feat(server): separate HTTPS from mTLS authentication

Make --tls-client-ca optional and make client certificates always
optional when a CA is configured. This decouples HTTPS encryption
from mTLS authentication, allowing mTLS and OIDC bearer tokens to
coexist as parallel authentication mechanisms.

When --tls-client-ca is provided, client certificates are validated
against the CA when presented but never required. Clients may connect
with or without a certificate — authentication is handled at the
application layer (e.g. OIDC).

Two TLS modes are now supported:
- HTTPS with optional mTLS (--tls-client-ca provided)
- HTTPS-only (--tls-client-ca omitted)

The --disable-gateway-auth flag is preserved for backward
compatibility but is now a no-op. The allow_unauthenticated field
has been removed from TlsConfig. The Helm chart conditionally
includes the client-ca volume and env var based on whether
clientCaSecretName is configured.

Author: sjenning

Cargo.lock

@@ -326,10 +326,15 @@ pub struct ServiceRoutingConfig {
 
 /// TLS configuration.
 ///
-/// By default mTLS is enforced — all clients must present a certificate
-/// signed by the given CA.  When `allow_unauthenticated` is `true`, the
-/// TLS handshake also accepts connections without a client certificate
-/// (needed for reverse-proxy deployments like Cloudflare Tunnel).
+/// Two modes are supported:
+/// - **HTTPS with optional mTLS** (`client_ca_path = Some`):
+///   Client certificates are validated against the given CA when presented,
+///   but never required.  Clients may connect with or without a certificate.
+/// - **HTTPS-only** (`client_ca_path = None`):
+///   Server-side TLS only; no client certificates are requested.
+///
+/// In both modes, authentication is handled at the application layer
+/// (e.g. OIDC bearer tokens).  mTLS is an additional mechanism.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct TlsConfig {
     /// Path to the TLS certificate file.
@@ -338,16 +343,17 @@ pub struct TlsConfig {
     /// Path to the TLS private key file.
     pub key_path: PathBuf,
 
-    /// Path to the CA certificate file for client certificate verification (mTLS).
-    /// The server requires all clients to present a valid certificate signed by
-    /// this CA.
-    pub client_ca_path: PathBuf,
+    /// Path to the CA certificate file for client certificate verification.
+    /// When `Some`, client certs signed by this CA are validated.
+    /// When `None`, the server does not request client certs.
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub client_ca_path: Option<PathBuf>,
 
-    /// When `true`, the TLS handshake succeeds even without a client
-    /// certificate.  Application-layer middleware must then enforce auth
-    /// (e.g. via a CF JWT header).
+    /// When `true` and `client_ca_path` is `Some`, the TLS handshake rejects
+    /// connections that do not present a valid client certificate.
+    /// When `false`, client certificates are accepted but not required.
     #[serde(default)]
-    pub allow_unauthenticated: bool,
+    pub require_client_auth: bool,
 }
 
 /// OIDC (`OpenID` Connect) configuration for JWT-based authentication.

crates/openshell-core/src/config.rs

@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ petname = "2"
 ipnet = "2"
 tempfile = "3"
 nix = { workspace = true }
+x509-parser = "0.16"
 
 [features]
 dev-settings = ["openshell-core/dev-settings"]

crates/openshell-server/Cargo.toml

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use openshell_core::config::{
 };
 use std::net::{IpAddr, SocketAddr};
 use std::path::PathBuf;
-use tracing::info;
+use tracing::{info, warn};
 use tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter;
 
 use crate::certgen;
@@ -248,12 +248,6 @@ struct RunArgs {
     #[arg(long, env = "OPENSHELL_DISABLE_TLS")]
     disable_tls: bool,
 
-    /// Disable gateway authentication (mTLS client certificate requirement).
-    /// When set, the TLS handshake accepts connections without a client
-    /// certificate. Ignored when --disable-tls is set.
-    #[arg(long, env = "OPENSHELL_DISABLE_GATEWAY_AUTH")]
-    disable_gateway_auth: bool,
-
     /// OIDC issuer URL for JWT-based authentication.
     /// When set, the server validates `authorization: Bearer` tokens on gRPC
     /// requests against the issuer's JWKS endpoint.
@@ -345,6 +339,15 @@ async fn run_from_args(args: RunArgs) -> Result<()> {
 
     let bind = SocketAddr::new(args.bind_address, args.port);
 
+    let has_client_ca = args.tls_client_ca.is_some();
+    let has_oidc = args.oidc_issuer.is_some();
+
+    if args.disable_tls && has_client_ca {
+        return Err(miette::miette!(
+            "--disable-tls and --tls-client-ca are mutually exclusive.  Client mTLS authentication requires that TLS be enabled."
+        ));
+    }
+
     let tls = if args.disable_tls {
         None
     } else {
@@ -356,16 +359,11 @@ async fn run_from_args(args: RunArgs) -> Result<()> {
         let key_path = args.tls_key.ok_or_else(|| {
             miette::miette!("--tls-key is required when TLS is enabled (use --disable-tls to skip)")
         })?;
-        let client_ca_path = args.tls_client_ca.ok_or_else(|| {
-            miette::miette!(
-                "--tls-client-ca is required when TLS is enabled (use --disable-tls to skip)"
-            )
-        })?;
         Some(openshell_core::TlsConfig {
             cert_path,
             key_path,
-            client_ca_path,
-            allow_unauthenticated: args.disable_gateway_auth,
+            require_client_auth: has_client_ca && !has_oidc,
+            client_ca_path: args.tls_client_ca,
         })
     };
 
@@ -476,9 +474,23 @@ async fn run_from_args(args: RunArgs) -> Result<()> {
     };
 
     if args.disable_tls {
-        info!("TLS disabled — listening on plaintext HTTP");
-    } else if args.disable_gateway_auth {
-        info!("Gateway auth disabled — accepting connections without client certificates");
+        warn!("TLS disabled — listening on plaintext HTTP");
+    } else {
+        info!("TLS enabled — listening on encrypted HTTPS");
+    }
+
+    if has_client_ca {
+        info!("mTLS authentication enabled");
+    }
+    if has_oidc {
+        info!("OIDC authentication enabled");
+    }
+
+    if !has_client_ca && !has_oidc {
+        warn!(
+            "Neither mTLS (--tls-client-ca) nor OIDC (--oidc-issuer) is configured — \
+             the gateway has no authentication mechanism"
+        );
     }
 
     info!(bind = %config.bind_address, "Starting OpenShell server");

crates/openshell-server/src/cli.rs

@@ -610,8 +610,8 @@ mod tests {
         let config = Config::new(Some(TlsConfig {
             cert_path: server_cert,
             key_path: server_key,
-            client_ca_path: server_ca,
-            allow_unauthenticated: false,
+            client_ca_path: Some(server_ca),
+            require_client_auth: false,
         }))
         .with_grpc_endpoint("https://gateway.internal:8443");
 
@@ -646,8 +646,8 @@ mod tests {
         let config = Config::new(Some(TlsConfig {
             cert_path: server_cert.clone(),
             key_path: server_key.clone(),
-            client_ca_path: server_ca,
-            allow_unauthenticated: false,
+            client_ca_path: Some(server_ca),
+            require_client_auth: false,
         }))
         .with_grpc_endpoint("https://gateway.internal:8443");
         let vm_config = VmComputeConfig {

crates/openshell-server/src/compute/vm.rs

@@ -289,8 +289,8 @@ pub async fn run_server(
         Some(TlsAcceptor::from_files(
             &tls.cert_path,
             &tls.key_path,
-            &tls.client_ca_path,
-            tls.allow_unauthenticated,
+            tls.client_ca_path.as_deref(),
+            tls.require_client_auth,
         )?)
     } else {
         info!("TLS disabled — accepting plaintext connections");
@@ -484,7 +484,11 @@ fn spawn_gateway_connection(
                 Ok(ConnectionProtocol::Tls | ConnectionProtocol::Unknown) => {
                     match acceptor.inner().accept(stream).await {
                         Ok(tls_stream) => {
-                            if let Err(e) = service.serve(tls_stream).await {
+                            let peer_identity = multiplex::extract_peer_identity(&tls_stream);
+                            if let Err(e) = service
+                                .serve_with_peer_identity(tls_stream, peer_identity)
+                                .await
+                            {
                                 error!(error = %e, client = %addr, "Connection error");
                             }
                         }