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Investigate implementing HMAC/signature for ActivationDesc integrity protection #136

@pfirmstone

Description

@pfirmstone

Review the current process by which ActivationDesc objects are persisted, transmitted, and deserialized within Phoenix Activation/DirtyChai. Design and propose a mechanism for integrity assurance (e.g., HMAC, digital signature) on ActivationDesc objects, to be verified upon group JVM deserialization. This must ensure tampering is detectable prior to instantiation.

Key tasks:

  • Analyze the current storage and transmission points for ActivationDesc.
  • Determine hooks/integration points for signing and verification (admin, Phoenix, group JVM boundaries).
  • Assess impact on backward compatibility and performance.
  • Propose specific algorithms (e.g., HMAC-SHA256, ECDSA), key distribution/management, and policy for signature verification failures.
  • Document security impact and limitations.

This is a high priority item for defense-in-depth against activation descriptor tampering.

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