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Sentinel for Laravel
What it detects
Sentinel detects; database grants and row-level security prevent. The two complement each other — Sentinel tells you that a sealed value, a seal or the history behind it was changed outside the application, and refuses to build on it until someone signs the change off.
Actors
| Id | Actor | Capabilities | In scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | DB writer | INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE on any table incl. sentinel_*; no code execution; no access to env, config or APP_KEY. | yes |
| A2 | DB writer + snapshot restore | A1 + replace tables or the whole database with an older snapshot. | yes (needs anchors for full coverage) |
| A3 | Network/client attacker | Replays, alters or duplicates HTTP requests. | yes |
| A4 | Authorised insider | Uses the app normally (e.g. acknowledges changes). | audited (actor + reason + changed attributes in the MAC’d ledger); authorisation is the host’s job (Gate hook) |
| A5 | Holder of signing keys / APP_KEY (database-driver keys) / RCE / config write | Can forge anything. | out of scope |
Detection matrix
“Window” means the time since the last checkpoint — scheduled every minute by default.
| # | Attack | DB only (no anchor) | With ≥ 1 external anchor | Status / finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Change a sealed column | yes | yes | Tampered (+ changed attributes via field tags) |
| 2 | Change rows feeding a computed value | yes | yes | Tampered |
| 3 | Copy values + seal from another row / model / seal name / tenant scope / app context | yes (domain separation) | yes | Tampered |
| 4 | Re-point a seal row (sealable_id, seal) | yes | yes | Tampered |
| 5 | Delete a seal row | yes | yes | Missing (seal_deleted when ledger history exists) |
| 6 | Insert an unsealed row (strict seal) | yes | yes | Missing (never_sealed); a lenient seal → Unsealed (by definition not a finding) |
| 7 | Restore an older row + its older seal row | yes, while the newer ledger entries exist | yes | Stale (newer_version) |
| 8 | #7 + delete the newer ledger entries | yes if those entries were already checkpointed (CheckpointMismatch); no inside the window | yes outside the window | ledger findings |
| 9 | Restore the whole database (incl. ledger + checkpoints) to an older snapshot | no | yes (AnchorAhead) for any rollback past the last anchored checkpoint | ledger finding |
| 10 | Delete the checkpoint tail (+ entries) | no | yes | AnchorAhead |
| 11 | Rewrite a ledger entry or checkpoint | yes (entry MAC / checkpoint MAC + chain) | yes | EntryInvalid, CheckpointInvalid, ChainBroken |
| 12 | Delete a sealable row without a tombstone | yes (sentinel:verify --ledger: live ledger head, row gone) | yes | EntityDeleted |
| 13 | Rewrite the stored algorithm / key_id / ring on a seal row | yes (the algorithm comes from the key; ring allow-list; HKDF info binds ring + kid + algorithm) | yes | AlgorithmMismatch / UnknownKey / Tampered |
| 14 | Database-driver key rows: swap ring/kid/algorithm, replace a public key, plant an envelope minted through an encrypted cast | yes (an AEAD envelope under its own APP_KEY-derived key binds every field and its row) | yes | KeyIntegrityException → UnknownKey |
| 15 | Database-driver key rows: restore an older envelope (un-revoke a key) | no (an authentic old ciphertext) — mitigation: list the kid in SENTINEL_REVOKED_KEYS, which always wins | no | — |
| 16 | Changes made and rolled back entirely inside the window | no | no | — (shorten the checkpoint interval) |
| 17 | Replay a signed HTTP request | yes (created/expires window + nonce de-duplication) | — | replayed, too_old, expired |
| 18 | Alter the body/headers of a signed request, or add a method override | yes (content-digest + signature; the executed method must be the signed one) | — | digest_mismatch, invalid_signature, malformed |
| 19 | Duplicate a POST (retry storm, double click) | yes (replay / 409) | — | idempotency |
| 20 | Reuse an idempotency key with another payload | yes (422) | — | idempotency |
| 21 | Reuse a single-use URL | yes (atomic consume) | — | 403 |
What it does not guarantee
- Sentinel detects; it does not prevent. A row may be tampered with between two verifications.
- Rows written through the query builder, raw SQL or withoutSealing() are unsealed or stale until re-sealed. Strict seals report them.
- Database-driver keys are only as safe as APP_KEY. The config driver keeps keys out of the database — recommended for the default ring.
- Without an external anchor, a full-database rollback (#9) and checkpoint truncation (#10) are undetectable.
- Verification proves integrity relative to the last authorised seal, not that the authorised value was correct.
- Computed values that read related rows are only as fresh as the last re-seal of the owning model.
Out of scope by design: confidentiality (use Laravel’s encrypted casts), an attacker holding the signing keys, APP_KEY (for database-driver keys), the deployed code or the configuration, and intercepting query-builder or raw SQL writes — they are detected afterwards.
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