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AUTHENTICATION_ARCHITECTURE.md

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CeloHT edited this page Aug 10, 2026 · 2 revisions 


# CeloHT Authentication Architecture

## Overview

CeloHT uses a security-first authentication architecture designed to protect users, community members, agents, administrators, developers, and platform services.

Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of an actor before granting access to protected CeloHT resources.

CeloHT separates:

- User authentication
- Wallet authentication
- Administrative authentication
- Service-to-service authentication
- Developer authentication
- Session management

The architecture is designed to support Web3-native authentication while maintaining compatibility with conventional application authentication mechanisms.

---

## 1. Authentication Principles

CeloHT follows these principles:

1. Never trust an unauthenticated request.
2. Never expose private keys or authentication secrets.
3. Minimize authentication data collection.
4. Prefer cryptographic wallet verification for blockchain-related operations.
5. Separate authentication from authorization.
6. Use short-lived credentials whenever practical.
7. Require stronger authentication for privileged operations.
8. Log security-relevant authentication events without storing sensitive credentials.
9. Apply rate limiting and abuse protection.
10. Design authentication mechanisms for future scalability.

---

## 2. Authentication Domains

CeloHT may operate across multiple authentication domains.

### 2.1 Public Users

Public users may access:

- Public website pages
- Educational resources
- Public documentation
- Public impact information
- Public blockchain information

These resources generally do not require authentication.

### 2.2 Registered Users

Authenticated users may access protected services such as:

- Personal profiles
- Training progress
- Community services
- Transaction history
- Agent-related services
- Personalized platform features

### 2.3 Wallet Users

Blockchain operations may require wallet-based authentication.

Supported wallet interactions may include:

- Valora
- MiniPay
- WalletConnect-compatible wallets
- Other compatible Celo wallets

Wallet authentication must never require CeloHT to receive or store a user's private key or seed phrase.

### 2.4 Administrators

Administrative accounts require stronger authentication controls.

Administrative privileges may include:

- Platform configuration
- User management
- Agent management
- Content management
- Treasury-related interfaces
- Security operations
- Infrastructure management

Administrative authentication should use multi-factor authentication whenever supported.

---

## 3. Wallet Authentication

CeloHT's Web3 authentication model is based on cryptographic ownership verification.

The platform may issue an authentication challenge containing:

- Random nonce
- Timestamp
- Domain
- Intended application
- Expiration time
- Requested wallet address

The user signs the challenge using their wallet.

The backend verifies the cryptographic signature.

If verification succeeds, the wallet address becomes authenticated for the current session.

### Important Security Rule

CeloHT must never request:

- Seed phrases
- Private keys
- Wallet recovery phrases
- Private signing keys

Users should sign authentication messages directly through their wallet.

---

## 4. Authentication Flow

A typical wallet authentication flow is:

```text
User
  |
  v
CeloHT Application
  |
  | Request authentication challenge
  v
Authentication Service
  |
  | Generate nonce
  v
User Wallet
  |
  | Sign challenge
  v
Authentication Service
  |
  | Verify signature
  v
Session Service
  |
  | Create authenticated session
  v
CeloHT Application

5. Nonce Management

Authentication challenges must use unpredictable nonces.

Each nonce should:

  • Be generated using a cryptographically secure random generator.
  • Be unique.
  • Have a limited lifetime.
  • Be invalidated after successful authentication.
  • Be associated with the intended authentication context.

Nonce reuse must be prevented.

This protects against replay attacks.

6. Session Management

Authenticated sessions should be:

  • Short-lived where practical
  • Revocable
  • Bound to the authenticated identity
  • Protected against session fixation
  • Protected against session theft
  • Invalidated after security-sensitive events

Session credentials must never be placed in URLs.

If browser cookies are used, security attributes should include:







Secure
HttpOnly
SameSite

where appropriate.

7. Token-Based Authentication

If CeloHT uses access tokens, the architecture should distinguish:

Access Token

Used for short-lived API access.

Refresh Token

Used to obtain a new access token when appropriate.

Refresh tokens require stronger protection and should be revocable.

Tokens must not contain sensitive information unnecessarily.

8. Authentication for APIs

Protected API endpoints must verify:

  1. Authentication credential
  2. Credential validity
  3. Credential expiration
  4. User identity
  5. Required authorization
  6. Request integrity where applicable

Authentication failures should return standardized responses without exposing internal security information.

9. Service-to-Service Authentication

Internal services should authenticate with each other using dedicated credentials.

Examples include:

  • API services
  • Background workers
  • Blockchain services
  • Notification services
  • Data services
  • Monitoring services

Service credentials must be:

  • Unique per service
  • Rotatable
  • Stored securely
  • Scoped to required permissions

10. Administrative Authentication

Administrative access represents a high-risk authentication domain.

Recommended controls:

  • Multi-factor authentication
  • Strong password policy where passwords are used
  • Hardware security keys where practical
  • Short session lifetime
  • IP/device monitoring where appropriate
  • Privileged action logging
  • Immediate credential revocation after compromise

Administrative credentials must never be shared between individuals.

11. Authentication Rate Limiting

Authentication endpoints should implement rate limiting.

Controls should address:

  • Login attempts
  • Signature verification attempts
  • Password reset requests
  • Authentication challenge generation
  • Token refresh requests

Rate limiting should reduce:

  • Brute-force attacks
  • Credential stuffing
  • Denial-of-service attacks
  • Automated abuse

12. Account Recovery

Account recovery mechanisms must avoid creating weaker security paths.

Recovery procedures may include:

  • Verified email recovery
  • Wallet ownership verification
  • Administrator-assisted recovery
  • Strong identity verification where required

Recovery mechanisms must not bypass critical authorization controls.

13. Authentication Logging

Security-relevant authentication events should be logged.

Examples:

  • Successful authentication
  • Failed authentication
  • Wallet authentication
  • Session creation
  • Session termination
  • Credential rotation
  • Password reset
  • MFA changes
  • Administrative authentication

Logs must not contain:

  • Passwords
  • Private keys
  • Seed phrases
  • Authentication tokens
  • Secret API keys

14. Authentication Threat Model

CeloHT should consider:

Threat | Mitigation -- | -- Credential theft | Secure credential storage Replay attacks | Nonces and expiration Session theft | Secure cookies and short-lived sessions Brute force | Rate limiting Phishing | Clear wallet signing messages Private-key exposure | Never request private keys Token leakage | Secure token handling Account takeover | MFA and monitoring Service credential theft | Rotation and scoped credentials

15. Wallet Security Requirements

CeloHT wallet integrations must follow these requirements:

  • Never request seed phrases.
  • Never request private keys.
  • Never silently initiate transactions.
  • Clearly display transaction intent.
  • Clearly identify signing requests.
  • Verify chain/network information.
  • Validate wallet addresses.
  • Protect against malicious transaction parameters.

16. Authentication and Privacy

Authentication data should be minimized.

CeloHT should collect only information required to operate the relevant service.

Wallet addresses should be treated as potentially sensitive identifiers even though blockchain transactions are public.

Authentication data must follow the principles defined in:

DATA_PRIVACY.md

17. Authentication Incident Response

If authentication infrastructure is compromised, CeloHT should be able to:

  1. Revoke compromised credentials.
  2. Invalidate affected sessions.
  3. Rotate service credentials.
  4. Review authentication logs.
  5. Identify affected accounts.
  6. Notify relevant stakeholders when appropriate.
  7. Document the incident.
  8. Implement corrective controls.

18. Security Requirements

Production authentication infrastructure should enforce:

  • HTTPS
  • Secure credential storage
  • Strong cryptographic primitives
  • Secure session management
  • Rate limiting
  • Audit logging
  • Credential rotation
  • Least privilege
  • Dependency updates
  • Security monitoring

19. Architecture Summary

CeloHT authentication is designed around three core concepts:







IDENTITY
   |
   v
AUTHENTICATION
   |
   v
SESSION
   |
   v
AUTHORIZATION

Authentication establishes who the actor is.

Authorization determines what that actor is allowed to do.

These systems must remain logically separated.

20. Related Documentation

  • AUTHORIZATION_MODEL.md
  • SMART_CONTRACT_SECURITY.md
  • DATA_PRIVACY.md
  • SECURITY.md
  • GOVERNANCE.md
  • NO_TOKEN_POLICY.md
  • BLOCKCHAIN_INTEGRATION.md
  • API_ARCHITECTURE.md

Status

Document: Authentication Architecture
Project: CeloHT
Classification: Technical / Security Documentation
Status: Architecture Reference

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