Files
git.stella-ops.org/docs/ARCHITECTURE_SIGNER.md
2025-10-18 20:44:59 +03:00

16 KiB
Raw Blame History

component_architecture_signer.md — StellaOps Signer (2025Q4)

Scope. Implementationready architecture for the Signer: the only service allowed to produce StellaOpsverified signatures over SBOMs and reports. It enforces entitlement (PoE), release integrity (scanner provenance), senderconstrained auth (DPoP/mTLS), and emits intoto/DSSE bundles suitable for Rekor v2 logging by the Attestor. Includes APIs, data flow, storage, quotas, security, and test matrices.


0) Mission & boundaries

Mission. Convert authenticated signing requests from trusted StellaOps services into verifiable DSSE bundles while enforcing license policy and supplychain integrity.

Boundaries.

  • Signer does not push to Rekor — it returns DSSE to the caller; Attestor logs to Rekor v2.
  • Signer does not compute PASS/FAIL — it signs SBOMs/reports produced by Scanner/WebService after backend evaluation.
  • Signer is stateless for hot path — longterm storage is limited to audit events; all secrets/keys live in KMS/HSM or are ephemeral (keyless).

1) Responsibilities (contract)

  1. Authenticate caller with OpTok (Authority OIDC, DPoP or mTLSbound).

  2. Authorize scopes (signer.sign) + audience (aud=signer) + tenant/installation.

  3. Validate entitlement via PoE (ProofofEntitlement) against Cloud Licensing /license/introspect.

  4. Verify release integrity of the scanner image digest presented in the request: must be cosignsigned by StellaOps release key, discoverable via OCI Referrers API.

  5. Enforce plan & quotas (concurrency/QPS/artifact size/rate caps).

  6. Mint signing identity:

    • Keyless (default): get a shortlived X.509 cert from Fulcio using the Signers OIDC identity and sign the DSSE.
    • Keyful (optional): sign with an HSM/KMS key.
  7. Return DSSE bundle (subject digests + predicate + cert chain or KMS key id).

  8. Audit every decision; expose metrics.


2) External dependencies

  • Authority (onprem OIDC): validates OpToks (JWKS/introspection) and DPoP/mTLS.
  • Licensing Service (cloud): /license/introspect to verify PoE (active, claims, expiry, revocation).
  • Fulcio (Sigstore) or KMS/HSM: to obtain certs or perform signatures.
  • OCI Registry (Referrers API): to verify scanner image release signature.
  • Attestor: downstream service that writes DSSE bundles to Rekor v2.
  • Config/state stores: Redis (caches, rate buckets), Mongo/Postgres (audit log).

3) API surface (mTLS; DPoP supported)

Base path: /api/v1/signer. All endpoints require:

  • Access token (JWT) from Authority with aud=signer, scope=signer.sign.

  • Sender constraint: DPoP proof per request or mTLS client cert.

  • PoE presented as either:

    • Client TLS cert (if PoE is mTLSstyle) chained to Licensing CA, or
    • PoE JWT (DPoP/mTLSbound) in X-PoE header or request body.

3.1 POST /sign/dsse

Request (JSON):

{
  "subject": [
    { "name": "s3://stellaops/images/sha256:.../inventory.cdx.pb",
      "digest": { "sha256": "..." } }
  ],
  "predicateType": "https://stella-ops.org/attestations/sbom/1",
  "predicate": {
    "image_digest": "sha256:...",
    "stellaops_version": "2.3.1 (2027.04)",
    "license_id": "LIC-9F2A...",
    "customer_id": "CUST-ACME",
    "plan": "pro",
    "policy_digest": "sha256:...",        // optional for final reports
    "views": ["inventory", "usage"],
    "created": "2025-10-17T12:34:56Z"
  },
  "scannerImageDigest": "sha256:sc-web-or-worker-digest",
  "poe": {
    "format": "jwt",                      // or "mtls"
    "value": "eyJhbGciOi..."              // PoE JWT when not using mTLS PoE
  },
  "options": {
    "signingMode": "keyless",             // "keyless" | "kms"
    "expirySeconds": 600,                 // cert lifetime hint (keyless)
    "returnBundle": "dsse+cert"           // dsse (default) | dsse+cert
  }
}

Response 200:

{
  "bundle": {
    "dsse": { "payloadType": "application/vnd.in-toto+json", "payload": "<base64>", "signatures": [ ... ] },
    "certificateChain": [ "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----...", "... root ..." ],
    "mode": "keyless",
    "signingIdentity": { "issuer": "https://fulcio.internal", "san": "urn:stellaops:signer", "certExpiry": "2025-10-17T12:44:56Z" }
  },
  "policy": { "plan": "pro", "maxArtifactBytes": 104857600, "qpsRemaining": 97 },
  "auditId": "a7c9e3f2-1b7a-4e87-8c3a-90d7d2c3ad12"
}

Errors (RFC7807):

  • 401 invalid_token (JWT/DPoP/mTLS failure)
  • 403 entitlement_denied (PoE invalid/revoked/expired; release year mismatch)
  • 403 release_untrusted (scanner image not Stellasigned)
  • 429 plan_throttled (license plan caps)
  • 413 artifact_too_large (size cap)
  • 400 invalid_request (schema/predicate/type invalid)
  • 500 signing_unavailable (Fulcio/KMS outage)

3.2 GET /verify/referrers?imageDigest=<sha256>

Checks whether the image at digest is signed by StellaOps release key.

Response:

{ "trusted": true, "signatures": [ { "type": "cosign", "digest": "sha256:...", "signedBy": "StellaOps Release 2027 Q2" } ] }

Note: This endpoint is also used internally by Signer before issuing signatures.


4) Validation pipeline (hot path)

sequenceDiagram
  autonumber
  participant Client as Scanner.WebService
  participant Auth as Authority (OIDC)
  participant Sign as Signer
  participant Lic as Licensing Service (cloud)
  participant Reg as OCI Registry (Referrers)
  participant Ful as Fulcio/KMS

  Client->>Sign: POST /sign/dsse (OpTok + DPoP/mTLS, PoE, request)
  Note over Sign: 1) Validate OpTok, audience, scope, DPoP/mTLS binding
  Sign->>Lic: /license/introspect(PoE)
  Lic-->>Sign: { active, claims: {license_id, plan, valid_release_year, max_version}, exp }
  Note over Sign: 2) Enforce plan/version window and revocation

  Sign->>Reg: Verify scannerImageDigest signed (Referrers + cosign)
  Reg-->>Sign: OK with signer identity
  Note over Sign: 3) Enforce release integrity

  Note over Sign: 4) Enforce quotas (QPS/concurrency/size)
  Sign->>Ful: Mint cert (keyless) or sign via KMS
  Ful-->>Sign: Cert or signature

  Sign-->>Client: DSSE bundle (+cert chain), policy counters, auditId

DPoP nonce dance (when enabled for highvalue ops):

  • If DPoP proof lacks a valid nonce, Signer replies 401 with WWW-Authenticate: DPoP error="use_dpop_nonce", dpop_nonce="<nonce>".
  • Client retries with new proof including the nonce; Signer validates nonce and jti uniqueness (Redis TTL cache).

5) Entitlement enforcement (PoE)

  • Accepted forms:

    • mTLS PoE: client presents a PoE client cert at TLS handshake; Signer validates chain to Licensing CA (CA bundle configured) and calls /license/introspect with cert thumbprint + serial.
    • JWT PoE: X-PoE bearer token (DPoP/mTLSbound) is validated (sig + cnf) locally (Licensing JWKS) and then introspected for status and claims.
  • Claims required:

    • license_id, plan (free|pro|enterprise|gov), valid_release_year, max_version, exp.
    • Optional: tenant_id, customer_id, entitlements[].
  • Enforcements:

    • Reject if revoked, expired, plan mismatch or release outside window (stellaops_version in predicate exceeds max_version or release date beyond valid_release_year).
    • Apply plan throttles (QPS/concurrency/artifact bytes) via tokenbucket in Redis keyed by license_id.

6) Release integrity (scanner provenance)

  • Input: scannerImageDigest representing the actual Scanner component that produced the artifact.

  • Check:

    1. Use OCI Referrers API to enumerate signatures of that digest.
    2. Verify cosign signatures against the configured StellaOps Release keyring (keyless Fulcio roots or keyful public keys).
    3. Optionally require Rekor inclusion for those signatures.
  • Policy:

    • If not signed by an authorized StellaOps Release identity → deny.
    • If signed but release year > PoE valid_release_yeardeny.
  • Cache: LRU of digest → verification result (TTL 1030min) to avoid registry thrash.


7) Signing modes

7.1 Keyless (default; Sigstore Fulcio)

  • Signer authenticates to Fulcio using its onprem OIDC identity (client credentials) and requests a shortlived cert (510min).
  • Generates ephemeral keypair, gets cert for the public key, signs DSSE with the private key.
  • DSSE bundle includes certificate chain; verifiers validate to Fulcio root.

7.2 Keyful (optional; KMS/HSM)

  • Signer uses a configured KMS key (AWS KMS, GCP KMS, Azure Key Vault, Vault Transit, or HSM).
  • DSSE bundle includes key metadata (kid, cert chain if x509).
  • Recommended for FIPS/sovereign environments.

8) Predicates & schema

Supported predicate types (extensible):

  • https://stella-ops.org/attestations/sbom/1 (SBOM emissions)
  • https://stella-ops.org/attestations/report/1 (final PASS/FAIL reports)
  • https://stella-ops.org/attestations/vex-export/1 (Excititor exports; optional)

Validation:

  • JSONSchema per predicate type; canonical property order.
  • subject[*].digest must include sha256.
  • predicate.stellaops_version must parse and match policy windows.

9) Quotas & throttling

Per license_id (from PoE):

  • QPS (token bucket), concurrency (semaphore), artifact bytes (sliding window).
  • On exceed → 429 plan_throttled with Retry-After.
  • Free/community plan may also receive randomized delay to disincentivize farmed signing.

10) Storage & caches

  • Redis:

    • DPoP nonce & jti replay cache (TTL ≤ 10min).
    • PoE introspection cache (short TTL, e.g., 60120s).
    • Releaseverify cache (scannerImageDigest → { trusted, ts }).
  • Audit store (Mongo or Postgres): signer.audit_events

{ _id, ts, tenantId, installationId, licenseId, customerId,
  plan, actor{sub,cnf}, request{predicateType, subjectSha256[], imageDigest},
  poe{type, thumbprint|jwtKid, exp, introspectSnapshot},
  release{digest, signerId, policy},
  mode: "keyless"|"kms",
  result: "success"|"deny:<reason>"|"error:<reason>",
  bundleSha256? }
  • Config: StellaOps release signing keyring, Fulcio roots, Licensing CA bundle.

11) Security & privacy

  • mTLS on all Signer endpoints.
  • No bearer fallbacks — DPoP/mTLS enforced for aud=signer.
  • PoE is never persisted beyond audit snapshots (minimized fields).
  • Secrets: no longlived private keys on disk (keyless) or handled via KMS APIs.
  • Input hardening: schemavalidate predicates; cap payload sizes; zstd/gzip decompression bombs guarded.
  • Logging: redact PoE JWTs, access tokens, DPoP proofs; log only hashes and identifiers.

12) Metrics & observability

  • signer.requests_total{result}
  • signer.latency_seconds{stage=auth|introspect|release_verify|sign}
  • signer.poe_failures_total{reason}
  • signer.release_verify_failures_total{reason}
  • signer.plan_throttle_total{license_id}
  • signer.bundle_bytes_total
  • signer.keyless_certs_issued_total / signer.kms_sign_total
  • OTEL traces across stages; correlation id (auditId) returned to client.

13) Configuration (YAML)

signer:
  listen: "https://0.0.0.0:8443"
  authority:
    issuer: "https://authority.internal"
    jwksUrl: "https://authority.internal/jwks"
    require: "dpop"         # "dpop" | "mtls"
  poe:
    mode: "both"            # "jwt" | "mtls" | "both"
    licensing:
      introspectUrl: "https://www.stella-ops.org/api/v1/license/introspect"
      caBundle: "/etc/ssl/licensing-ca.pem"
      cacheTtlSeconds: 90
  release:
    referrers:
      allowRekorVerified: true
      keyrings:
        - type: "cosign-keyless"
          fulcioRoots: ["/etc/fulcio/root.pem"]
          identities:
            - san: "mailto:release@stella-ops.org"
            - san: "https://sigstore.dev/oidc/stellaops"
  signing:
    mode: "keyless"         # "keyless" | "kms"
    fulcio:
      issuer: "https://fulcio.internal"
      oidcClientId: "signer"
      oidcClientSecretRef: "env:FULCIO_CLIENT_SECRET"
      certTtlSeconds: 600
    kms:
      provider: "aws-kms"
      keyId: "arn:aws:kms:...:key/..."
  quotas:
    default:
      qps: 100
      concurrency: 20
      maxArtifactBytes: 104857600
    free:
      qps: 5
      concurrency: 1
      maxArtifactBytes: 1048576

14) Testing matrix

  • Auth & DPoP: bad aud, wrong jkt, replayed jti, missing nonce, mTLS mismatch.
  • PoE: expired, revoked, plan mismatch, release year gate, max_version gate.
  • Release verify: unsigned digest, wrong signer, Rekorabsent (when required), referrers unreachable.
  • Signing: Fulcio outage; KMS timeouts; bundle correctness (verifier harness).
  • Quotas: burst above QPS, artifact over size, concurrency overflow.
  • Schema: invalid predicate types/required fields.
  • Determinism: same request → identical DSSE (aside from cert validity period).
  • Perf: P95 endtoend under 120ms with caches warm (excluding network to Fulcio).

15) Failure modes & responses

Failure HTTP Problem type Notes
Invalid OpTok / DPoP 401 invalid_token WWW-Authenticate with DPoP nonce if needed
PoE invalid/revoked 403 entitlement_denied Include license_id (hashed) and reason
Scanner image untrusted 403 release_untrusted Include digest and required identity
Plan throttle 429 plan_throttled Include limits and Retry-After
Artifact too large 413 artifact_too_large Include cap
Fulcio/KMS down 503 signing_unavailable RetryAfter with jitter

16) Deployment & HA

  • Run ≥ 2 replicas; front with L7 LB; sticky not required.
  • Redis for replay/quota caches (HA).
  • Audit sink (Mongo/Postgres) in primary region; asynchronous write with local fallback buffer.
  • Fulcio/KMS clients configured with retries/backoff; circuit breakers.

17) Implementation notes

  • .NET 10 minimal API + Kestrel mTLS; custom DPoP middleware; JWT/JWKS cache.
  • Cosign verification via sigstore libraries; Referrers queries over registry API with retries.
  • DSSE via intoto libs; canonical JSON writer for predicates.
  • Backpressure paths: refuse at auth/quota stages before any expensive network calls.

18) Examples (wire)

Request (free plan; expect throttle if burst):

POST /api/v1/signer/sign/dsse HTTP/1.1
Authorization: DPoP <JWT>
DPoP: <proof>
Content-Type: application/json

{ ...body as above... }

Error (release untrusted):

{
  "type": "https://stella-ops.org/problems/release_untrusted",
  "title": "Scanner image not signed by StellaOps",
  "status": 403,
  "detail": "sha256:abcd... not in trusted keyring",
  "instance": "urn:audit:a7c9e3f2-..."
}

19) Roadmap

  • Key Transparency: optional publication of Signers own certs to a KT log.
  • Attested Build: SLSAstyle provenance for Signer container itself, checked at startup.
  • FIPS mode: enforce ES256 + KMS/HSM only; disallow Ed25519.
  • Dual attestation: optional immediate push to Attestor (sync mode) with timeout budget, returning Rekor UUID inline.