Improve secret key handling using zero-copy memfd_secret isolation#52
Improve secret key handling using zero-copy memfd_secret isolation#52NilanjanDaw wants to merge 3 commits into
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Implement a robust, zero-copy security architecture to protect KEM and Binding private keys stored inside secure memfd_secret mappings (Vault). This change eliminates standard stack and heap process memory residency of raw private key material during active cryptographic lifecycles: 1. Scoped Vault Borrows: Replaced the copy-heavy Vault::get_secret() with the closure-based Vault::with_secret() scoped borrow pattern, preventing standard heap re-allocations. 2. Lifetime-Bound Key References: Transitioned crypto traits and downstream APIs to consume borrowed PrivateKeyRef<'a> structures linked directly to Vault mapping lifetimes. 3. Stackless Cryptographic FFI: Bypassed standard array-owning PrivateKey value types during X25519 decapsulation, calling raw FFI bssl_sys::X25519 pointers. Derived shared secrets are written directly into heap-allocated SecretBox destinations, ensuring zero stack footprint. 4. Direct-to-Vault Keypair Generation: Implemented stackless keypair generation directly inside pre-allocated Vault instances via ScopedEvpHpkeKey and raw BoringSSL key generation FFI extraction. 5. Library & Downstream Integration: Propagated zero-copy patterns to KeyRecord and downstream handlers (key_protection_service and workload_service). Added test-utils constructors to safely mock KeyRecords in tests. All unit and integration tests pass successfully.
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| X25519PrivateKey(SecretBox::new(sk)), | ||
| ) | ||
| /// A scope-managed raw EVP_HPKE_KEY wrapper to guarantee zeroization on drop. | ||
| struct ScopedEvpHpkeKey(bssl_sys::EVP_HPKE_KEY); |
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ScopedEvpHpkeKey places the full EVP_HPKE_KEY struct including private_key bytes on the Rust stack as a local variable via std::mem::zeroed, so this isn't genuinely stackless.
The Drop impl (line 275) also provides no real zeroization: EVP_HPKE_KEY_cleanup is a no-op in BoringSSL right now (ref).
Since bssl_sys::X25519_keypair is available and Vault::write_secret accepts a FnOnce(&mut [u8]) closure, we could skip the HPKE wrapper entirely and generate directly into the vault:
let mut vault = Vault::new_empty(32)?;
unsafe {
vault.write_secret(|priv_buf| {
bssl_sys::X25519_keypair(pub_key_buf.as_mut_ptr(), priv_buf.as_mut_ptr())
});
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Thats a great point, updated to directly use bssl_sys::X25519_keypair
| /// The caller must ensure that any raw pointers or FFI calls writing into the mutable slice | ||
| /// do not write out of bounds. The slice length is guaranteed to be exactly the initialized size. | ||
| pub unsafe fn write_secret<F, T>(&mut self, f: F) -> T |
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unsafe isn't needed here right?
If the closure f contains FFI calls (which are indeed unsafe), the responsibility for maintaining safety lies inside the closure, at the point where the FFI call is made.
| pub struct X25519PrivateKeyRef<'a>(pub(crate) &'a [u8]); | ||
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| impl From<X25519PrivateKey> for SecretBox { | ||
| fn from(key: X25519PrivateKey) -> SecretBox { | ||
| key.0 | ||
| impl<'a> X25519PrivateKeyRef<'a> { | ||
| fn to_public(&self) -> Result<[u8; 32], Status> { | ||
| let mut pub_key = [0u8; 32]; | ||
| unsafe { | ||
| bssl_sys::X25519_public_from_private(pub_key.as_mut_ptr(), self.0.as_ptr()); |
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slice &[u8] can be of any length. and the length is only known at runtime.
this is passed to bssl_sys::X25519_public_from_private which expects the 2nd argument to point to 32 byte memory. see https://github.com/google/boringssl/blob/ef4f3c2197f90c96a44716aedaac55a10cb4e479/include/openssl/curve25519.h#L58
this is safe for now since to_public is only called from decaps_internal. where we check for self.0.len() != 32. but there's no compile time check.
And to_public itself should enforce this.
- Instead of wrapping a dynamically-sized slice &[u8], we should wrap a statically-sized array reference &[u8; 32].
- After this
self.0would be guaranteed to point to 32 byte memory. we can removeResultreturn type - in key_types.rs use
try_into()conversion when we construct X25519PrivateKeyRef
By doing this, it becomes impossible to compile code that constructs a X25519PrivateKeyRef with a wrongly-sized slice
| @@ -1,10 +1,12 @@ | |||
| #[cfg(any(test, feature = "test-utils"))] | |||
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we should be added new tests:
- That
generate_keypair()actually populates the Vault with a key matching the returned public key (public_from_private round-trip). - That a randomly written byte cookie in the Vault round-trips through
with_secret(you have this forVault::newbut not fornew_empty+write_secret). - That the public key bytes returned correspond to the private key in the Vault (i.e.,
X25519_public_from_private(vault_priv) == returned_pub). A simple test that decaps a fresh keypair would catch wiring bugs.
Simplify `generate_keypair` in `km_common/src/crypto/x25519.rs` by directly calling `bssl_sys::X25519_keypair` instead of using `ScopedEvpHpkeKey`. This avoids stack-allocated HPKE wrapper structures and allows writing the private key directly into the protected `Vault` memory (zero-copy). Add unit tests: - `test_generate_keypair_roundtrip` to verify that the generated public key matches the private key, and that encapsulation/decapsulation works. - `test_vault_empty_write_retrieval` to verify `Vault::new_empty` and `write_secret`/`with_secret` round-trip.
Implement a zero-copy security architecture to protect KEM and Binding private keys stored inside secure
memfd_secretmappings (Vault). This change eliminates standard stack and heap process memory residency of raw private key material during active cryptographic lifecycles:Vault::get_secret()with the closure-basedVault::with_secret()scoped borrow pattern, preventing standard heap re-allocations.PrivateKeyRef<'a>structures linked directly to Vault mapping lifetimes.bssl_sys::X25519pointers. Derived shared secrets are written directly into heap-allocatedSecretBoxdestinations, ensuring zero stack footprint.ScopedEvpHpkeKeyand raw BoringSSL key generation FFI extraction.KeyRecordand downstream handlers (key_protection_serviceandworkload_service). Added test-utils constructors to safely mockKeyRecordsin tests.All unit and integration tests pass successfully.