AetherForge/PROBLEMS.md

PROBLEMS.md

Open issues only. Fixed items removed. Last sweep: 2026-06-07.

By design / safety

Issue	Notes
bof_execute disabled	Agent returns explicit error; in-memory BOF execution disabled (client.go).
Process hollowing AMSI/ETW	Relocation done; Defender/ETW ~50% failure; bypass not implemented (hollow_windows.go).
Cloudflared in-process (non-Windows server)	Stub on Linux/macOS; use external connector (AF_TUNNEL_EXTERNAL) or add launcher.
macOS camera / GPU miner	Stubs or partial; Linux has V4L2 + nvidia-smi path.
KEV heuristics	Non-Windows agents return Status: n/a (Windows-only CVE matching).
Mesh P2P without -tags p2p	Default build reports 0 peers (mesh_p2p_stub.go).
Linux/macOS GPU RVN mining	detectGPU() may find NVIDIA but miners download Windows .exe only.

Scale limits (hundreds of subnets / 500+ agents)

Area	Notes
Subnet grouping	Derived from agents.ip /24 prefix at query time; no agents.subnet column — hundreds of subnets OK via LIKE filter + dropdown (not chips).
Per-agent subnet scan	Capped at 128 hosts (MaxSubnetScanHosts); syscheck uses 20; spread sem=16 per agent. Fleet discovery is incremental (ARP + capped sweep), not full /16.
stats_batch WS	Server coalesces stats every 250ms into one frame; client applies in single setAgents pass with agentStatsUnchanged skip.
Hashrate samples	One INSERT per agent stats tick — dominant DB write at scale; retention/prune policy not automated.
Stale-agent sweep	Every 45s calls ListAgents() full table scan; acceptable to ~1000 rows, costly beyond without indexed partial query.

Antivirus / Windows Defender

Topic	Notes
Why "AV off" fails	UI toggle often disables Real-time protection only. Tamper Protection, cloud-delivered protection, Controlled folder access, SmartScreen, and behavioral blocks still run. defender_off remote action and SilentAVExclusion fail without elevation; Tamper Protection reverts Set-MpPreference.
High-friction paths	GPU subprocess (T-Rex/TRM .exe download), garble/obfuscated agent binary, spread/hollow/persistence, SilentAVExclusion hidden PowerShell. In-process RandomX (pure Go) has no external CPU miner exe.
Default execution (2026-06-06)	Forge default is miner_execution=auto (full cascade). AV-Safe preset still bakes inprocess only, GPU off, no hollow/spread.
Operator tooling	Calibrate → Windows Defender Exclusions generates elevated .ps1 (manual run). Crucible → Mining Diagnostics command returns JSON blockers.
No silver bullet	No architecture is 100% invisible. Best combo: in-process CPU + path/process exclusions + dedicated mining hardware for GPU.

Container Mining

Topic	Notes
Fallback chain	agent/miner/fallback_chain.go orchestrates container → in-process → GPU (parallel) → Stratum overlay. Failures in failed_methods[] on stats WS. 30s cooldown between full re-passes.
Default execution	Forge default is auto (full chain). inprocess/container/subprocess limit which steps run.
AV limits (honest)	Containers are not invisible — AV still sees docker.exe, image pulls, and container filesystem scans. Legitimate benefit is isolated workload and fewer host subprocess spawns (GPU T-Rex/TRM). In-process RandomX has no external CPU miner exe.
GPU in container	Linux --gpus all stub only; Windows Docker Desktop GPU passthrough is operator-dependent. Host subprocess GPU path remains fallback.
Worker image	aetherforge/agent-worker:latest (override AETHERFORGE_MINER_IMAGE). Build from docker/Dockerfile.agent; not auto-pulled in MVP.
Deferred	Container hashrate on dashboard (host reports 0 CPU H/s while container mines); auto-build/push worker image in forge; Podman rootless on Windows.

Architecture deferred (large)

Area	Notes
tunnel_stream	Server-side TCP reverse relay documented as future (README.md).
Path Tracer sessions	TraceSession in handler RAM; restart loses state; no DB persistence or startup sweep.
Non-Windows Path Tracer parity	pathtracer_stub.go errors on wg_setup; chains are Windows-agent focused.
NAT / symmetric UDP	UPnP + DB IP fallback; no STUN/TURN or post-config connectivity probe.
Fixed WireGuard port 51820	Same UDP port all hops; multi-agent behind one NAT may conflict.
Agent display name vs hostname	WS UpsertAgent preserves operator rename when name != hostname; reconnect with hostname only keeps DB label.
WireGuard auto-download (Windows)	ensureWGExe() on first Path Tracer use; heavy, may need admin; pre-install recommended.
Monolithic WebSocket context	All useWebSocket() consumers re-render on any WS change; split contexts/selectors deferred.
CruciblePage size (~2k lines)	Terminal + fleet + tabs in one component; section split/memo deferred.
WS init ships full fleet	Dashboard connect still loads all agents in one JSON blob; pagination is REST-only (?limit=&offset=).
SQLite single-writer ceiling	SetMaxOpenConns(1) + WAL; sustained 1000+ agents with per-tick DB writes may SQLITE_BUSY; consider Postgres or write batching at 1000+.
In-memory WS agent state	Hub maps (agentCapabilities, agentLogs, DNS cache) grow O(agents); no eviction on disconnect beyond log trim.
Fleet topology 3D cap	FleetTopologyMap renders at most 200 nodes; larger fleets need subnet-grouped view or server-side aggregation.
Crucible roster pagination	Roster paginates 80 cards/page; bulk select-all still operates on filtered set in memory.
No CI HTTP forge	e2e-validate.ps1 -ForgeAgent manual; live compile needs LIVE_FORGE=1 + -tags liveforge.
Non-Windows forge host	PE disguise / osslsigncode signing platform-limited by design.
Mac PathForge runtime	.command curl /api/download/agent-mac; needs reachable server_url + binary on server.
Terminal virtualization	400-line DOM cap only; full virtual scrollback deferred.
Vite chunk weight	three + vendor warnings; FleetTopologyMap lazy but heavy first open.

UX / visual (unfixed DV)

ID	Issue
DV-01	Neon cyan fragmentation (#00f5ff, #0ff vs token #00e8f5) across several components.
DV-02	Page header patterns diverge (Build Manager, Path Tracer green title, Forge naming).
DV-03	SacredPageHeader unused (dead CSS path).
DV-04	Pages.css duplicate .empty-state / .page-header h1 override order.
DV-07	Path Tracer visual island (#00ffaa) vs operator-deck chrome.
DV-09	Dead chart badge styles in wealth-deck CSS.
DV-13	Dark-only; no light / prefers-color-scheme path.
DV-14	Sidebar footer hard-coded v0.0.1.

Help / product copy gaps

ID	Issue
UH-03	Emberwake / War Room widgets need HelpTip parity with Command Deck funnel.
UH-04	Mission Deck minimal operator guidance.
UH-05	Builder advanced forge sections missing some HelpTip keys (docAnchors.test gap list).

Test gaps / noise

Item	Notes
P1 covered (2026-06-07)	14-tier spread chain, triple-onion gates, fleet recon, Fleet AI control, personas, phenotype, failure atlas, court, clearance L0–L4 — Go server 765 + agent 585 Test* + Vitest 742; see tests/README.md
Fleet evolution covered (2026-06-07)	Seeder/miner split, atlas gossip, genetic breeding, BGP spread router, genealogy telemetry (non-blocking auth), court retry L4, hashrate/subnet gates, APK scout, persona temperament, WSUS mimic, erasure foundation — Go 765+585 + Vitest 742 + Playwright 24 (phase 8); master table in tests/README.md
P2 covered (2026-06-07)	Mock MiningChainRunner lifecycle (mining_chain_lifecycle_test.go); spread lane templates + dispatch (spread_lanes_test.go, winrm_spread_test.go, staging/BITS mocks); Path Forge API + Forge UI incl. cancel/batch race (pathforge_test.go, BuilderPage.test.tsx); WS/beacon + file upload round-trips (ws_beacon_integration_test.go server+agent); flaky WS/spread-gate tests stabilized (ed9c90a); Playwright LOTL onion + discover→spread stub E2E (lotl-timeline.spec.ts, discover-spread.spec.ts); mock container/podman exec + runtime probe (container_launcher_test.go, runtime_detect_test.go); BITS/curl HiddenRun mocks (bits_windows_test.go, staging_chain_test.go); WinRM/GPO/systemd deploy-plan httptest + mock execute (deploy_plan_integration_test.go, discover_join_test.go); 3-hop discover→spread Playwright stub chain (discover-spread-stub.ts, discover-spread.spec.ts, d18c591); Vitest 742 + Playwright 24 — see tests/README.md § P2
Erasure-coded multi-lane propagation (foundation 2026-06-07)	Partial / honest foundation — server internal/erasure/ Reed–Solomon 4+2 encode + in-memory shard store + /api/v1/public/erasure-shard/{token}/{index}; signed deploy plans attach erasure_plan when Calibrate server.erasure_lanes_enabled; agent deploy/erasure_staging.go reassembles from parallel lane URLs as fallback when primary staging fails; BGP spread_route_hint + Path Tracer show erasure_lanes_enabled. Not shipped: live parallel lane orchestration, seeder-side shard fan-out, or erasure-first (non-fallback) spread E2E.
P2 remaining (manual only)	Live Docker/Podman container start on operator host; real WinRM/GPO/systemd/crontab execution on remote owned hosts; live BITS/curl against non-mock C2 endpoints; live multi-hop discover→spread without Playwright stub
Agent pathtracer Go tests	Stub + Windows command routing expanded; full wg_setup on real hosts still manual.
Client WS/beacon paths	httptest round-trips covered; live TLS/mesh beacon still manual.
Path Tracer 2s REST poll	No WS hop progress; acceptable latency, extra load while tracing.
Emberwake double feed	15s client poll + 30s server war-room broadcast; prefer WS-only.
SystemStatusBar REST poll	listAgents every 15s duplicates WS fleet stream.
Builder / dashboard failure tests	Vitest emits ECONNREFUSED stderr on happy-dom; tests pass.
Download mock pattern	Prefer separate vi.fn() per api/download export to avoid flakes.

Product decisions (document-only)

Topic	Notes
Dual storage sync	Session vs localStorage; aetherforge-auth on logout; no full cross-tab policy.
MatrixRain / CursorFire	Layout mounts effects on all routes; route-gating deferred.
CI scope	.github/workflows/ci-docker-mining.yml only; no root Makefile test target.

Scrubbed 2026-06-07 (prod garbage removed)

Item	Action
agent/config/builtin.go XMR/RVN wallets	Cleared — dev builtin no longer ships third-party addresses
server/config.go builtin Cloudflare token	Removed — connector requires env/config/cloudflared-token.txt
data-e2e/, music/, scratch/ in repo	Untracked + .gitignore (E2E wallet stays in docker/ + e2e-validate.ps1 only)
Mission Deck forge bar	Replaced client-side stage timer with server GET /builder/progress/{token} poll

Do not commit

• data/login-credentials.json, data/users.json, and other local secrets.