Files
certctl/internal/connector/issuer/vault/vault_renew.go
T
shankar0123 0792271dc6 vault: add automatic token renewal at TTL/2 + Prometheus metric
Closes Top-10 fix #5 of the 2026-05-03 issuer-coverage audit (see
cowork/issuer-coverage-audit-2026-05-03/RESULTS.md). Pre-fix, the
VaultPKI adapter authenticated with a static token and never called
renew-self. Long-lived deploys hit token expiry; the first
operator-visible signal was failed cert renewals on production
targets.

This commit:

  1. Connector.Start(ctx) spawns a goroutine that calls
     POST /v1/auth/token/renew-self at TTL/2 cadence (computed from a
     one-shot lookup-self at startup). Honours ctx.Done() for
     graceful shutdown via a per-loop done channel + Stop().
  2. On `renewable: false` response (initial lookup OR any subsequent
     renewal), the loop emits a WARN, increments the not_renewable
     counter, and exits. The operator must rotate the token before
     Vault's Max TTL elapses.
  3. New Prometheus counter certctl_vault_token_renewals_total with
     labels result={success,failure,not_renewable}. Registered
     alongside existing certctl_issuance_* counters in
     internal/api/handler/metrics.go.
  4. ERROR-level logging on renewal failure with operator-actionable
     substring ("vault token renewal failed; rotate the token before
     TTL expires") so journalctl + grep find it. Loop keeps ticking
     after a failure — transient blips don't kill it.

New optional issuer.Lifecycle interface:

  type Lifecycle interface {
      Start(ctx context.Context) error
      Stop()
  }

Connectors that hold no background goroutines (almost all of them)
do not implement this — IssuerRegistry.StartLifecycles /
StopLifecycles feature-detect via type assertion. New
lifecycle-bearing connectors plug in by implementing the interface;
no further registry plumbing required.

Wiring (cmd/server/main.go):

  - service.NewVaultRenewalMetrics() instance is shared between
    issuerRegistry.SetVaultRenewalMetrics (so Vault connectors built
    by Rebuild get a recorder) and metricsHandler.SetVaultRenewals
    (so the Prometheus exposer emits the new series).
  - issuerRegistry.StartLifecycles(ctx) is called after
    issuerService.BuildRegistry; defer issuerRegistry.StopLifecycles
    is paired so goroutines exit cleanly on signal.
  - IssuerConnectorAdapter.Underlying() exposes the wrapped
    issuer.Connector so registry-level machinery can reach the
    concrete connector behind the adapter without duplicating the
    wiring at every call site.

Tests (internal/connector/issuer/vault/vault_renew_test.go):

  - TestVault_RenewLoop_TickAtHalfTTL — three ticks → three
    renewals, all "success".
  - TestVault_RenewLoop_StopsOnNotRenewable — second renewal returns
    renewable=false, loop exits, third tick fires no HTTP call.
  - TestVault_RenewLoop_FailureSurfacesViaMetric — first renewal 403
    bumps "failure", second renewal succeeds → loop kept ticking.
  - TestVault_RenewLoop_CtxCancellation_StopsCleanly — Stop returns
    within 200ms after ctx cancel.
  - TestVault_RenewLoop_StartsNothingWhenNotRenewable — token
    already non-renewable at boot ⇒ no goroutine, "not_renewable"
    metric increments at startup so operators see it in Grafana.
  - TestVault_ComputeInterval — 4 cases pinning TTL/2 +
    minRenewInterval floor.
  - TestVault_RenewSelf_ParseFailure_NamesActionableInError —
    surfaced error contains "vault token renewal failed" + "rotate
    the token".

Cadence is dynamic — every successful renewal re-derives TTL/2
from the renewed lease's lease_duration, so a short bootstrap
token that gets renewed up to a longer Max TTL shifts to the
longer cadence automatically (defends against degenerate fast
ticking on a token whose Max TTL is far longer than its initial
TTL).

Documentation:
  - docs/connectors.md Vault PKI section gains "Token TTL +
    automatic renewal" subsection (operator-facing: cadence, metric,
    renewable=false rotation playbook).

Out of scope (intentional, flagged in the audit follow-up):
  - AppRole / Kubernetes / AWS IAM auth methods (different renewal
    semantics).
  - Hot-reload of rotated token from disk (operator restarts
    today; future: GUI/MCP issuer-update path triggers Rebuild
    which Stops the old connector and Starts the new one).
  - Auto-re-auth after token death (operator playbook owns it).

CHANGELOG.md is intentionally not hand-edited (per CHANGELOG.md
itself: "no longer maintains a hand-edited per-version changelog;
per-release notes are auto-generated from commit messages between
consecutive tags").

Verified locally:
- gofmt clean.
- go vet ./internal/service/... ./internal/api/handler/...
  ./internal/connector/issuer/vault/... ./cmd/server/...  clean.
- go test -short -count=1 ./internal/connector/issuer/vault/...
  ./internal/service/... ./internal/api/handler/...  green.
- go test -race -count=10 -run 'TestVault_RenewLoop|TestVault_ComputeInterval'
  ./internal/connector/issuer/vault/...  green.

Audit reference: cowork/issuer-coverage-audit-2026-05-03/RESULTS.md
Top-10 fix #5.
2026-05-03 21:24:27 +00:00

411 lines
14 KiB
Go

package vault
// Top-10 fix #5 of the 2026-05-03 issuer-coverage audit. Pre-fix,
// Vault PKI authenticated via a static token and never called
// renew-self; long-lived deploys hit token expiry and started failing
// silently — the operator's first signal was failed renewals on
// production targets. This file adds:
//
// 1. Connector.Start(ctx) — spawns a goroutine that calls
// POST /v1/auth/token/renew-self at TTL/2 cadence (computed
// from a one-shot LookupSelf at startup).
// 2. Connector.Stop() — cancels the goroutine's context and blocks
// until it has exited. Idempotent.
// 3. Connector.renewSelf(ctx) — the per-tick HTTP call.
// 4. Connector.lookupSelf(ctx) — a one-shot startup probe to learn
// the current TTL + renewable flag.
//
// On a `renewable: false` response, the loop logs a WARN and exits
// cleanly; once Vault has decided the token is no longer renewable
// (typically Max TTL reached), retrying is what gets certctl-server
// flagged in the Vault audit log as a misbehaving client.
import (
"bytes"
"context"
"encoding/json"
"fmt"
"io"
"net/http"
"time"
"github.com/shankar0123/certctl/internal/connector/issuer"
)
// minRenewInterval guards against degenerate fast cadence when a
// misconfigured Vault returns a tiny TTL. 5s is short enough that
// the cap rarely fires in practice but long enough that we don't
// hammer Vault's audit log with renew-self calls if something goes
// sideways. Defensive only; production tokens always have TTL ≥ 30m.
const minRenewInterval = 5 * time.Second
// RenewalRecorder is the metric-sink surface the renew-self loop
// uses. result is one of: "success", "failure", "not_renewable".
// Implementations MUST be goroutine-safe — RecordRenewal is called
// from the renewal loop's own goroutine.
//
// service.VaultRenewalMetrics satisfies this interface; cmd/server
// wires the same instance into the registry (which forwards to the
// connector via SetRenewalRecorder) and into the metrics handler
// (for Prometheus exposition).
type RenewalRecorder interface {
RecordRenewal(result string)
}
// noopRenewalRecorder is the zero-cost default. Used until
// SetRenewalRecorder wires a real metric sink (production) or in
// unit tests that don't care about metrics.
type noopRenewalRecorder struct{}
func (noopRenewalRecorder) RecordRenewal(string) {}
// renewTicker is the small surface the renewal loop uses from
// time.Ticker, extracted so tests can swap in a deterministic
// implementation that fires on cue. Production: time.NewTicker.
type renewTicker interface {
C() <-chan time.Time
Stop()
}
// stdTicker is the production implementation, a thin wrapper around
// *time.Ticker that exposes its C channel via a method so it
// satisfies the renewTicker interface (channels can't be method
// values directly).
type stdTicker struct{ t *time.Ticker }
func (s stdTicker) C() <-chan time.Time { return s.t.C }
func (s stdTicker) Stop() { s.t.Stop() }
// lookupSelfResponse is the subset of /v1/auth/token/lookup-self we
// consume. Vault returns many other fields (policies, accessor, …)
// that are irrelevant to the renewal loop.
type lookupSelfResponse struct {
Data struct {
TTL int `json:"ttl"` // seconds remaining on the token
Renewable bool `json:"renewable"` // whether the token can be renewed
} `json:"data"`
}
// renewSelfResponse is the subset of /v1/auth/token/renew-self we
// consume. Per Vault's HTTP API, the renewed token's lease info
// lands in `auth.lease_duration` and `auth.renewable`.
type renewSelfResponse struct {
Auth struct {
LeaseDuration int `json:"lease_duration"`
Renewable bool `json:"renewable"`
} `json:"auth"`
}
// lookupSelf calls GET /v1/auth/token/lookup-self and returns the
// remaining TTL + the renewable flag. Used by Start to compute the
// initial tick cadence.
func (c *Connector) lookupSelf(ctx context.Context) (ttl time.Duration, renewable bool, err error) {
if c.config == nil || c.config.Token.IsEmpty() {
return 0, false, fmt.Errorf("vault token-renewal lookupSelf: token not configured")
}
url := c.config.Addr + "/v1/auth/token/lookup-self"
req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, url, nil)
if err != nil {
return 0, false, fmt.Errorf("vault token-renewal lookupSelf request build: %w", err)
}
if err := c.config.Token.Use(func(buf []byte) error {
req.Header.Set("X-Vault-Token", string(buf))
return nil
}); err != nil {
return 0, false, fmt.Errorf("vault token-renewal lookupSelf token use: %w", err)
}
resp, err := c.renewClient.Do(req)
if err != nil {
return 0, false, fmt.Errorf("vault token-renewal lookupSelf HTTP: %w", err)
}
defer resp.Body.Close()
body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
if err != nil {
return 0, false, fmt.Errorf("vault token-renewal lookupSelf body read: %w", err)
}
if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
return 0, false, fmt.Errorf("vault token-renewal lookupSelf returned status %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, string(body))
}
var parsed lookupSelfResponse
if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &parsed); err != nil {
return 0, false, fmt.Errorf("vault token-renewal lookupSelf parse: %w", err)
}
return time.Duration(parsed.Data.TTL) * time.Second, parsed.Data.Renewable, nil
}
// renewSelfResult is returned by renewSelf — it lets the loop both
// update the in-memory TTL AND react to a renewable=false flip on
// the same call without an extra round-trip.
type renewSelfResult struct {
NewTTL time.Duration
Renewable bool
}
// renewSelf calls POST /v1/auth/token/renew-self with an empty body
// (Vault accepts `{}`) and returns the renewed lease's TTL +
// renewable flag. The caller is responsible for stopping the loop
// when Renewable goes false.
func (c *Connector) renewSelf(ctx context.Context) (renewSelfResult, error) {
if c.config == nil || c.config.Token.IsEmpty() {
return renewSelfResult{}, fmt.Errorf("vault token renewal failed: token not configured; rotate the token before TTL expires")
}
url := c.config.Addr + "/v1/auth/token/renew-self"
req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, url, bytes.NewReader([]byte(`{}`)))
if err != nil {
return renewSelfResult{}, fmt.Errorf("vault token renewal failed: request build: %w; rotate the token before TTL expires", err)
}
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
if err := c.config.Token.Use(func(buf []byte) error {
req.Header.Set("X-Vault-Token", string(buf))
return nil
}); err != nil {
return renewSelfResult{}, fmt.Errorf("vault token renewal failed: token use: %w; rotate the token before TTL expires", err)
}
resp, err := c.renewClient.Do(req)
if err != nil {
return renewSelfResult{}, fmt.Errorf("vault token renewal failed: HTTP error: %w; rotate the token before TTL expires", err)
}
defer resp.Body.Close()
body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
if err != nil {
return renewSelfResult{}, fmt.Errorf("vault token renewal failed: body read: %w; rotate the token before TTL expires", err)
}
if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
return renewSelfResult{}, fmt.Errorf("vault token renewal failed: status %d: %s; rotate the token before TTL expires", resp.StatusCode, string(body))
}
var parsed renewSelfResponse
if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &parsed); err != nil {
return renewSelfResult{}, fmt.Errorf("vault token renewal failed: parse: %w; rotate the token before TTL expires", err)
}
return renewSelfResult{
NewTTL: time.Duration(parsed.Auth.LeaseDuration) * time.Second,
Renewable: parsed.Auth.Renewable,
}, nil
}
// Start kicks off the renew-self goroutine. Implements
// issuer.Lifecycle. Returns nil on success (goroutine running) or an
// error if the initial lookupSelf failed (no goroutine spawned).
//
// Cadence is computed once at startup as TTL/2 (capped at
// minRenewInterval). Each successful renewal updates the in-memory
// TTL and the goroutine resets its ticker to the new TTL/2 — so a
// short bootstrap token that gets renewed up to a longer Max TTL
// shifts to the longer cadence automatically.
//
// On `renewable: false` (initial lookup OR any subsequent renewal),
// Start returns nil but the loop emits a WARN and exits — operator
// must rotate the Vault token before its current TTL expires.
func (c *Connector) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
c.renewMu.Lock()
if c.renewStarted {
c.renewMu.Unlock()
return nil // idempotent: already running
}
if c.config == nil || c.config.Token.IsEmpty() {
c.renewMu.Unlock()
return fmt.Errorf("vault token-renewal Start: token not configured (call ValidateConfig first)")
}
c.renewMu.Unlock()
// Initial lookup — short timeout so a misconfigured Vault address
// fails Start fast rather than blocking the server's startup
// sequence indefinitely. The renewal goroutine itself uses the
// per-tick context for its own deadlines.
lookupCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 30*time.Second)
ttl, renewable, err := c.lookupSelf(lookupCtx)
cancel()
if err != nil {
return fmt.Errorf("vault token-renewal Start: initial lookupSelf: %w", err)
}
c.logger.Info("vault token-renewal loop starting",
"addr", c.config.Addr,
"ttl_seconds", int(ttl.Seconds()),
"renewable", renewable,
)
if !renewable {
// Don't spawn the goroutine — the token is already non-
// renewable. Surface via the metric so operators see it in
// Grafana even before any tick fires.
c.recordRenewal("not_renewable")
c.logger.Warn("vault token is not renewable at startup; renew-self loop will not run — rotate the token before its TTL expires",
"ttl_seconds", int(ttl.Seconds()),
)
return nil
}
// Spawn the goroutine. Use a derived ctx so Stop() can cancel
// independently of the parent.
loopCtx, loopCancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
done := make(chan struct{})
c.renewMu.Lock()
c.renewStarted = true
c.renewCancel = loopCancel
c.renewDone = done
c.renewMu.Unlock()
interval := computeInterval(ttl)
go c.renewLoop(loopCtx, interval, done)
c.logger.Info("vault token-renewal loop started",
"interval_seconds", int(interval.Seconds()),
)
return nil
}
// Stop blocks until the renew-self goroutine has exited.
// Implements issuer.Lifecycle. Idempotent.
func (c *Connector) Stop() {
c.renewMu.Lock()
cancel := c.renewCancel
done := c.renewDone
started := c.renewStarted
c.renewMu.Unlock()
if !started {
return
}
if cancel != nil {
cancel()
}
if done != nil {
<-done
}
}
// renewLoop is the actual goroutine body. Owns the ticker, the
// in-memory TTL, and the renewable-flag state machine. Exits on
// ctx.Done() or on `renewable: false`.
func (c *Connector) renewLoop(ctx context.Context, initial time.Duration, done chan struct{}) {
defer close(done)
factory := c.renewTickerFactory
if factory == nil {
factory = func(d time.Duration) renewTicker {
return stdTicker{t: time.NewTicker(d)}
}
}
ticker := factory(initial)
currentInterval := initial
defer ticker.Stop()
for {
select {
case <-ctx.Done():
c.logger.Info("vault token-renewal loop stopping (ctx cancelled)")
return
case <-ticker.C():
// Per-tick deadline derived from the current cadence —
// renew calls should comfortably finish in <1s, so a
// budget of min(interval, 30s) is generous.
tickBudget := currentInterval
if tickBudget > 30*time.Second {
tickBudget = 30 * time.Second
}
tickCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, tickBudget)
res, err := c.renewSelf(tickCtx)
cancel()
if err != nil {
c.recordRenewal("failure")
c.logger.Error(err.Error())
// Keep ticking — operator may rotate the token
// out-of-band, or the failure may be transient.
// Stopping on first failure would mean a 1s
// network blip kills the loop for the rest of
// process lifetime.
continue
}
if !res.Renewable {
c.recordRenewal("not_renewable")
c.logger.Warn("vault token is no longer renewable; renew-self loop exiting — rotate the token before its current TTL expires",
"ttl_seconds", int(res.NewTTL.Seconds()),
)
return
}
c.recordRenewal("success")
c.logger.Info("vault token renewed",
"new_ttl_seconds", int(res.NewTTL.Seconds()),
)
// If the new TTL/2 differs meaningfully from the
// current cadence, restart the ticker at the new
// rate. This handles the bootstrap-→-MaxTTL transition
// (short initial TTL renews up to a longer Max TTL,
// which we'd otherwise hammer at the old fast cadence
// for the rest of the process).
newInterval := computeInterval(res.NewTTL)
if differsEnough(currentInterval, newInterval) {
ticker.Stop()
ticker = factory(newInterval)
currentInterval = newInterval
c.logger.Info("vault token-renewal cadence updated",
"new_interval_seconds", int(newInterval.Seconds()),
)
}
}
}
}
// recordRenewal increments the metric counter under the renewal
// recorder. Holds the lock briefly to read the recorder pointer;
// the actual increment happens lock-free (atomic.Uint64 under
// VaultRenewalMetrics).
func (c *Connector) recordRenewal(result string) {
c.renewMu.Lock()
rec := c.renewRecorder
c.renewMu.Unlock()
if rec != nil {
rec.RecordRenewal(result)
}
}
// computeInterval returns TTL/2, floored at minRenewInterval to
// avoid degenerate fast cadence when a misconfigured Vault returns
// a tiny TTL.
func computeInterval(ttl time.Duration) time.Duration {
half := ttl / 2
if half < minRenewInterval {
return minRenewInterval
}
return half
}
// differsEnough decides whether to restart the ticker for a new
// cadence. We tolerate ±10% drift to avoid restart-thrash when
// Vault's renewed-lease duration wobbles around the static TTL.
func differsEnough(a, b time.Duration) bool {
if a == 0 || b == 0 {
return a != b
}
delta := a - b
if delta < 0 {
delta = -delta
}
tol := a / 10
if tol < 0 {
tol = -tol
}
return delta > tol
}
// Compile-time assertion that *Connector satisfies the optional
// Lifecycle extension interface. If a future refactor breaks this
// (e.g. drops Stop), the compile error fires here rather than in a
// far-away registry lookup site.
var _ issuer.Lifecycle = (*Connector)(nil)