Prove MASQUE packet attachments on the Galactic Edge foundation #974

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1. privateip

   added

   enhancementNew feature or requestNew feature or request

   on Oct 22, 2026
2. privateip

   added a parent issue on Oct 22, 2026

   • MASQUE Connector for gVPC #970
3. privateip

   changed the title [-]MASQUE: prove isolated gVPC attachments on Talos/Cilium[/-] [+]Prove isolated gVPC attachments on Talos/Cilium[/+] on Oct 22, 2026
4. privateip

   added the

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   issue type on Oct 22, 2026
5. privateip

   changed the title [-]Prove isolated gVPC attachments on Talos/Cilium[/-] [+]Prove MASQUE packet attachments on the Galactic Edge foundation[/+] on Oct 25, 2026
6. privateip

   self-assigned this

   on Oct 27, 2026
7. privateip commented on Oct 27, 2026

   

   privateip

   on Oct 27, 2026

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   Checked against main at 509c9c99d. The deliverable is still missing, so this issue stays open.

   What exists on main

   • internal/edge/connectip is the HTTP/3 CONNECT-IP protocol component. Its Admission, Lease and PacketBackend interfaces are implemented only by fixtures in its own tests and in tests/connectipinterop. Nothing connects it to EdgeInstance, EdgeAttachment or EdgeRoute.
   • examples/edge-provider is the independent reference provider. It opens a PacketAccess TUN device and answers ICMPv6 echo and UDP, but it does not speak CONNECT-IP.
   • tests/edgeconformance runs the foundation contract rows against the containerlab lab only. No checked-in target exists for a cluster of real nodes: Qualify the foundation on the target platform #1002 was closed as not planned and test(edge): Run edge conformance on a cluster of real nodes #1118 was closed without merging.

   Gaps against the acceptance criteria

   1. No process runs CONNECT-IP as an approved Edge provider, so the agent never creates a PacketAccess attachment that MASQUE then opens.
   2. No CONNECT-IP isolation check uses identical addresses in two VPCs, with a destination that only the other VPC has. The connectip TUN tests demultiplex within one VPC, and conformance row 06 uses the reference provider's echo.
   3. MASQUE has no fixture that recreates pods, injects partial setup or asserts cleanup.
   4. No target-platform run with pinned versions has been recorded.

   The fix plan will follow in a separate comment.
8. privateip commented on Oct 27, 2026

   

   privateip

   on Oct 27, 2026

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   Fix plan:

   1. Fixture provider. A test-only command in the root module (it needs internal/edge/connectip) that runs as an approved Edge provider:

      • holds its EdgeInstance lease, requests a PacketAccess EdgeAttachment and claims a per-connector /96 EdgeRoute, following the reference provider;
      • admits CONNECT-IP requests through a static test credential that maps to one VPC and one /96;
      • carries packets through connectip.TUNBackend on the attachment's device;
      • runs without host namespaces, hostPath, NET_ADMIN or BPF.

      It ships with an image, kustomizations and unit tests.

   2. MASQUE rows in tests/edgeconformance, run on the containerlab lab:

      • identical /96s in two VPCs on the same node and in one provider process;
      • a positive control and a negative probe in each direction, including a destination that exists only in the other VPC;
      • cold neighbors, local and remote workloads, and NAT egress on the attachment node;
      • pod recreation and partial setup, with cleanup asserted;
      • recorded versions and the provider's actual privileges;
      • the applicable Edge pod attachments: unchecked caller inputs and weak isolation tests #989 findings (A05, A06, A08, A14, A16 in docs/designs/masque/acceptance.md).

   3. Target platform. No harness exists for a cluster of real nodes (Qualify the foundation on the target platform #1002 and test(edge): Run edge conformance on a cluster of real nodes #1118 are closed). The last acceptance criterion stays blocked, and this issue stays open until those rows run on a target cluster.

   This changes test and fixture code only, plus one more test image. Core behavior doesn't change. Validation is task ci and task verify:edge-conformance on a freshly deployed lab.
9. privateip commented on Oct 27, 2026

   

   privateip

   on Oct 27, 2026

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   The target-platform criterion moves to #985. This issue's owner decided to qualify on the target platform there, since #985 already owns the final MASQUE evidence on a staging node. No harness for a cluster of real nodes exists yet. #1002 and #1118 are closed.

   The lab work is complete with #1140 and #1169:

   • The deployed agent creates the fixture's PacketAccess devices, and the unprivileged fixture opens them. A forged identity, an unknown service, unsupported versions and a missing device fail before anything forwards, and the fixture's token and bindings are only what core grants.
   • Identical /96s in two VPCs stay isolated in both directions, against a destination only the other VPC has, with captures on every workload.
   • Pod recreation, a half-set-up instance killed without shutdown, and teardown clean up through core and leave unrelated and replacement resources alone. Cleanup is asserted.
   • Edge pod attachments: unchecked caller inputs and weak isolation tests #989's A05, A06, A08, A14 and A16 are settled. A16 was a real gap in the foundation, and fix(edge): Remove stray IPv6 routes and addresses on Edge attachments #1169 fixes it.

   #1169 closes this issue when it merges.
10. privateip

    closed this as completedin #1169on Oct 28, 2026