Security Systems

Mesh Federation and VaultMesh

How operator mesh receipts relate to VaultMesh (vmesh) and WitnessOps verification.

WitnessOps separates proof verification from operator mesh federation and from the VaultMesh (vmesh) product plane. This page states what each layer owns so claims stay honest.

1. Problem this page solves

Readers confuse three ideas:

  • Mesh health receipts across your own nodes (fleet VM, bastion, goal0)
  • VaultMesh federation branding and ingest URLs
  • WitnessOps /verify receipt-first checks (PV/QV/WV v1)

This page maps them without collapsing trust surfaces.

2. Three surfaces

SurfaceOwnsDoes not own
WitnessOps verifyReceipt-stage validation for submitted proof objects (scoped v1)Hunt execution, live exposure, customer posture scans
Mesh federationComposite operator index (overall_mesh_gate), child receipt hashesClient environment security conclusions
VaultMesh (vmesh)Public federation DNS, hub UI, optional ingest mirrorBastion scope lock or offensive execution

3. Mechanism-first flow

Authorized host collector → local-server-audit package → customer deliverable
WitnessOps /verify → proof-stage checks on supported receipt shapes
Operator mesh → MESH-RECEIPT (private) → goal0 vault → optional redacted public receipt → optional vmesh ingest

Mesh federation is operator infrastructure hygiene. It supports how you run the lane; it is not a substitute for a buyer proof path on /verify.

4. Observed vs inferred

TopicObservedInferred
Mesh receiptDocumented child receipts, gate rules, redaction ADRNone beyond declared gate semantics
vmesh ingestClient schema and dry-run publish in operator laneAvailability of EU ingest endpoint is environment-specific
/verifyReceipt-first v1 scope on the public verifierShield proof-packs may require schema alignment before verify

5. Trust assumptions

  • Bastion mirror engagement data remains authoritative for hunt gates; mesh receipts on a dev VM are working copies.
  • Public mesh receipts are redacted: no filesystem paths, no scope-lock bodies.
  • Ingest acceptance does not imply hunt verify PASS.

6. Public mesh gate (ADR 0008)

Integrators can read a published operator index at /.well-known/mesh-receipt-index.json and POST redacted offseclane.mesh_receipt_public.v1 documents to /api/mesh-gate for structure and content_sha256 checks.

That API is not /api/verify and does not prove customer environment security.

Operator refresh (after mesh receipt):

bash ~/DEV/OffSec/working/scripts/publish-mesh-public-witnessops.sh "$WOPS_HUNT_EVD"

Then rebuild/redeploy witnessops-web on goal0.

7. Next-page handoff

Read Three-Layer Stack for contract vs runtime vs proof ownership.

For OffSec deliverables (Agent + Shield) against WitnessOps review surfaces, integrators should use the operator lane doc OffSec ↔ WitnessOps wiring (mesh publish bundle under docs/local-mesh/).

Mesh Federation and VaultMesh | WitnessOps