crossbario / crossbario/autobahn-python

[FEATURE] Vendor PQCP and Ed448-Goldilocks for Post-Quantum WAMP

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enhancement wamp XBR
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Description

Following the discussion in wamp-proto/wamp-proto#564, this issue proposes the vendoring of the PQ Code Package (PQCP) and Mike Hamburg’s libdecaf (Ed448-Goldilocks) into autobahn-python.

The goal is to provide a "Defense-Grade," zero-dependency, and high-performance implementation of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and High-Strength Classical ECC for the WAMP ecosystem, specifically targeting ML-KEM (FIPS 203) and ML-DSA (FIPS 204).

Motivation

As we move toward a Quantum-Resistant WAMP (WAMP-PQC), the protocol requires hybrid cryptographic schemes that combine classical security (Ed25519/Ed448) with lattice-based security (ML-KEM/ML-DSA).

While libraries like libsodium provide excellent support for Ed25519, they lack Ed448 and NIST-finalized PQC algorithms. To maintain Autobahn's standard of "Zero-Config" installation and high portability, we must internalize these primitives.

Proposed Implementation Strategy
1. Direct Upstream Vendoring

We will vendor the following sources directly into src/autobahn/vendor/:

  • PQCP (PQ Code Package): Utilizing mlkem-native and mldsa-native. This is the Linux Foundation-backed successor to PQClean, providing C90-compliant, formally verified, and SIMD-optimized PQC.
  • libdecaf (Ed448-Goldilocks): Sourced from Mike Hamburg’s upstream (SourceForge) - using git://git.code.sf.net/p/ed448goldilocks/code - and verified against Debian's security patches. This fills the gap for 256-bit security level signatures that libsodium does not address.
2. CFFI Wrapping

Consistent with our performance goals:

  • We will wrap these C libraries using CFFI rather than CPyExt.
  • This ensures optimal performance on PyPy via JIT-inlining while remaining highly efficient on CPython.
  • It avoids the maintenance burden of the CPython C API and the performance penalties of ctypes.
3. High-Performance Multi-Arch Wheels

We will update our cibuildwheel pipelines to publish manylinux and musllinux wheels for:

  • x86-64: Leveraging AVX2 optimizations for NTT (Number Theoretic Transform).
  • ARM64 (aarch64): Leveraging Neon instructions for high-speed PQC on ARM-based servers and high-end IoT (like Cortex-A).
Proposed Security Tiers
Tier Hybrid Combination Use Case
Standard Ed25519 + ML-DSA-65 General Purpose WAMP-Cryptosign
High-Strength Ed448 + ML-DSA-87 Defense / U.S. DoD CUI / Critical Infrastructure
Key Exchange X25519 + ML-KEM-768 Encrypted Payloads / Session Keys
Benefits
  • Zero Dependencies: No requirement for users to install liboqs, openssl-dev, or cmake.
  • Defense-Grade: Aligns with NIST FIPS 203/204 and NSA CNSA 2.0 requirements.
  • Embedded-Ready: By vendoring the native C source, we pave the way for cross-compilation to restricted environments (e.g., Cortex-M33).
Reference

Checklist

  • I have searched existing issues to avoid duplicates
  • I have described the problem clearly
  • I have provided use cases
  • I have considered alternatives
  • I have assessed impact and breaking changes

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing the proposed sources for src/autobahn/vendor/ and the existing CFFI integration points in the repository. Then inspect the cibuildwheel pipelines and the linked wamp-proto/wamp-proto#564 discussion. Done means the vendored PQCP and libdecaf sources, CFFI wrappers, and requested manylinux and musllinux wheel builds are integrated consistently with the proposal.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c, python
Domain
build-system, cryptography, security
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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