# Adversarial Testing Status Report

**Date**: 2026-01-02
**Scope**: Web4 and SAGE/HRM Projects
**Status**: Active Testing Program with Documented Results

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## Executive Summary

Both Web4 and SAGE have undergone systematic adversarial testing with real attack simulations, quantified results, and iterative defense improvements. This is not theoretical threat modeling - actual attacks were executed against live systems.

### Overall Assessment

| Project | Attacks Tested | Initial Success Rate | Post-Defense Rate | Status |
|---------|----------------|---------------------|-------------------|--------|
| **Web4** | 15+ attack vectors | 67% (Session 84) | 0% (Session 91) | Iterative hardening |
| **SAGE** | 6 stress regimes | N/A (stress testing) | 2 critical issues found | Architectural fixes pending |

---

## Web4 Adversarial Testing

### Session 84: Critical Vulnerability Discovery (2025-12-22)

**Focus**: Adaptive Byzantine Consensus security validation

**Test File**: `implementation/session84_track1_coverage_manipulation_attack.py` (592 LOC)
**Results File**: `implementation/session84_track1_attack_results.json`

#### Attack Results

| Attack Vector | Success | Impact | Root Cause |
|---------------|---------|--------|------------|
| **Coverage Inflation** | ✅ 66.6% | Consensus shifted 0.90 → 0.30 (60% error) | Coverage calculated without attestation verification |
| **Coverage Deflation** | ❌ 0% | Consensus held (0.028 deviation) | Median consensus resilient to minority |
| **Sybil Attestation Flood** | ✅ 83.3% | Consensus destroyed (0.92 → 0.15, 77% error) | No Sybil resistance, unlimited society creation |

**Key Finding**: 67% overall attack success rate - **production deployment blocked** until defenses implemented.

**Detailed Analysis**: [Session 84 Attack Vector Analysis](../../private-context/moments/2025-12-22-session84-attack-vector-analysis.md)

---

### Sessions 89-91: Delegation Chain Attack Evolution (2025-12-25 to 2025-12-26)

**Focus**: Multi-level delegation security

**Test Files**:
- `implementation/session89_track2_delegation_attacks.py`
- `implementation/session90_track4_comprehensive_attack_retest.py`
- `implementation/session91_track4_delegation_chain_attacks.py`

**Results File**: `implementation/session91_track4_attack_results.json`

#### Defense Evolution

| Session | Attack Success Rate | Improvement |
|---------|---------------------|-------------|
| Session 89 | 50% | Baseline |
| Session 90 | 25% | Explicit Delegation added |
| Session 91 | **0%** | Combined defenses |

#### Session 91 Final Results (5 Attacks, All Defended)

| Attack | Result | Defense Mechanism |
|--------|--------|-------------------|
| Circular Delegation | ❌ Defended | `visited_set_tracking` |
| Chain Depth DoS | ❌ Defended | `max_depth_limit` (max 10, attempted 11) |
| Capability Escalation | ❌ Defended | `delegated_capability_validation` |
| Concurrent Revocation | ❌ Defended | `graceful_degradation` |
| Cache Poisoning | ❌ Defended | `cache_invalidation_on_revocation` |

**Outcome**: 100% defense rate achieved through iterative hardening.

---

### Session 73: Byzantine Consensus & Economic Attacks (2025-12-20)

**Focus**: Trust gaming and economic manipulation

**Test Files**:
- `ACT/implementation/byzantine_consensus_trust.py` (588 LOC)
- `ACT/implementation/trust_attack_analysis.py` (489 LOC)
- `ACT/implementation/economic_attack_simulation.py` (513 LOC)

#### Trust Gaming Attacks

| Attack | Success Rate | Status |
|--------|--------------|--------|
| Quality Inflation | 16.2% | ❌ Defended |
| Sybil Specialist | 39.7% | ❌ Defended |
| Context Poisoning | 0.0% | ❌ Defended |

**Overall**: 100% defense rate

#### Economic Attacks

| Attack | Outcome | Status |
|--------|---------|--------|
| Low-Quality Farming | 0.395x efficiency vs honest | ❌ Defended |
| Trust Hoarding + Defection | +0 net gain | ❌ Defended |
| Collusion Monopoly (15-member) | 2.42x advantage | ⚠️ Acceptable risk |

**Overall**: 66.7% defense rate (collusion noted as acceptable risk)

#### Byzantine Consensus Validation

- ✅ Honest consensus reached with 3/3 witnesses
- ✅ Forged signatures rejected
- ✅ Insufficient quorum safely pending

**Detailed Analysis**: [Session 73 Analysis](../../private-context/moments/2025-12-20-session73-byzantine-consensus-attack-analysis.md)

---

### Session 11: Attack Vector Taxonomy (2025-11-10)

**Focus**: Comprehensive security architecture analysis

**Document**: [Attack Vector Analysis](../../private-context/insights/web4-attack-vector-analysis-session-11.md)

#### Six Attack Categories Identified

| Category | Attack Types | Priority |
|----------|--------------|----------|
| **A: Identity** | Sybil, LCT theft/impersonation | HIGH |
| **B: Reputation** | Trust washing, reputation inflation | CRITICAL |
| **C: Resource** | ATP draining, resource hoarding | HIGH |
| **D: Governance** | Law manipulation, compliance bypass | HIGH |
| **E: Knowledge** | Graph poisoning, trust network eclipse | HIGH |
| **F: Cross-Service** | Multi-stage privilege escalation | CRITICAL |

Each category includes:
- Detailed attack scenarios with code examples
- Vulnerability analysis
- Mitigation strategies
- Implementation priority

---

### Track 17: Attack Mitigation Integration (2025-12-07)

**Focus**: Production hardening with 8 implemented mitigations

**Test File**: `test_all_attack_mitigations.py` (450+ LOC)

#### Mitigations Implemented & Validated

| Mitigation | Location | LOC | Status |
|------------|----------|-----|--------|
| Lineage tracking | `atp_demurrage.py` | - | ✅ Tested |
| Decay on transfer | `atp_demurrage.py` | - | ✅ Tested |
| Context-dependent cache TTL | `trust_oracle.py` | 85 | ✅ Tested |
| Budget fragmentation prevention | `authorization_engine.py` | 50 | ✅ Tested |
| Delegation chain limits | `authorization_engine.py` | 30 | ✅ Tested |
| Witness shopping prevention | `witness_system.py` | 110 | ✅ Tested |
| Reputation washing prevention | `lct_registry.py` | 70 | ✅ Tested |
| Reputation inflation prevention | `lct_registry.py` | 80 | ✅ Tested |

**Test Results**: 16+ tests, 100% pass rate

---

### Web4 Attack Testing Infrastructure

#### Reference Implementation Attack Tools

Location: `web4-standard/implementation/reference/`

| File | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `attack_demonstrations.py` | Working attack code demonstrations |
| `attack_simulator.py` | Attack simulation framework |
| `test_security_attacks.py` | Attack test suite |
| `test_advanced_attacks.py` | Advanced attack scenarios |
| `attack_mitigations.py` | Mitigation implementations |

#### Threat Model Documentation

| Document | Location |
|----------|----------|
| Formal Threat Model | `THREAT_MODEL.md` |
| Attack Vectors Catalog | `web4-standard/implementation/authorization/ATTACK_VECTORS.md` |
| MRH Trust Attack Vectors | SAGE documentation |

---

## SAGE/HRM Adversarial Testing

### Session 105: Stress Testing Under Adversarial Load (2025-12-24)

**Focus**: Wake policy robustness under adversarial conditions

**Test File**: `sage/experiments/session105_stress_test*.py`
**Results File**: `sage/experiments/session105_stress_test_results.json`
**Analysis**: `sage/docs/session105_stress_test_findings.md`

#### Stress Regimes Tested (6 Total)

| Regime | Result | Violations | Key Metric |
|--------|--------|------------|------------|
| Burst Load | ✅ PASSED | 0 | Max queue 895 |
| **Sustained Overload** | ❌ **CRITICAL FAILURE** | 85 | Queue → 1962 |
| Oscillatory Load | ⚠️ Stable but oscillating | 0 | Period ~3.3 cycles |
| Long Inactivity | ✅ PASSED | 0 | Recovery validated |
| ATP Starvation | ✅ PASSED | 0 | Graceful degradation |
| Degenerate Cases | ✅ PASSED | 1 | Edge cases handled |

**Total Invariant Violations**: 85 (all from sustained overload)

#### Critical Issues Discovered

**Issue 1: Unbounded Queue Growth**
- **Observed**: Queue grew to 1962 (target max: 1000)
- **Root Cause**: Arrival rate exceeds service rate with no admission control
- **Impact**: System collapse under sustained pressure
- **Fix Required**: Circuit breaker + load shedding (CRISIS mode)

**Issue 2: Universal Oscillation (Limit Cycling)**
- **Observed**: 6/6 regimes show oscillation (period 2.9-3.3 cycles)
- **Root Cause**: Insufficient hysteresis (0.4 wake, 0.2 sleep = 0.2 gap)
- **Impact**: ATP wasted on rapid state transitions
- **Fix Required**: Increased hysteresis + cooldown + EMA smoothing

#### Nova's Predictions Validated

| Nova's Warning | Test Result |
|----------------|-------------|
| "bounded queue growth" | ❌ Queue unbounded |
| "avoid limit cycles" | ❌ Universal oscillation |
| "stability under distribution shifts" | ❌ Sustained overload broke system |

**Lesson**: External peer review (Nova) correctly identified architectural weaknesses before stress testing confirmed them.

---

## Key Discoveries

### Web4

1. **Adaptive Byzantine Consensus had 67% vulnerability** before defenses (Session 84)
2. **Delegation chain attacks reduced from 50% → 0%** through three sessions of hardening
3. **Collusion remains acceptable risk** (2.42x advantage for 15-member cartel)
4. **8 production mitigations validated** with 100% test pass rate

### SAGE

1. **Wake policy oscillates universally** - control theory fix required
2. **Unbounded queue under sustained load** - circuit breaker required
3. **ATP starvation handled gracefully** - existing mechanism works
4. **No deadlocks detected** - liveness maintained

---

## Testing Methodology

### Attack Simulation Approach

1. **Real Code Execution**: Actual attack scenarios run against live systems
2. **Quantified Results**: JSON files with specific metrics (success rates, deviations)
3. **Iterative Hardening**: Session 89 → 90 → 91 shows defense evolution
4. **Regression Testing**: Previous attacks retested after defenses added

### Stress Testing Approach

1. **Multiple Regimes**: Burst, sustained, oscillatory, starvation, edge cases
2. **Invariant Checking**: Safety/liveness invariants monitored throughout
3. **Trajectory Logging**: Full state history for analysis
4. **External Review**: Nova's predictions compared to actual results

---

## Test Artifacts

### Web4

| Artifact | Location |
|----------|----------|
| Session 84 Results | `implementation/session84_track1_attack_results.json` |
| Session 91 Results | `implementation/session91_track4_attack_results.json` |
| Attack Simulation Code | `implementation/session*_attack*.py` |
| Attack Vector Taxonomy | `private-context/insights/web4-attack-vector-analysis-session-11.md` |
| Threat Model | `THREAT_MODEL.md` |

### SAGE

| Artifact | Location |
|----------|----------|
| Session 105 Results | `sage/experiments/session105_stress_test_results.json` |
| Stress Test Findings | `sage/docs/session105_stress_test_findings.md` |
| Stress Test Code | `sage/experiments/session105_stress_test*.py` |

---

## Defense Status Summary

### Web4 Production Blockers (Resolved)

| Blocker | Status | Resolution |
|---------|--------|------------|
| Coverage Inflation vulnerability | ✅ Resolved | Coverage verification implemented |
| Sybil Flood vulnerability | ✅ Resolved | Society staking + whitelist |
| Delegation chain attacks | ✅ Resolved | Multi-layer defenses (Session 91) |

### SAGE Production Blockers (Pending)

| Blocker | Status | Proposed Fix |
|---------|--------|--------------|
| Unbounded queue growth | 🔄 Pending | Queue CRISIS mode + load shedding |
| Universal oscillation | 🔄 Pending | Hysteresis + cooldown + EMA smoothing |

---

## Lessons Learned

### Technical

1. **Median consensus is naturally resilient** to minority attackers
2. **Sybil resistance requires economic cost** (staking) not just technical barriers
3. **Control theory matters** for continuous inference systems
4. **Stress testing reveals what nominal testing misses**

### Process

1. **External peer review is invaluable** (Nova correctly predicted SAGE issues)
2. **Iterative hardening works** (50% → 25% → 0% attack success)
3. **Document attack results immediately** for future reference
4. **Production deployment should be gated on security validation**

---

## References

### Session Documentation

- [Session 84: Attack Vector Analysis](../../private-context/moments/2025-12-22-session84-attack-vector-analysis.md)
- [Session 73: Byzantine Consensus Analysis](../../private-context/moments/2025-12-20-session73-byzantine-consensus-attack-analysis.md)
- [Session 105: Stress Test Findings](../sage/docs/session105_stress_test_findings.md)
- [Track 17: Attack Mitigation Complete](../../private-context/moments/2025-12-07-legion-track17-attack-mitigation-complete.md)

### Design Documents

- [Web4 Attack Vector Taxonomy](../../private-context/insights/web4-attack-vector-analysis-session-11.md)
- [Web4 Threat Model](./THREAT_MODEL.md)
- [Authorization Attack Vectors](./web4-standard/implementation/authorization/ATTACK_VECTORS.md)

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**Report Status**: Complete
**Last Updated**: 2026-01-02
**Next Review**: After SAGE Session 106 (architectural hardening)
