open-standards/sandbox/proof/hardware/2026-10-21-tdx
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sandbox: a confidential run sealed on TDX hardware, its PCK checked to Intel's root
The TDX path (#399) and its PCK chain check (#415) had only met quotes this
crate built itself. This runs the reference host inside a TDX guest and
records the result as evidence anyone can re-check offline.

sandbox-runtime examples:
- confidential_run_tdx, run inside the guest. It takes quotes through
  configfs-tsm and derives the PCK anchor from a probe quote's chain,
  checked to Intel's root, which the verifier's side supplies. It seals an
  S6 run against a challenge, then checks the attestation: verified against
  the challenge, refused against another and against none.
- verify_run now reads the evidence kind. For TDX its anchor argument is
  Intel's root, and the PCK is derived from the quote's chain checked to it.
  SEV-SNP is unchanged, and the 2026-10-21 SEV-SNP evidence still verifies.
- sandbox-runtime's dev-dependencies enable sandbox-tee's intel-pcs feature
  for these examples.

sandbox/proof/hardware/2026-10-21-tdx: the attestation (with the DCAP v4
quote), the challenge, Intel's published root certificate, and a README
saying what it shows and what it does not. The unit is a placeholder and
revocation lists were not consulted.

Checked on our side, away from the guest:
- The quote's chain is PCK Certificate, then PCK Platform CA, then Root CA,
  and its root is byte-identical to Intel's published root (SHA-256
  44:A0:19:6B:…:74:D3).
- verify_run on the build host verifies the run, and refuses another
  challenge and no challenge.
- An attestation with its outcome changed is refused (report-data binding
  mismatch).
- Another certificate given as the root yields no anchor.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>
2026-10-22 06:51:40 -04:00
..
attestation.json sandbox: a confidential run sealed on TDX hardware, its PCK checked to Intel's root 2026-10-22 06:51:40 -04:00
challenge.hex sandbox: a confidential run sealed on TDX hardware, its PCK checked to Intel's root 2026-10-22 06:51:40 -04:00
intel-root.der sandbox: a confidential run sealed on TDX hardware, its PCK checked to Intel's root 2026-10-22 06:51:40 -04:00
README.md sandbox: a confidential run sealed on TDX hardware, its PCK checked to Intel's root 2026-10-22 06:51:40 -04:00

A confidential run on TDX hardware, 2026-10-21

The report-data binding of SPEC §7.6 on genuine Intel silicon, with the PCK anchor derived from the quote's own certificate chain checked to Intel's root, and the run verified by a party other than the host.

What ran

  • Platform: a confidential VM with Intel TDX (c3-standard-4, kernel 7.0.0-1014-gcp), created for the run and deleted after it.
  • Inside the guest: the reference host (confidential_run_tdx).
    • It took quotes through configfs-tsm (provider tdx_guest).
    • It derived the anchor from a probe quote's PCK chain, checked to Intel's root, which the verifier's side uploaded rather than the guest fetching it.
    • It sealed an S6 run whose report_data binds the unit, the receipt, the outcome and a 32-byte challenge (challenge.hex).
  • The quote: DCAP version 4, TEE type 0x81. The interface returns it in an 8000-byte buffer, 4935 bytes of quote followed by padding. It travels in the attestation as tee.report_hex.

The quote's certification data carries three certificates:

CN=Intel SGX PCK Certificate   issued by CN=Intel SGX PCK Platform CA
CN=Intel SGX PCK Platform CA   issued by CN=Intel SGX Root CA
CN=Intel SGX Root CA           self-signed

The root it carries is byte-identical to Intel's published root (intel-root.der), whose SHA-256 fingerprint is 44:A0:19:6B:2B:99:F8:89:B8:E1:49:E9:5B:80:7A:35:0E:74:24:96:43:99:E8:85:A7:CB:B8:CC:FA:B6:74:D3. Compare it with the one Intel publishes, not with this file.

What it shows

Verified away from the guest, from these files alone:

cd ../../../sandbox-rs
cargo run -p sandbox-runtime --example verify_run -- \
  ../proof/hardware/2026-10-21-tdx/attestation.json \
  "$(cat ../proof/hardware/2026-10-21-tdx/challenge.hex)" \
  ../proof/hardware/2026-10-21-tdx/intel-root.der
  • The quote's PCK chain checks to Intel's root (sandbox-tee::intel_pcs), and the quote verifies through that PCK: the quote signature, the QE report's endorsement of the attestation key, and the PCK's signature over the QE report.
  • Its report_data is the binding of this attestation's unit, receipt and outcome, and of the challenge issued. It is refused for any other challenge, and without one.
  • An attestation whose outcome is changed is refused.
  • Given another certificate in place of Intel's root, no anchor is derived.

What it does not show

  • The unit is a fixed placeholder. This exercises the binding, the chain check and the verifier on real hardware, not an executor's isolation of a workload.
  • Revocation was not consulted: Intel publishes CRLs for the PCK CAs, and checking them is the deployment's step.
  • The receipt and Supervisor keys are fixed development keys. The trust here rests on the quote, not on those signatures.