Q-Cap is security-first software. This document explains how to report vulnerabilities and how we handle them.

• Do not open a public issue.
• Preferred: open a Private Security Advisory in GitHub → Security → Advisories → Report a vulnerability.
• Or contact the maintainer.
• Please include:
  • Affected commit/release and environment (OS, versions)
  • Impact and likelihood (what an attacker gains)
  • Reproduction steps or PoC (minimal if possible)
  • Suggested fix/mitigations (if any)

We will acknowledge within 3 business days and provide a triage update within 7 business days.

We provide security fixes for:

• main (development head)
• The latest released minor (for example, v0.Y.* after v0.(Y+1).0 releases)

Older lines receive fixes at the maintainers’ discretion.

Severity is based on CVSS + real-world exploitability in Q-Cap’s context (crypto/key-mgmt features can elevate severity).

In scope

• Q-Cap repositories and default configurations
• The sample qcap-registry service
• Packaging/crypto logic (manifest, Merkle, capabilities)

Out of scope

• Social engineering, physical access
• Volumetric DDoS without a concrete protocol flaw
• Third-party services (AWS/GCP/etc.) except where Q-Cap misuses them
• Dependency CVEs with no exploitable impact on Q-Cap usage

We will not pursue or support legal action for good-faith security research that:

• Avoids privacy violations and service degradation
• Respects data and access limitations
• Gives us a reasonable chance to remediate before public disclosure

We prefer coordinated disclosure. By default we publish an advisory and credit reporters (opt-out available). We’ll request CVEs as appropriate.

• Never commit secrets. Use environment or secret stores (GitHub Actions secrets, cloud KMS, parameter stores).
• Rotate credentials if exposure is suspected.
• Local private keys must be encrypted (Argon2id) and stored outside the repo.
• Production issuer keys should live in KMS/HSM; document rotation and access controls.

• AEAD: XChaCha20-Poly1305
• Hash/Merkle: BLAKE3
• Signatures: ed25519
• Capabilities: macaroons with caveats (expiry, audience, paths, purpose)

Changes to these primitives will be announced in the changelog and release notes.

Security reports are welcome in English or French. When describing impacts, consider diverse user contexts (e.g., accessibility, connectivity limits) so we can prioritize effectively.

Last updated: 2025-09-17