** `CERTCTL_BREAKGLASS_ENABLED=false` is the default;
the entire surface (4 endpoints) is disabled. Operators flip it
on during SSO incidents and back off after recovery.
- **Surface invisibility via 404-not-403.** Every endpoint returns
HTTP 404 when disabled - public login AND admin endpoints. A
scanner cannot distinguish "endpoint disabled" from "endpoint
doesn't exist." All five service-layer methods short-circuit with
`ErrDisabled` before any DB lookup; the handler maps to
`http.NotFound`.
- **Argon2id with OWASP 2024 params.** `m=64MiB`, `t=3`, `p=4`,
16-byte salt, 32-byte output, per-password random salt, PHC-format
hash. The hash column is `json:"-"` so handlers cannot wire-leak.
- **Lockout state machine.** `CERTCTL_BREAKGLASS_LOCKOUT_THRESHOLD`
(default 5) failures within
`CERTCTL_BREAKGLASS_LOCKOUT_RESET_INTERVAL` (default 1h) trip a
`CERTCTL_BREAKGLASS_LOCKOUT_DURATION` lock (default 30s; bumped
from 100ms after the test discovered Argon2id verify itself takes
~80-200ms each, making a millisecond-scale lockout invisible).
Atomic single-statement `IncrementFailure` defeats concurrent
racing attempts. Idempotent `ResetFailureCount`.
- **Constant-time across all failure paths.** `verifyDummy()` runs a
real Argon2id pass against an all-zeros throwaway salt on the
no-credential and locked-account paths so all three failure modes
(wrong password / locked / no actor) take statistically
indistinguishable time. Pinned by
`TestPhase7_5_ConstantTimeAcrossWrongPasswordAndNoCredentialPaths`
(asserts within 5x ratio on durations).
- **Audit row + WARN log at boot.** `auth.breakglass_login_*`
events with `event_category=auth`. `cmd/server/main.go` emits a
WARN-level log when `ENABLED=true` so the operator's log review
notices an over-long enablement.
- **Rate limit on the public login endpoint.** 5 attempts/minute
via the existing `middleware.NewRateLimiter`.
## Bundle 2 threat catalogue
The following sub-sections enumerate the threat surface introduced by
Bundle 2 and the mitigations the platform ships. They are deliberately
exhaustive - if a threat is listed here it has a concrete mitigation
or a documented "operator-driven, out of scope" framing. New threats
discovered post-2026-05-10 should be added here with a dated commit
note.
### OIDC token forgery vectors and mitigations
| Vector | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Alg confusion (HS256 token signed with the IdP's public key) | Alg allow-list rejects HS256 / HS384 / HS512 / `none`. Service-layer + go-oidc enforce in two layers. IdP-downgrade-attack defense at provider-creation time. |
| Audience injection (token issued for a different client) | Service-layer `aud` re-check post-go-oidc verify; multi-aud tokens require matching `azp`. Sentinels `ErrAudienceMismatch` / `ErrAZPRequired` / `ErrAZPMismatch`. |
| Issuer mismatch (token from a different IdP with the same alg + key shape) | Exact `iss` string match (`ErrIssuerMismatch`). The 21-case Phase 3 negative-test matrix pins the byte-for-byte requirement. |
| Nonce replay (capturing a fresh token + replaying with the same nonce) | Single-use nonce stored in the pre-login row; `LookupAndConsume` is `DELETE...RETURNING` (atomic). Second use returns `ErrPreLoginNotFound`. |
| State replay (CSRF on the IdP redirect) | Same single-use mechanism as nonce. State is `subtle.ConstantTimeCompare`d. |
| `at_hash` substitution (clean ID token with a swapped access token) | `at_hash` REQUIRED when access_token present (Phase 3 tightening of OIDC core's MAY → MUST). `ErrATHashRequired` if missing; `ErrATHashMismatch` if non-matching. |
| `iat` window manipulation (stale token replay) | `iat_window_seconds` configurable per-provider (default 300, cap 600). Future `iat` returns `ErrIATInFuture`; older-than-window returns `ErrIATTooOld`. |
| JWKS rotation mid-login | coreos/go-oidc's built-in cache + auto-refresh on TTL expiry. Operator-triggered `Service.RefreshKeys` for forced refresh. |
| JWKS-fetch failure during a key rotation | `ErrJWKSUnreachable` (HTTP 503 to in-flight login). Existing sessions untouched. Operator clicks "Refresh discovery cache" once IdP recovers. No exponential backoff. |
### Session hijacking vectors and mitigations
| Vector | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Cookie theft via XSS | `HttpOnly` on the session cookie; CSP headers from Bundle B's H-1 work prevent inline-script execution. |
| Cookie theft via network MITM | `Secure` flag + TLS 1.3-only control plane (HTTPS-Everywhere v2.2 milestone). |
| CSRF on state-changing methods | `SameSite=Lax` default + double-submit-cookie pattern with hashed CSRF token on the session row. CSRFMiddleware fires on POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE for session-authenticated callers; API-key actors are exempt. |
| Session-cookie forgery via concatenation collision | Length-prefixed HMAC input (`len(sid):sid:len(kid):kid`). Pinned by two tests + a doc-block at the top of `service.go`. |
| Stolen-cookie replay (attacker uses a valid cookie until expiry) | Short idle timeout (1h default) + admin-revoke-all-for-actor + back-channel logout from IdP + GUI session revocation. |
| Cross-tab session interference | Cookie value is opaque + length-prefixed; tabs sharing the cookie share the session row. Sign-out in one tab calls `POST /auth/logout`; the next request from any tab gets a missing-row 401. |
| Session-row race on sign-out vs in-flight request | `Validate` is the single point that reads the row; missing row = 401. There is no "stale read" path because every request re-validates. |
### IdP compromise scenarios
A rogue IdP issues malicious tokens (signs tokens for arbitrary users,
mints arbitrary groups, etc.). Mitigations are largely out of certctl's
control - the trust root is the IdP. Documented behaviors:
- **Operator should monitor IdP audit logs.** Federated identity is
only as trustworthy as the IdP it federates from. The `iss` claim
on every certctl audit row points at the source IdP so the
operator can correlate against IdP-side audit.
- **Operator can rotate group-role mappings from the GUI without
redeploying.** If the IdP is compromised but not yet
decommissioned, the operator can dial down access via
`Auth → OIDC Providers → <provider> → Group → role mappings`
and remove every mapping. Subsequent logins fail closed
(`ErrGroupsUnmapped`); existing sessions continue until expiry.
- **The audit trail records every OIDC login including the source
provider.** Blast radius is bounded by the `group_role_mapping`
table for that provider. A compromised provider configured with
only `engineers → r-operator` cannot escalate to `r-admin` via
any token forgery.
- **The provider-delete path returns 409 when sessions exist for it.**
`ErrOIDCProviderInUse` forces the operator to revoke the
provider's active sessions before deletion - prevents accidental
loss of audit lineage on a hot incident.
### Back-channel logout failure modes
| Mode | Behavior | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| IdP unreachable | certctl never receives the logout signal; sessions persist until idle/absolute timeout (1h/8h defaults). | Operator keeps absolute timeout short relative to risk tolerance. Manual revoke via GUI is always available. |
| Logout token signature invalid | certctl returns 400; no session revoked; `auth.oidc_back_channel_logout_failed` audit row. | Operator-monitored audit row surfaces forged-logout-token attempts. |
| Logout token replay (attacker captures + replays a valid logout JWT) | `jti`-based deduplication rejects the replay; first delivery succeeds, second returns 400. | Pinned by Phase 5 negative tests. |
| Logout token alg confusion | Same alg allow-list as the login flow; HS-family rejected. | Phase 3 alg allow-list applies to BCL too (same `Provider.RemoteKeySet`). |
| Missing `events` claim | Spec §2.4 requires the OIDC-defined logout event type; missing returns 400. | Pinned by negative test. |
| `nonce` claim present | Spec §2.4 requires `nonce` MUST NOT appear in logout tokens; presence returns 400. | Pinned by negative test. |
### Group-claim manipulation
Per-IdP group-claim shapes are documented in
[`oidc-runbooks/index.md`](oidc-runbooks/index.md). Manipulation
threats:
| Vector | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Operator misconfigures mapping (e.g. `engineers → r-admin` instead of `r-operator`) | `auth.group_mapping_added` / `_removed` audit row with `event_category=auth`. The auditor role monitors. |
| Operator misconfigures `groups_claim_path` (e.g. `groups` when Auth0 emits `https://your-namespace/groups`) | User's group claim is ignored, user lands at "no roles assigned" screen. The GUI's OIDC provider detail page surfaces the configured path so the operator can verify. |
| IdP renames a group (e.g. `engineers → eng-team`) | Mappings silently break; users get fewer roles than expected. `auth.oidc_login_unmapped_groups` audit row fires on every such login; auditor monitors for unexpected spikes. |
| IdP user maintainer adds a user to an unintended group | Group is mapped to a higher-privilege role than intended; user gets the role on next login. Bounded blast radius: the group→role mapping is what they got, not arbitrary admin. Defense-in-depth: review mappings periodically; the auditor role can pull `auth.oidc_login_succeeded` rows by `details.subject` to spot drift. |
### Bootstrap phase risks (post-Bundle-2)
This section extends Bundle 1's bootstrap section with the OIDC
first-admin path.
| Vector | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| `CERTCTL_BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN` (Bundle 1 fallback) leaks | One-shot via `consumed` bool + admin-existence probe. Both arms close the path the moment any admin lands. (Bundle 1.) |
| `CERTCTL_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_GROUPS` misconfigured to a wide group (e.g. `everyone`) | Unintended user becomes admin on first OIDC login. Mitigation: scope-down via `certctl-cli auth keys scope-down --suggest`. Operators configure narrow groups. The audit row on `bootstrap.oidc_first_admin` surfaces every grant. |
| Both bootstrap strategies enabled simultaneously | Whichever fires first wins; the second sees admin-already-exists and falls through to normal mapping. No double-admin landing. |
| `CERTCTL_BOOTSTRAP_OIDC_PROVIDER_ID` left unset with multi-IdP deploy | Hook fires on ANY provider's tokens. Mitigation: explicit gate documented in `cmd/server/main.go` startup logging; operator audit reviewed pre-tag. |
### Break-glass risks (Phase 7.5)
| Vector | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Phished password (operator gives password to attacker) | Bypasses OIDC + every group-claim gate. Mitigation: default-OFF posture; lockout after 5 failures; WebAuthn pairing (v3 / Decision 12) closes the gap properly. |
| Brute-force online | Lockout state machine + 5/min rate limit on `/auth/breakglass/login`. |
| Brute-force offline (DB compromise) | Argon2id with OWASP 2024 params (~80-200ms per verify). Cracking remains expensive even with GPU. |
| Operator forgets to disable post-incident | Break-glass becomes a permanent backdoor. Mitigation: WARN log at boot when ENABLED=true; audit row on every break-glass login; runbook prescribes "disable within 24h of SSO recovery." |
| Side-channel timing on no-credential vs wrong-password vs locked | All three paths take statistically indistinguishable time via `verifyDummy()`. Pinned by the timing-statistical test. |
| Surface fingerprinting (scanner identifies break-glass exists) | All four endpoints return 404 (NOT 403) when disabled. Surface-invisibility - identical to a non-existent route. |
| Reserved-actor `actor-demo-anon` mutation via break-glass admin | Service layer rejects with `ErrAuthReservedActor` (HTTP 409). Same gate as the Bundle 1 RBAC path. |
### Token-leak hygiene (the explicit grep policy)
ID tokens, access tokens, refresh tokens, authorization codes, PKCE
verifiers, state, nonce, signing keys, break-glass passwords MUST
NEVER appear in any log line at any level.
The invariant is enforced by per-package `logging_test.go` files that
redirect `slog.Default` to a buffer, run the service paths, and
grep-assert the secret values are absent from every captured line.
Bundle 1's `internal/auth/bootstrap/service_test.go` is the pattern.
Phases 3, 4, and 7.5 follow the same shape:
- `internal/auth/oidc/logging_test.go` - token / code / verifier /
state / nonce / cookie / client_secret / alg name absent from
HandleAuthRequest, HandleCallback, alg-rejection, and provider-
load paths.
- `internal/auth/session/service_test.go` - signing-key bytes absent
from cookie-mint + validate paths.
- `internal/auth/breakglass/service_test.go` - plaintext password +
Argon2id hash absent from every audit row + log line +
HTTP-response shape (json:"-" probe via `json.Marshal`).
The `details` JSONB column on `audit_events` runs through
Bundle-6's redactor (`internal/service/audit_redact.go`) before
persistence; the redactor's allow-list is conservative enough that
adding a new token-shaped field to a new audit row defaults to
redacted, not leaked.
## Threats Bundle 1 does NOT close (Bundle 2 closure status)
The list below was the Bundle-1-era deferred-threats catalogue.
Status updated 2026-05-10 to reflect what Bundle 2 closed and what
remains deferred. **The label "Bundle 1 does NOT close" is preserved
for historical traceability**; readers should consult the marker at
the end of each item for current status.
1. **OIDC / SAML / WebAuthn federation** - ✅ OIDC closed (Bundle 2
Phases 1-7); SAML deferred to v3; WebAuthn deferred to v3
(Decision 12 - WebAuthn pairs with break-glass for hardware-
token-MFA). The break-glass path (Phase 7.5) is a partial
mitigation for the no-MFA case during SSO incidents.
2. **Session management** - ✅ closed (Bundle 2 Phases 4 + 6). HMAC-
signed `certctl_session` cookie with length-prefixed wire format,
1h idle / 8h absolute expiry, scheduler-driven GC, server-side
revocation list (delete the row), GUI's "Sessions" page surfaces
own + all-actor revocation, back-channel logout from the IdP.
3. **Local password accounts (break-glass)** - ✅ closed (Bundle 2
Phase 7.5). Argon2id + lockout + default-OFF + 404-not-403
surface invisibility. NOT for general human auth - only the
"SSO is broken, need admin access right now" path. WebAuthn
pairing on the v3 roadmap.
4. **Time-bound role grants / JIT elevation** - **still deferred to
v3.** The schema still reserves `actor_roles.expires_at` with no
UI/API to set it. Bundle 2 introduces session-level idle/absolute
expiry but does not propagate that to role grants.
5. **MFA / hardware tokens for the operator console** - ⚠️ partial
closure. WebAuthn / FIDO2 second factor remains v3 (Decision 12).
Bundle 2's break-glass (Phase 7.5) provides a separate password
factor that operators can pair with OIDC, but it's not a true
second factor on the OIDC login path - the OIDC IdP remains the
sole token source on the federation path.
6. **Rate limiting on the bootstrap endpoint** - acceptable
(one-shot by construction; per-IP rate limiting on the broader
API is in place via Bundle C's `middleware.NewRateLimiter`).
Bundle 2 adds the same rate-limit primitive to the break-glass
`/auth/breakglass/login` endpoint at 5/min.
7. **`scope_id` FK enforcement** - **still deferred.** Operators can
grant a permission at scope `profile`/`p-bogus` without the
bogus profile existing. The gate still works (no rows match at
request time) but a strict 404 on grant would be cleaner.
`TODO(bundle-2)` comment is now `TODO(v3)`.
8. **OIDC-first-admin bootstrap** - ✅ closed (Bundle 2 Phase 7).
`CERTCTL_BOOTSTRAP_ADMIN_GROUPS` + `CERTCTL_BOOTSTRAP_OIDC_PROVIDER_ID`
env vars + group-scoped + admin-existence-probe.
9. **GUI E2E suite via Playwright** - **still deferred** to a
follow-on bundle. The Phase 8 GUI ships 28 new Vitest unit-test
cases (5 new test files); full Playwright E2E for the 15 flow
checks from the Bundle 2 prompt's Phase 8 (auth-code login +
group-claim parsing + revoke-revokes-session + JWKS rotation +
etc.) is the operator's call on whether to land before tag.
## Threats Bundle 2 does NOT close
These are the v3 / future-work deferrals at the post-Bundle-2 mark:
1. **WebAuthn / FIDO2 second factor** - operator console is OIDC
(or break-glass password) only. No hardware-token requirement
even on the admin path. Decision 12.
2. **Time-bound role grants / JIT elevation** - the
`actor_roles.expires_at` column exists, no UI/API yet.
3. **SAML federation** - OIDC only. Operators on SAML-only IdPs use
the broker pattern (run Keycloak as a SAML-to-OIDC bridge); see
the Google Workspace runbook for the same broker shape.
4. **Multi-tenant data isolation activation** - the schema and
repository layer carry tenant_id columns + the Phase 13 query-
coverage CI guard, but tenant ACLs are not enforced. Bundle 2
ships single-tenant only (`t-default` seeded). The managed-
service hosting work (operator decision item) is where multi-
tenant flips on.
5. **HSM / FIPS-validated signing key for sessions** - the session
signing key is software-only (HMAC-SHA256, in-memory key
material, encrypted at rest via `internal/crypto`). Operators
in FIPS 140-3 environments need to supply their own
`Signer` implementation; the abstraction at
`internal/crypto/signer/` accommodates this but no PKCS#11
driver ships yet.
6. **OIDC RP-initiated logout** (the "/end_session_endpoint" flow
where certctl signs a logout token + redirects the browser to
the IdP). Bundle 2 implements ONLY the back-channel flow (IdP →
certctl). Operators wanting the full bidirectional logout pair
wait on a follow-on bundle.
7. **GUI E2E via Playwright** - tracked alongside #9 above.
8. **Per-IdP runbook external-tester sign-off** - encouraged via
the operator-sign-off footers in `oidc-runbooks/*.md` but NOT a
merge gate (operator decision 2026-05-10; the earlier
"≥ 2 external testers" requirement was retired).
## Compliance mapping
The control set in this document supports the following
framework requirements. This is a mapping; it is not a claim of
formal certification.
- **SOC 2 CC6.1** (logical access controls) - RBAC primitive
with role-based gating on every mutating endpoint.
- **SOC 2 CC6.3** (privileged access management) - `r-admin`
role separation + role-grant audit trail with two-person
integrity on approval-tier profile edits.
- **HIPAA §164.312(b)** (audit controls) - `event_category`
column lets the auditor role review authentication / authorization
changes specifically. WORM trigger keeps the audit table
append-only at the database layer.
- **NIST SSDF PO.5.2** (separation of duties) - two-person
integrity for compliance-tier issuance via the
`RequiresApproval` flow + Bundle 1 Phase 9's closure of the
flip-flop bypass.
- **FedRAMP AU-9** (audit information protection) - WORM
enforcement + auditor-only read access (the auditor role
cannot mutate, the WORM trigger blocks UPDATE/DELETE).
- **PCI-DSS §10** (audit logging) - every mutating operation
emits an audit row with actor + action + resource + timestamp +
category. The audit table is append-only.
## Operator-facing checks
Run these periodically to verify the controls are working.
1. `certctl-cli auth keys list` - confirm no unexpected actor
holds `r-admin`. Audit any new admin grants against the audit
log.
2. `SELECT actor, action, COUNT(*) FROM audit_events WHERE
action LIKE 'approval_%' AND timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '7
days' GROUP BY actor, action;` - confirm approvals are
happening and not concentrated in a single approver.
3. `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM audit_events WHERE actor =
'system-bypass';` - MUST return 0 in production. A non-zero
count means `CERTCTL_APPROVAL_BYPASS=true` was set; production
deploys MUST leave it unset.
4. `SELECT actor, COUNT(*) FROM audit_events WHERE action =
'bootstrap.consume';` - MUST return at most one row per
tenant. Multiple rows means the bootstrap endpoint was called
more than once, which the strategy's one-shot guard should
have prevented; investigate.
5. `certctl-cli auth me` while authenticated as the auditor
key - `effective_permissions` must contain `audit.read` +
`audit.export` ONLY. Any other permission means a role grant
widened the auditor's surface; revoke immediately.
The following checks are NEW with Bundle 2:
6. `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM oidc_providers;` - confirm only the
expected providers are configured. An unexpected row is a
compromise indicator. Cross-check with the
`auth.oidc_provider_created` audit row to find when + by whom.
7. `SELECT actor_id, COUNT(*) FROM sessions WHERE NOT revoked AND
absolute_expires_at > NOW() GROUP BY actor_id ORDER BY 2 DESC;`
- confirm no actor has an unexpectedly large session count.
Multi-session-per-actor is normal (laptop + phone), but a single
actor with 50+ active sessions is a compromised-key signal.
8. `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM audit_events WHERE action LIKE
'auth.oidc_login_unmapped_groups' AND timestamp > NOW() -
INTERVAL '7 days';` - non-zero rows mean users are completing
IdP authentication but failing the group-mapping step. Either
the IdP renamed a group, or an unauthorized user attempted
access. Investigate.
9. `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM audit_events WHERE action LIKE
'auth.breakglass_%' AND timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '7 days';`
- non-zero rows in steady state mean break-glass is being used
outside an SSO incident OR was left enabled. Confirm
`CERTCTL_BREAKGLASS_ENABLED` is `false` in non-incident windows.
10. `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM audit_events WHERE action =
'bootstrap.oidc_first_admin';` - MUST return at most one row
per tenant. Multiple rows means the OIDC bootstrap hook fired
more than once per tenant, which the admin-existence probe
should have prevented; investigate.
11. `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM session_signing_keys WHERE retired_at IS
NOT NULL AND retired_at < NOW() - INTERVAL '7 days';` - retired
keys past the retention window should have been GC'd. Non-zero
rows mean the scheduler's `sessionGCLoop` is wedged.
## Cross-references
Bundle 1 (RBAC) anchors:
- [`rbac.md`](rbac.md) - the operator how-to
- [`security.md`](security.md) - the wider security posture
- [`approval-workflow.md`](approval-workflow.md) - the two-person
integrity gate
- [`docs/migration/api-keys-to-rbac.md`](../migration/api-keys-to-rbac.md) -
upgrade flow
- `internal/auth/` - middleware + keystore + RequirePermission +
bootstrap
- `internal/service/auth/` - Authorizer + privilege-escalation
guard + reserved-actor guard
- `migrations/000029_rbac.up.sql` - schema + seed
- `migrations/000030_rbac_admin_perms.up.sql` - five admin-only
fine-grained perms
- `migrations/000032_audit_category.up.sql` - auditor surface
- `migrations/000033_approval_kinds.up.sql` - approval-bypass
closure
Bundle 2 (OIDC + sessions + back-channel logout + break-glass) anchors:
- [`oidc-runbooks/index.md`](oidc-runbooks/index.md) - per-IdP setup
guides (Keycloak / Authentik / Okta / Auth0 / Entra ID / Google
Workspace) with cross-IdP recurring concepts at the top
- `internal/auth/oidc/` - OIDC service (HandleAuthRequest /
HandleCallback / RefreshKeys), hand-rolled groupclaim resolver,
alg allow-list, IdP downgrade-attack defense
- `internal/auth/session/` - session service (length-prefixed HMAC,
cookie minting, idle/absolute expiry, signing-key rotation, GC),
CSRF middleware, chained-auth combinator
- `internal/auth/breakglass/` - default-OFF break-glass admin
(Argon2id + lockout + constant-time + surface-invisibility)
- `internal/auth/oidc/testfixtures/` - Phase 10 Keycloak
testcontainers harness (`//go:build integration`)
- `migrations/000034_oidc_providers.up.sql` - OIDC providers +
group-role mappings tables
- `migrations/000035_sessions.up.sql` - sessions + session-signing-
keys tables
- `migrations/000036_users.up.sql` - users (federated-human
identity) table
- `migrations/000037_oidc_pre_login.up.sql` - pre-login table + 7
new auth permissions
- `migrations/000038_breakglass_credentials.up.sql` - break-glass
credentials table + 2 new permissions
- `scripts/ci-guards/N-bundle-2-security-empty-preserved.sh` -
OpenAPI security: [] count guard
- `scripts/ci-guards/bundle-1-compat-regression.sh` -
Bundle-1-only-compat assertions (5 invariants)
- `scripts/ci-guards/bundle-1-to-2-upgrade-regression.sh` -
upgrade-path assertions (6 invariants)