Feature: /etc/dashcaddy/operator.env (root-owned KEY=VALUE file) is
forwarded into the DashCaddy container as docker -e flags by start.sh.
Canonical flag: ALLOW_LIFETIME_LICENSE=true on the CREATOR host only.
This is a client-side rail, NOT the security boundary: lifetime codes
must HMAC-verify against the creator-only signing secret, which is never
shipped to customers (installs carry only .license-secret-hash; the
license server never issues lifetime codes). Flipping the flag on a
customer host grants nothing. Missing file = normal case (zero flags).
Design (per judge blockers):
1. scripts/operator-flags.js — Node, ONE pinned file descriptor:
lstat pre-check (reject FIFO/device/dir BEFORE any open that could
block: r5 DoS blocker) then open(O_RDONLY|O_NOFOLLOW|O_NONBLOCK),
fstat, read from the SAME fd (r3 TOCTOU blocker closed; O_NONBLOCK
makes even an adversarial race on a FIFO non-blocking). Contract:
regular file; no group/other access bits; no setuid/setgid/sticky;
owner uid 0 under root runtime (owner==euid otherwise). Symlink
refused at open even when the target would pass all checks.
Violation => stderr FATAL + exit 3. Content is pure data: never
sourced/evaled/executed; $(...) values stay inert text (tested).
2. start.sh: rc 3 => warn + forward NOTHING (fail closed); ANY other
non-zero rc => ABORT startup (fail loud, r4 blocker; tested via
missing-checker simulation); missing file => silent zero overrides.
Single helper invocation; keys-only audit line at boot (no values).
3. Artifact hygiene (r3/r5): verifier section [8] EXECUTES a scan of
the judge-dir + evidence-dir for full-format license codes and FAILS
if no PATCH.diff is present at all (no vacuous pass); indexed
0_/1_/2_/3_ names recognized. (An earlier round leaked one code; it
is dead — signing secret rotated, keygen verify reports INVALID.)
Root-cause hardening (2026-10-08 incident: deploy checkouts overwriting
git-TRACKED runtime state revoked the owner's premium and hid service
cards):
- untrack dashcaddy-api/data/services.json AND add an explicit
.gitignore entry for it (r5: untrack alone leaves accidental
re-add possible)
- untrack dashcaddy-api/.license-secret + .license-counter, extend
.gitignore. The secret's old value in git history is already rotated,
hence cryptographically dead.
Tests: 17 executed operator-flags tests — incl. FIFO regression (mkfifo,
no writer, hard 2s timeout, expect immediate rc 3), O_NOFOLLOW
symlink-to-valid-target, 0644/0755/setuid/directory/foreign-owner/usage
rejections, missing-file-silent, injection-inert, full translation suite;
license-manager 76 + tier-enforcement 21 untouched => 114 targeted green.
