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| author | murilo ijanc | 2026-03-24 21:45:05 -0300 |
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| committer | murilo ijanc | 2026-03-24 21:45:05 -0300 |
| commit | 01c17c68277ff88fab812920732d9bbe9e6bb571 (patch) | |
| tree | 035398ae34263b981b621c6275835d2cc6847d57 /news/phase4-encryption-sealed/index.html | |
| parent | f186b71ca51e83837db60de13322394bb5e6d348 (diff) | |
| download | website-main.tar.gz | |
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diff --git a/news/phase4-encryption-sealed/index.html b/news/phase4-encryption-sealed/index.html deleted file mode 100644 index dd7b5eb..0000000 --- a/news/phase4-encryption-sealed/index.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,178 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html lang="en"> -<head> - <meta charset="utf-8"> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - <title>Phase 4: Encryption and Sealed Tesseras — Tesseras</title> - <meta name="description" content="Tesseras now supports private and sealed memories with hybrid post-quantum encryption — AES-256-GCM, X25519 + ML-KEM-768, and time-lock key publication."> - <!-- Open Graph --> - <meta property="og:type" content="article"> - <meta property="og:title" content="Phase 4: Encryption and Sealed Tesseras"> - <meta property="og:description" content="Tesseras now supports private and sealed memories with hybrid post-quantum encryption — AES-256-GCM, X25519 + ML-KEM-768, and time-lock key publication."> - <meta property="og:image" content="https://tesseras.net/images/social.jpg"> - <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> - <meta property="og:image:height" content="630"> - <meta property="og:site_name" content="Tesseras"> - <!-- Twitter Card --> - <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"> - <meta name="twitter:title" content="Phase 4: Encryption and Sealed Tesseras"> - <meta name="twitter:description" content="Tesseras now supports private and sealed memories with hybrid post-quantum encryption — AES-256-GCM, X25519 + ML-KEM-768, and time-lock key publication."> - <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://tesseras.net/images/social.jpg"> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://tesseras.net/style.css?h=21f0f32121928ee5c690"> - - - <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Tesseras" href="https://tesseras.net/atom.xml"> - - - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="https://tesseras.net/images/favicon.png?h=be4e123a23393b1a027d"> - -</head> -<body> - <header> - <h1> - <a href="https://tesseras.net/"> - <img src="https://tesseras.net/images/logo-64.png?h=c1b8d0c4c5f93b49d40b" alt="Tesseras" width="40" height="40" class="logo"> - Tesseras - </a> - </h1> - <nav> - - <a href="https://tesseras.net/about/">About</a> - <a href="https://tesseras.net/news/">News</a> - <a href="https://tesseras.net/releases/">Releases</a> - <a href="https://tesseras.net/faq/">FAQ</a> - <a href="https://tesseras.net/subscriptions/">Subscriptions</a> - <a href="https://tesseras.net/contact/">Contact</a> - - </nav> - <nav class="lang-switch"> - - <strong>English</strong> | <a href="/pt-br/news/phase4-encryption-sealed/">Português</a> - - </nav> - </header> - - <main> - -<article> - <h2>Phase 4: Encryption and Sealed Tesseras</h2> - <p class="news-date">2026-02-14</p> - <p>Some memories are not meant for everyone. A private journal, a letter to be -opened in 2050, a family secret sealed until the grandchildren are old enough. -Until now, every tessera on the network was open. Phase 4 changes that: Tesseras -now encrypts private and sealed content with a hybrid cryptographic scheme -designed to resist both classical and quantum attacks.</p> -<p>The principle remains the same — encrypt as little as possible. Public memories -need availability, not secrecy. But when someone creates a private or sealed -tessera, the content is now locked behind AES-256-GCM encryption with keys -protected by a hybrid key encapsulation mechanism combining X25519 and -ML-KEM-768. Both algorithms must be broken to access the content.</p> -<h2 id="what-was-built">What was built</h2> -<p><strong>AES-256-GCM encryptor</strong> (<code>tesseras-crypto/src/encryption.rs</code>) — Symmetric -content encryption with random 12-byte nonces and authenticated associated data -(AAD). The AAD binds ciphertext to its context: for private tesseras, the -content hash is included; for sealed tesseras, both the content hash and the -<code>open_after</code> timestamp are bound into the AAD. This means moving ciphertext -between tesseras with different open dates causes decryption failure — you -cannot trick the system into opening a sealed memory early by swapping its -ciphertext into a tessera with an earlier seal date.</p> -<p><strong>Hybrid Key Encapsulation Mechanism</strong> (<code>tesseras-crypto/src/kem.rs</code>) — Key -exchange using X25519 (classical elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman) combined with -ML-KEM-768 (the NIST-standardized post-quantum lattice-based KEM, formerly -Kyber). Both shared secrets are combined via <code>blake3::derive_key</code> with a fixed -context string ("tesseras hybrid kem v1") to produce a single 256-bit content -encryption key. This follows the same "dual from day one" philosophy as the -project's dual signing (Ed25519 + ML-DSA): if either algorithm is broken in the -future, the other still protects the content.</p> -<p><strong>Sealed Key Envelope</strong> (<code>tesseras-crypto/src/sealed.rs</code>) — Wraps a content -encryption key using the hybrid KEM, so only the tessera owner can recover it. -The KEM produces a transport key, which is XORed with the content key to produce -a wrapped key stored alongside the KEM ciphertext. On unsealing, the owner -decapsulates the KEM ciphertext to recover the transport key, then XORs again to -recover the content key.</p> -<p><strong>Key Publication</strong> (<code>tesseras-crypto/src/sealed.rs</code>) — A standalone signed -artifact for publishing a sealed tessera's content key after its <code>open_after</code> -date has passed. The owner signs the content key, tessera hash, and publication -timestamp with their dual keys (Ed25519, with ML-DSA placeholder). The manifest -stays immutable — the key publication is a separate document. Other nodes verify -the signature against the owner's public key before using the published key to -decrypt the content.</p> -<p><strong>EncryptionContext</strong> (<code>tesseras-core/src/enums.rs</code>) — A domain type that -represents the AAD context for encryption. It lives in tesseras-core rather than -tesseras-crypto because it's a domain concept (not a crypto implementation -detail). The <code>to_aad_bytes()</code> method produces deterministic serialization: a tag -byte (0x00 for Private, 0x01 for Sealed), followed by the content hash, and for -Sealed, the <code>open_after</code> timestamp as little-endian i64.</p> -<p><strong>Domain validation</strong> (<code>tesseras-core/src/service.rs</code>) — -<code>TesseraService::create()</code> now rejects Sealed and Private tesseras that don't -provide encryption keys. This is a domain-level validation: the service layer -enforces that you cannot create a sealed memory without the cryptographic -machinery to protect it. The error message is clear: "missing encryption keys -for visibility sealed until 2050-01-01."</p> -<p><strong>Core type updates</strong> — <code>TesseraIdentity</code> now includes an optional -<code>encryption_public: Option<HybridEncryptionPublic></code> field containing both the -X25519 and ML-KEM-768 public keys. <code>KeyAlgorithm</code> gained <code>X25519</code> and <code>MlKem768</code> -variants. The identity filesystem layout now supports <code>node.x25519.key</code>/<code>.pub</code> -and <code>node.mlkem768.key</code>/<code>.pub</code>.</p> -<p><strong>Testing</strong> — 8 unit tests for AES-256-GCM (roundtrip, wrong key, tampered -ciphertext, wrong AAD, cross-context decryption failure, unique nonces, plus 2 -property-based tests for arbitrary payloads and nonce uniqueness). 5 unit tests -for HybridKem (roundtrip, wrong keypair, tampered X25519, KDF determinism, plus -1 property-based test). 4 unit tests for SealedKeyEnvelope and KeyPublication. 2 -integration tests covering the complete sealed and private tessera lifecycle: -generate keys, create content key, encrypt, seal, unseal, decrypt, publish key, -and verify — the full cycle.</p> -<h2 id="architecture-decisions">Architecture decisions</h2> -<ul> -<li><strong>Hybrid KEM from day one</strong>: X25519 + ML-KEM-768 follows the same philosophy -as dual signing. We don't know which cryptographic assumptions will hold over -millennia, so we combine classical and post-quantum algorithms. The cost is -~1.2 KB of additional key material per identity — trivial compared to the -photos and videos in a tessera.</li> -<li><strong>BLAKE3 for KDF</strong>: rather than adding <code>hkdf</code> + <code>sha2</code> as new dependencies, we -use <code>blake3::derive_key</code> with a fixed context string. BLAKE3's key derivation -mode is specifically designed for this use case, and the project already -depends on BLAKE3 for content hashing.</li> -<li><strong>Immutable manifests</strong>: when a sealed tessera's <code>open_after</code> date passes, the -content key is published as a separate signed artifact (<code>KeyPublication</code>), not -by modifying the manifest. This preserves the append-only, content-addressed -nature of tesseras. The manifest was signed at creation time and never -changes.</li> -<li><strong>AAD binding prevents ciphertext swapping</strong>: the <code>EncryptionContext</code> binds -both the content hash and (for sealed tesseras) the <code>open_after</code> timestamp -into the AES-GCM authenticated data. An attacker who copies encrypted content -from a "sealed until 2050" tessera into a "sealed until 2025" tessera will -find that decryption fails — the AAD no longer matches.</li> -<li><strong>XOR key wrapping</strong>: the sealed key envelope uses a simple XOR of the content -key with the KEM-derived transport key, rather than an additional layer of -AES-GCM. Since the transport key is a fresh random value from the KEM and is -used exactly once, XOR is information-theoretically secure for this specific -use case and avoids unnecessary complexity.</li> -<li><strong>Domain validation, not storage validation</strong>: the "missing encryption keys" -check lives in <code>TesseraService::create()</code>, not in the storage layer. This -follows the hexagonal architecture pattern: domain rules are enforced at the -service boundary, not scattered across adapters.</li> -</ul> -<h2 id="what-comes-next">What comes next</h2> -<ul> -<li><strong>Phase 4 continued: Resilience and Scale</strong> — Shamir's Secret Sharing for heir -key distribution, advanced NAT traversal (STUN/TURN), performance tuning, -security audits, OS packaging</li> -<li><strong>Phase 5: Exploration and Culture</strong> — Public tessera browser by -era/location/theme/language, institutional curation, genealogy integration, -physical media export (M-DISC, microfilm, acid-free paper with QR)</li> -</ul> -<p>Sealed tesseras make Tesseras a true time capsule. A father can now record a -message for his unborn grandchild, seal it until 2060, and know that the -cryptographic envelope will hold — even if the quantum computers of the future -try to break it open early.</p> - -</article> - - </main> - - <footer> - <p>© 2026 Tesseras Project. <a href="/atom.xml">News Feed</a> · <a href="https://git.sr.ht/~ijanc/tesseras">Source</a></p> - </footer> -</body> -</html> |