Merge of #811

ZcashFoundation · Feb 4, 2025 · 12cc926 · 12cc926
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diff --git a/book/src/SUMMARY.md b/book/src/SUMMARY.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 - [FROST with Zcash](zcash.md)
   - [Technical Details](zcash/technical-details.md)
   - [Ywallet Demo](zcash/ywallet-demo.md)
+  - [FROST Server](zcash/server.md)
 - [Terminology](terminology.md)
 - [Developer Documentation](dev.md)
     - [List of Dependencies for Audit](dev/frost-dependencies-for-audit.md)

diff --git a/book/src/zcash/server.md b/book/src/zcash/server.md
@@ -0,0 +1,363 @@
+# ZF FROST Server (frostd)
+
+One challenge for using FROST is allowing participants to communicate securely
+with one another. Devices are usually behind firewalls and NATs, which make
+direct connections hard.
+
+To mitigate this issue and to make it easier to use FROST, the ZF FROST Server
+(frostd) was created. It is a JSON-HTTP server with a small API to allow
+participants to create signing sessions and to communicate with one another.
+
+It works like this:
+
+- Clients (coordinator or participants) authenticate to the server using a key
+  pair, which will likely be the same key pair they use to end-to-end encrypt
+  messages.
+- The Coordinator creates a session, specifying the public keys of the
+  participants.
+- Participants list sessions they're participating in, and choose the proceed
+  with the signing session.
+- Coordinator and Participants run the FROST protocol, end-to-end encrypting
+  messages and sending them to the server.
+- The Coordinator closes the session.
+
+Note that the server doesn't really care about the particular key pair being
+used; it is only used to enforce who can send messages to who.
+
+## Compiling, Running and Deploying
+
+You will need to have [Rust and
+Cargo](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/getting-started/installation.html)
+installed. Run:
+
+```
+cargo install --git https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/frost-zcash-demo.git --locked frostd
+```
+
+The `frostd` binary will be installed [per `cargo`
+config](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/commands/cargo-install.html#description)
+and it will likely be in your `$PATH`, so you can run by simply running
+`frostd`.
+
+To deploy the FROST Server, **you need TLS/HTTPS certificates**. We strongly
+recommend using a reverse proxy such as `nginx` to handle TLS and to also add
+denial of service protections. In that case, use the `--no-tls-very-insecure`
+flag in `frostd` and make `nginx` connect to it (see example config below).
+
+If you want to expose `frostd` directly, use the `--tls-cert` and
+`--tls-key` to specify the paths of the PEM-encoded certificate and key. You can
+use [Let's Encrypt](https://letsencrypt.org/) to get a free certificate.
+
+
+### Local Testing
+
+For local testing, you can use the [`mkcert`
+tool](https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert). Install it and run:
+
+```
+mkcert -install
+mkcert localhost 127.0.0.1 ::1
+```
+
+Then start the server with:
+
+```
+frostd  --tls-cert localhost+2.pem --tls-key localhost+2-key.pem
+```
+
+
+### Sample nginx Config
+
+This is a sample nginx config file tested in a Ubuntu deployment (i.e. it
+assumes it's in a `http` block and it's included by `/etc/nginx/nginx.conf`);
+copy it to `/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/frostd` and run `sudo service nginx
+restart`.
+
+The config assumes the certificates were copied to `/etc/ssl`.
+
+
+```
+limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=challenge:10m rate=30r/m;
+limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=create:10m rate=10r/m;
+limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=other:10m rate=240r/m;
+limit_conn_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=addr:10m;
+
+server {
+    listen 443 ssl;
+    listen [::]:443 ssl;
+    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/localhost+2.pem;
+    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/localhost+2-key.pem;
+    ssl_protocols TLSv1.3;
+    ssl_ecdh_curve X25519:prime256v1:secp384r1;
+    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;
+
+    server_name localhost;
+
+    client_body_timeout 5s;
+    client_header_timeout 5s;
+
+    location / {
+        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:2744;
+        limit_req zone=other burst=5;
+        limit_conn addr 10;
+    }
+    location /challenge {
+        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:2744/challenge;
+        limit_req zone=challenge burst=3;
+        limit_conn addr 10;
+    }
+    location /create_new_session {
+        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:2744/create_new_session;
+        limit_req zone=create burst=3;
+        limit_conn addr 10;
+    }
+}
+```
+
+## API
+
+The API uses JSON/HTTP. All requests should have `Content-Type:
+application/json`. Errors are returned with status code 500 and the content
+body will have a JSON such as:
+
+```
+{ code: 1, msg: "error message" }
+```
+
+The
+[codes](https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/frost-zcash-demo/blob/548a8a7329c6eed8180464662f430d12cd71dfcc/frostd/src/lib.rs#L95-L98)
+are:
+
+```
+pub const INVALID_ARGUMENT: usize = 1;
+pub const UNAUTHORIZED: usize = 2;
+pub const SESSION_NOT_FOUND: usize = 3;
+pub const NOT_COORDINATOR: usize = 4;
+```
+
+
+### Usage flow
+
+For the Coordinator:
+
+- Log in with `/challenge` and `/login`
+- Create a new signing session with `/create_new_session`
+- Wait for round 1 messages by repeatedly polling `/receive` each 2 seconds or longer
+- Send round 2 messages by using `/send`
+- Wait for round 2 message  by repeatedly polling `/receive` each 2 seconds or longer
+- Close the session with `/close_session`
+
+For Participants:
+
+- Log in with `/challenge` and `/login`
+- Wait for signing sessions with `/list_sessions`, either by the user's request or by repeatedly
+  polling each 10 seconds or longer
+- Get the session information with `/get_session_info`
+- Show the user the session information (who the participants are) to select which
+  session (if more than one)
+- Send round 1 message by using `/send`
+- Wait for round 2 message by repeatedly polling `/receive` each 2 seconds or longer
+- Send round 2 message by using `/send`
+
+```admonish info
+**Polling** is not optimal. The server will support a better mechanism in the
+future.
+```
+
+```admonish info
+Selecting sessions is tricky. Ideally, the user should select what session
+to proceed by checking the message being signed; however, that is usually
+sent in Round 2. There are multiple ways to handle this:
+
+- Simply show the users who are participants, hoping that is enough to
+  disambiguate (we assume that concurrent signing sessions won't be that common)
+- Quietly proceed with all sessions, and only prompt the user after the message
+  is received. (It's harmless to do round 1 of FROST even if the user might
+  not have agreed to sign the message yet.)
+- Change the application so that the message is sent to the participants first
+  (the server does not really care how the protocol is run).
+```
+
+```admonish critical
+Always gather consent from the user by showing them the message before
+signing it.
+```
+
+### `/challenge`
+
+Input: empty
+
+Sample output:
+
+```
+{"challenge":"2c5cdb6d-a7db-470e-9e6f-2a7062532825"}
+```
+
+Returns a challenge that the client will need to sign in order to authenticate.
+
+### `/login`
+
+To call `/login`, you will need to sign the challenge with XEdDSA, see
+[example](https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/frost-zcash-demo/blob/548a8a7329c6eed8180464662f430d12cd71dfcc/frostd/tests/integration_tests.rs#L443-L476).
+Sign the challenge UUID, converted to bytes.
+
+
+Input sample:
+
+```
+{
+  "challenge":"b771757e-085a-4a88-ab8f-28bd4ba67f3a",
+  "pubkey":"f5bf1b8194e20ebdd28e662b1efcf1c5cd2aaade5d5dd83cf89b246b5492726b",
+  "signature":"bba398d0963ab88e28134ad41c127eeee816a219838db01dd7bcd9d7fcd975f082330c134e6f7238580ba8434652aa116891495452d9048f5615e07f4ad6b204"
+}
+```
+
+Output sample:
+
+```
+{"access_token":"061a18ba-2c3c-4685-a79e-2c0c93000af5"}
+```
+
+The returned access token must be included as a bearer token in an
+`Authorization` header; e.g. `Authorization: Bearer
+061a18ba-2c3c-4685-a79e-2c0c93000af5`.
+
+Access tokens are currently valid for 1 hour. It's recommended to login at the
+beginning of each FROST session; log in again if it needs to take longer.
+
+### `/logout`
+
+Input: empty (it will logout the authenticated user)
+
+Output: empty
+
+Logs out, invalidating the access token. Note that access tokens expire after
+1 hour anyway.
+
+### `/create_new_session`
+
+Input sample:
+
+```
+{
+  "pubkeys": [
+    "3c9f4a3b2ae28c8e11fbc90b693a9712c181275fb4b554a140c68dc13cdd9b4c",
+    "edbd661dec0a9d0468b4a166a4afa80560d769f6bcb152fb8f4224059329a518"
+  ],
+  message_count: 1,
+}
+```
+
+Output sample:
+
+```
+{"session_id": "2c5cdb6d-a7db-470e-9e6f-2a7062532825"}
+```
+
+Creates a new session. The requesting user will be the Coordinator, and the
+users with the hex-encoded public keys given in `pubkeys` will be the
+participants (which might or might not include the Coordinator itself).
+
+The `message_count` parameter allows signing more than one message in the same
+signing session, which will save roundtrips. This does not impacts the server
+itself and is used to signal the participants (via `/get_session_info`).
+
+### `/list_sessions`
+
+Input: empty (it will list for the authenticated user)
+
+Output sample:
+
+```
+{"session_ids": ["2c5cdb6d-a7db-470e-9e6f-2a7062532825"]}
+```
+
+List the sessions IDs of the session a participant is in.
+
+### `/get_session_info`
+
+Input sample:
+
+```{"session_id": "2c5cdb6d-a7db-470e-9e6f-2a7062532825"}```
+
+Output sample:
+
+```
+{
+  "message_count": 1,
+  "pubkeys": [
+    "3c9f4a3b2ae28c8e11fbc90b693a9712c181275fb4b554a140c68dc13cdd9b4c",
+    "edbd661dec0a9d0468b4a166a4afa80560d769f6bcb152fb8f4224059329a518"
+  ],
+  "coordinator_pubkey": "3c9f4a3b2ae28c8e11fbc90b693a9712c181275fb4b554a140c68dc13cdd9b4c",
+}
+```
+
+Returns information about the given session.
+
+### `/send`
+
+Input sample:
+
+```
+{
+  "session_id": "2c5cdb6d-a7db-470e-9e6f-2a7062532825",
+  "recipients": ["3c9f4a3b2ae28c8e11fbc90b693a9712c181275fb4b554a140c68dc13cdd9b4c"],
+  "msg": "000102",
+}
+```
+
+Output: empty
+
+Sends a (hex-encoded) message to one or more participants. To send to the
+Coordinator, pass an empty list in `recipients` (**do not** use the
+Coordinator's public key, because that might be ambiguous if they're also a
+Participant).
+
+```admonish critical
+Messages **MUST** be end-to-end encrypted between recipients. The server can't
+enforce this and if you fail to encrypt them then the server could read
+all the messages.
+```
+
+### `/receive`
+
+Input sample:
+
+```
+{
+  "session_id": "2c5cdb6d-a7db-470e-9e6f-2a7062532825",
+  "as_coordinator": false,
+}
+```
+
+Output sample:
+
+```
+{
+  "msgs":[
+    {
+      "sender": "3c9f4a3b2ae28c8e11fbc90b693a9712c181275fb4b554a140c68dc13cdd9b4c",
+      "msg": "000102",
+    }
+  ]
+}
+```
+
+Receives messages sent to the requesting user. Note that if a user is both a
+Coordinator and a Participant, it is not possible to distinguish if a message
+received from them was sent as Coordinator or as a Participant. This does not
+matter in FROST since this ambiguity never arises (Participants always receive
+messages from the Coordinator, and vice-versa, except during DKG where there is
+no Coordinator anyway).
+
+### `/close_session`
+
+Input sample:
+
+```{"session_id": "2c5cdb6d-a7db-470e-9e6f-2a7062532825"}```
+
+Output: empty
+
+Closes the given session. Only the Coordinator who created the session can close
+it. Sessions also expire by default after 24 hours.