mirror of
https://github.com/shankar0123/certctl.git
synced 2026-06-07 18:01:37 +00:00
shankar0123
36840ddd01
Bundle 5 closure (2026-05-13 acquisition diligence audit). 13-finding
security audit pass across the auth / OIDC / MCP / API / browser-
security surface. Five real closures shipped in code, two false-as-
stated findings annotated with the existing implementation, three
operator-decision items documented for v3 follow-up, three doc-only
fixes (auth architecture narrative aligned with shipped OIDC).
Source findings closed (code):
S1 break-glass /auth/breakglass/login lacked the documented
5/min per-source-IP rate limit; handler now owns its own
SlidingWindowLimiter wired at startup. Doc claim turns true.
R6 OIDC test_discovery JWKS probe ran on http.DefaultClient;
now uses an http.Client whose transport wraps
validation.SafeHTTPDialContext. JWKS URI can no longer
pivot into reserved-address ranges via DNS rebinding.
R7 Slack + Teams notifiers built http.Client without the SSRF
dial-time guard. Both New() constructors now install
validation.SafeHTTPDialContext; webhook URLs (operator-
configured via dynamic-config GUI) cannot dial 169.254.x or
in-cluster reserved ranges. Test seam: newForTest bypasses
the guard for httptest's 127.0.0.1 binds, mirroring the
existing internal/connector/notifier/webhook pattern.
RT-L2 CERTCTL_ACME_INSECURE=true now emits a prominent
logger.Warn at server boot. Pre-Bundle-5 the knob silently
disabled ACME directory TLS verification.
Source findings closed (doc):
finding 1 + HIGH-5 Architecture doc claimed no in-process JWT/
OIDC/mTLS/SAML and pointed everyone at the
authenticating-gateway pattern. Auth Bundle 2
(commit dea5053) shipped native OIDC + sessions +
break-glass. New §"In-process authentication surface"
table (api-key / oidc / none) supersedes the old framing;
"Authenticating-gateway pattern (SAML, mTLS-as-auth,
LDAP)" section retained for protocols certctl still
doesn't ship natively.
Source findings verified false (existing implementation):
S4 OIDC email-domain allowlist — `email_domain_test.go`
already pins the strict-equality semantics (subdomain not
auto-accepted, multi-entry no-match path, empty allowlist
accepts all by-design per RFC 9700 §4.1.1).
SEC-L1 CSP / HSTS / referrer-policy headers — already shipped at
internal/api/middleware/securityheaders.go and wired at
cmd/server/main.go L2003+L2027+L2115.
Operator-decision / deferred (tracked in bundle-5 closure doc):
S3 CERTCTL_API_KEYS_NAMED parsing is wired, end-to-end
validation is partial. Operator decides: complete the
named-key middleware path or deprecate the syntax.
S5 Audit-middleware best-effort for read paths;
security-critical writes use WithinTx. Operator decides
per-path escalation.
S8 MCP threat model — the binary is a thin protocol bridge,
no privileges of its own; every tool call carries
CERTCTL_API_KEY and is auth'd + RBAC-gated server-side.
Optional CERTCTL_MCP_READ_ONLY gate tracked as v3.
SEC-H1 2026-05-10 audit CRIT-1/2/4 already closed on master;
CRIT-3/5 status against the spec folder is operator-
workstation-validation-only. Documented for follow-up.
SEC-L2 WebAuthn / FIDO2 / step-up — already documented in
docs/operator/auth-threat-model.md "Threats Bundle 2 does
NOT close". v3 work item per CLAUDE.md decision 12.
Full per-finding rationale + receipts at
docs/operator/security-bundle-5-audit-closure.md.
Verification:
gofmt -l # clean
go vet ./internal/connector/notifier/slack
./internal/connector/notifier/teams ./internal/auth/oidc
./internal/api/handler ./cmd/server # clean
go build ./cmd/server [...] # clean
go test -short -count=1 ./internal/connector/notifier/slack
./internal/connector/notifier/teams ./internal/api/handler
./internal/auth/oidc ./internal/config # PASS
# (slack 0.028s + teams
# 0.023s + handler 11.0s;
# newForTest seam keeps
# httptest tests green)
Audit-Closes: BUNDLE-5 S1 R6 R7 RT-L2 finding-1 HIGH-5
Audit-Verifies-False: S4 SEC-L1
Audit-Defers: S3 S5 S8 SEC-H1 SEC-L2
certctl Documentation
Last reviewed: 2026-05-12
The full docs index, organized by audience. Pick the section that matches what you need to do; each link below opens a focused doc rather than a wall of text.
For the elevator pitch and quickstart commands, see the repo README.md at the root. For the marketing site, see certctl.io.
Getting Started
You're new to certctl, just cloned the repo, or want to understand what it does before installing.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Concepts | TLS certificates explained for beginners — CAs, ACME, EST, private keys, the full glossary |
| Quickstart | Five-minute setup with Docker Compose, dashboard tour, API tour |
| Examples | Five turnkey scenarios — ACME+NGINX, wildcard DNS-01, private CA+Traefik, step-ca+HAProxy, multi-issuer |
| Advanced demo | End-to-end certificate lifecycle with technical depth at each step |
| Why certctl | Positioning vs ACME clients, agent-based SaaS, enterprise platforms; when to look elsewhere |
Reference
You're operating certctl in production or building integrations and need authoritative technical detail.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Architecture | System design, data flow, security model, deployment topologies |
| Profiles | CertificateProfile policy object — issuer wiring, EKUs, RequiresApproval gate (with profile-edit closure) |
| API | OpenAPI 3.1 spec, integration patterns, client SDK generation |
| CLI | certctl-cli command reference and CI/CD integration patterns |
| Configuration | CERTCTL_* environment variable reference (scheduler, rate limits, deploy verify, audit, agent) |
| MCP server | Model Context Protocol integration for AI assistants |
| Release verification | Cosign / SLSA / SBOM verification procedure |
| Intermediate CA hierarchy | Multi-level CA tree management — RFC 5280 §3.2/§4.2.1.9/§4.2.1.10 enforcement |
| Auth standards implemented | RFC + CWE evidence for the API-key + RBAC + OIDC + sessions + break-glass surface (NOT a compliance-mapping doc) |
| Deployment model | Atomic write, post-deploy verify, rollback semantics across all targets |
| Vendor matrix | Tested vendor versions per target connector |
Connectors
The connector index is the canonical catalog (interfaces, registry, scanners, plus an inline reference per built-in). Per-connector deep-dive siblings cover operator-grade material — vendor edges, troubleshooting, rotation playbooks, when-to-use vs alternatives.
Issuers (13 deep-dives): ACME · ADCS · AWS ACM Private CA · DigiCert · EJBCA / Keyfactor · Entrust · GlobalSign Atlas HVCA · Google CAS · Local CA · OpenSSL / Custom CA · Sectigo SCM · step-ca / Smallstep · Vault PKI
Targets (15 deep-dives): Apache · AWS Certificate Manager · Azure Key Vault · Caddy · Envoy · F5 BIG-IP · HAProxy · IIS · Java Keystore · Kubernetes Secrets · NGINX · Postfix / Dovecot · SSH (agentless) · Traefik · Windows Certificate Store
Protocols
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| ACME server | Run certctl as an RFC 8555 + RFC 9773 ARI ACME server |
| ACME server threat model | Security posture for the ACME server endpoint |
| SCEP server | RFC 8894 native SCEP server — RA cert config, multi-profile dispatch, must-staple, mTLS sibling route |
| SCEP for Microsoft Intune | Intune-specific deployment guide — NDES replacement playbook |
| EST server | RFC 7030 EST server — 802.1X / Wi-Fi enrollment, IoT bootstrap, channel binding |
| CRL & OCSP | RFC 5280 CRL + RFC 6960 OCSP responder for relying parties |
| Async CA polling | Bounded polling for async-CA issuer connectors |
Operator
You're running certctl in production and need operational guidance.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Security posture | Auth, rate limits, encryption at rest, key rotation, RBAC + OIDC + sessions + break-glass, bootstrap |
| RBAC operator reference | Roles, permissions, scopes, scope-down + day-0 bootstrap |
| Auth threat model | API-key + RBAC + OIDC + sessions + break-glass — token forgery, session hijacking, IdP compromise, role-grant abuse, bootstrap-token leak, audit-mutation |
| OIDC / SSO runbooks | Per-IdP setup guides — Keycloak, Authentik, Okta, Auth0, Entra ID, Google Workspace |
| Control plane TLS | Self-signed bootstrap, operator-supplied Secret, cert-manager Certificate CR |
| Database TLS | PostgreSQL transport encryption |
| Approval workflow | Two-person integrity gate for high-stakes issuance + profile-edit closure |
| Helm deployment | Kubernetes installation via the bundled chart |
| Performance baselines | Operator-runnable benchmarks for regression spot checks |
| Auth benchmarks | Session + OIDC validation p99 targets and measured baselines |
| Scheduler HA semantics | Per-loop HA truth table for the 15 scheduler loops; what duplicates on multi-replica |
| Rate-limit scope | Process-local vs cluster-wide rate-limit behavior, restart semantics, multi-replica mental math |
| Legacy clients (TLS 1.2) | Reverse-proxy runbook for embedded EST/SCEP clients on TLS 1.2 |
Runbooks
| Runbook | When |
|---|---|
| Cloud targets | AWS ACM + Azure Key Vault deployment, debugging, rollback |
| Expiry alerts | Per-policy multi-channel routing matrix, severity tiers |
| Disaster recovery | CRL cache, OCSP responder cert, CA private-key rotation, Postgres restore |
Migration
You're moving from another cert-management tool to certctl, or running both in parallel.
| From | Doc |
|---|---|
| Certbot | migration/from-certbot.md |
| acme.sh | migration/from-acmesh.md |
| cert-manager (coexistence, not replacement) | migration/cert-manager-coexistence.md |
| Caddy ACME (point Caddy at certctl) | migration/acme-from-caddy.md |
| cert-manager ACME (point cert-manager at certctl) | migration/acme-from-cert-manager.md |
| Traefik ACME (point Traefik at certctl) | migration/acme-from-traefik.md |
| API keys → RBAC (v2.0.x → v2.1.0) | migration/api-keys-to-rbac.md — AUDIT YOUR API KEYS post-upgrade |
| Enable OIDC SSO | migration/oidc-enable.md — step-by-step OIDC onboarding for an existing API-key + RBAC deployment |
Contributor
You're contributing to certctl, running tests locally, or trying to understand the CI pipeline.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Testing strategy | What we test and why; per-PR fast gates vs daily deep-scan |
| Test environment | Local environment with real CAs (Pebble, step-ca, etc.) |
| QA prerequisites | Before running QA: stack boot, demo data baseline, env vars |
| QA test suite | qa_test.go reference for release QA |
| GUI QA checklist | Manual GUI verification pass for release |
| Release sign-off | Release-day checklist — code state, automated gates, manual QA, artefact verification |
| CI pipeline | CI shape, regression guards, adding new checks |
| CI guards | Per-class CI guards (code-shape, contract-parity, build/dep, operational); how to add one |
Archive
Historical docs preserved for reference. Most operators don't need these.
| Doc | Why archived |
|---|---|
| Upgrade to TLS (v2.2) | Pre-v2.2 HTTPS-everywhere upgrade procedure |
| Upgrade past v2 JWT removal | G-1 milestone JWT auth removal procedure |
Reading order by role
First-time operator: Concepts → Quickstart → Examples. About 90 minutes end to end.
Production operator: Architecture → Security posture → Control plane TLS → Disaster recovery runbook. About 4 hours end to end.
PKI engineer: ACME server → SCEP server → EST server → Intermediate CA hierarchy. About 6 hours end to end.
Contributor: Architecture → Testing strategy → Test environment → CI pipeline. About 3 hours end to end.