Cert storage expanded from the old 16-byte placeholder to a real
32-byte seed + 32-byte pubkey. vm_zuse_cert_install() now has a
kernel-side duplicate in src/starkernel/vm/vm_core.c -- the kernel
build's VM_EXCLUDE list drops src/vm.c entirely (same reason
vm_set_base() already has two independent copies), so the hosted-only
version added earlier this session was never actually linked into the
kernel. FORTH-side ZUSE-CERT-LO@/HI@ replaced with ZUSE-PUBKEY@ (i -- u)
over the public half only; ACL-ZUSE-BOOT now checks
ZUSE-CERT-INSTALLED? before authenticating instead of unconditionally.
Attempted NVRAM-based persistence (GetVariable/SetVariable) for the
first-boot mint flow: page-faulted inside OVMF's variable service
(CR2 in the flash MMIO window). Moving the call site to match the one
proven-safe existing SetVariable call site in this codebase produced
the identical crash -- not a timing issue. Localized with debug
markers (one boot): GetVariable works; SetVariable with real data
never returns. The existing "working" precedent call is actually a
delete-of-nonexistent-variable (size=0, data=NULL), a cheaper path
that never touches flash, so it proved nothing about real writes.
Root cause: this kernel's VMM never maps the region OVMF's variable
service needs for real flash writes -- a genuine gap in UEFI runtime-
services support, not Zuse-specific, and not obviously fixable in a
3-arch-uniform way (flash window location is firmware/arch-specific).
Independently, storing the raw seed in RUNTIME_ACCESS NVRAM would have
been a real security defect regardless of the crash -- readable by any
later-loaded UEFI app or the booted OS.
Reverted to a known-safe state: all NVRAM/mint code removed from
kernel_main.c, init.4th's ACL.4th line back to its documented
commented-out default. Verified clean compile and clean boot on all
three architectures. Cert storage expansion (the part that works)
stays. A dedicated system-identity disk (virtio-blk, already proven
for writes via Artemis) is the recommended next substrate -- not yet
decided or built. Full investigation documented in FABRIC-3.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01U14ET9CWAtbQMbYqomKgXd
Found that a pinned CONSTANT is not actually tamper-proof: ACL-PIN only
blocks redefinition, not a >BODY-then-store on the word's existing data
field. Moves the Zuse cert value into C-only VM struct fields
(zuse_cert_lo/hi + zuse_cert_installed fuse bit) with a one-time
vm_zuse_cert_install() and read-only ZUSE-CERT-LO@/HI@/INSTALLED? FORTH
accessors, closing the tamper path structurally instead of by convention.
Deletes the now-insecure ZUSE-CERT-LO/HI CONSTANT words from zuse.4th.
vm_zuse_cert_install() has no caller yet -- the real mint flow (Milestone
6 CA, the MINT word) is still open; this is storage + accessors only, not
a stand-in mint. Documented in FABRIC-3.md. Verified: hosted build clean,
mkcapsule --lint clean (31/31), clean boot to ok> on amd64/aarch64/riscv64
with Stadium conservation intact and no panics.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01U14ET9CWAtbQMbYqomKgXd
ABORT is documented and tested in this codebase as standard FORTH-79
behavior -- system_words_test.c:63: "Should clear stacks and return to
QUIT" -- meaning it should unwind all the way back to the outermost
interpreter loop, abandoning whatever's left of the current line/block.
The implementation only unwound one level: every place that checked
vm->abort_requested cleared it the instant it saw it, so it never
survived to propagate past the first nested frame.
This surfaced via Artemis's ART-HALT-UNRECOG (capsules/artemis/init.4th):
on an unrecognized disk it correctly printed "ARTEMIS HALT: unrecognized
disk content" and called ABORT, but WELCOME (the next line in the same
block) ran anyway, and Artemis announced ready to Hermes and joined the
fleet normally -- contradicting .claude/ARTEMIS.md's "Refuse to mount...
do not overwrite it" requirement. Root cause is general, not
Artemis-specific, and present identically in both the hosted and kernel
VM cores.
Fixed at every level execution can nest through, verified by exhaustively
grepping every !vm->error-gated continuation loop and adding the parallel
!vm->abort_requested check:
- execute_colon_word (src/vm.c, src/starkernel/vm/vm_core.c): stop
clearing the flag on return -- every colon-word call is a recursive
call to this same function, so leaving it set lets every enclosing
frame's own check also unwind.
- vm_interpret (src/vm.c, src/starkernel/vm/vm_core.c): stop parsing
further words in the current input string once the flag is set.
- exec_block_with_retry (src/starkernel/capsule/capsule_loader.c):
capsule birth's line-by-line block executor -- stop processing further
lines in the current block, but return 0 (not -1), so
capsule_exec_payload still loads later blocks in the same capsule
payload. Returning -1 here would have silently broken word definitions
in blocks that come after the aborting one for reasons unrelated to
why it aborted (concretely, Artemis's ART-PING/LOAD-DOE in blocks
4851/4852, which follow the entry block 4133).
- THRU and --> (src/word_source/block_words.c): stop processing further
blocks/lines in their own loops.
- DODOES (src/word_source/defining_words.c): the CREATE...DOES> runtime
has its own hand-rolled execution loop, separate from
execute_colon_word -- same bug class, same fix. Also guarded the
post-loop "if (vm->rsp < base_rsp) vm->rsp = base_rsp" clamp so it
doesn't fire on an abort exit -- ABORT's own reset_vm_state() already
set rsp; restoring it to base_rsp would have partially undone that.
- Both REPL loops (src/repl.c, src/starkernel/repl.c x2 call sites):
clear the flag after each line, mirroring the existing vm->error
pattern, so a mid-line abort doesn't silently freeze subsequent
interactive input.
Verified directly: ": AB-TEST 1 2 3 ABORT 999 . ; AB-TEST 42 . CR
777 . CR" -- 999 never prints (stops mid-colon-word), 42 never prints
(stops the rest of the same line), 777 prints fine (next line
unaffected). Artemis: WELCOME/"Artemis ready" no longer fires after the
halt message. No regression: all three architectures still show PASS:
persist-read, PASS: E2E msg flow, and matching dict_hash on the normal
(non-aborted) boot path; hosted test suite 965 passed / 0 failed.
Known follow-up, not fixed here (see memory for details): Artemis still
announces ready to Hermes via a separate call path (CD-INIT, block 4141)
that never went through capsule_exec_payload's block chain in the first
place, and the disk file still picks up incidental writes even on a
correctly-halted boot -- likely generic block-subsystem housekeeping,
not traced yet.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
