Fortiva — Windows-Native Password Manager

Zero-knowledge · Local-first · Living-off-the-land · No background services

Fortiva is a Windows-native password manager built on the Windows stack. Symmetric encryption uses Windows CNG (AES-256-GCM). Master-password key derivation uses memory-hard Argon2id. There is no cloud sync, no telemetry, and no Electron runtime.

Components

Component	Description
Fortiva.Core	Shared library: vault format, crypto, policy, audit, security scan
Fortiva.Personal	Free, local-first WinUI 3 app for individuals
Fortiva.Enterprise	Licensed, policy-driven WinUI 3 app for businesses
Fortiva.Admin	IT/admin WinUI 3 console for licenses, policies, shared vaults
Fortiva.LicenseTool	CLI tool to generate and sign enterprise licenses
Fortiva.BrowserBridge.Host	.NET native-messaging host for browser extension
extension/	Edge/Chromium browser extension (local-only, no cloud)

Security Architecture

Master Password
    │
    ▼ Argon2id (memory-hard KDF, ≥64 MB / ≥3 iter personal default)
Master Key (MK)  ──AES-256-GCM (Windows CNG)──►  Wrapped Vault Key (VK)
                                          │
                                          ▼ AES-256-GCM
                                    Vault Payload (entries + integrity log)
                                          │
                                          ▼ DPAPI (LocalMachine/CurrentUser)
                                    Rollback state · Policy · License

• Windows Hello: UserConsentVerifier gates access to DPAPI-protected key blob. The master password remains the cryptographic root.
• Paranoia Mode: Vault opens read-only if revision counter or DPAPI state indicates rollback.
• Snapshot rotation: Last N vault snapshots retained for recovery.
• Security audit: Full in-app scan (passwords, settings, vault hygiene) with JSON/HTML export.
• SecureZeroMemory: All sensitive buffers explicitly zeroed via CryptographicOperations.ZeroMemory.

Build

Prerequisites (developers)

• .NET 8 SDK (dotnet --version ≥ 8.0)
• Windows 10 19041+ or Windows 11
• Visual Studio 2022 with Windows App SDK workload (WinUI builds only)
• Inno Setup 6 (for EXE installers)

Core library + tests (CLI, no VS required)

dotnet build src/Fortiva.Core/Fortiva.Core.csproj -c Release
dotnet test  tests/Fortiva.Core.Tests/                        # 128+ tests
dotnet test  tests/Fortiva.AppHost.Tests/ -p:Platform=x64     # ViewModel + Hello tests

Release build + installers

./build-release.ps1
./build-installers.ps1 -Version 1.0.0

build-installers.ps1 downloads WebView2 and VC++ redistributable bootstrappers and embeds them in each setup EXE. Clients receive silent prerequisite installation on first run.

License tool (CLI)

dotnet build src/Fortiva.LicenseTool/ -c Release

dotnet run --project src/Fortiva.LicenseTool -- generate-key
dotnet run --project src/Fortiva.LicenseTool -- sign "Acme Corp" 365 private-key.xml
dotnet run --project src/Fortiva.LicenseTool -- verify fortiva-license-acme-corp.json

WinUI applications (requires Visual Studio)

./build-release.ps1   # preferred — MSBuild + resources.pri

Distribution

Channel	App
GitHub Releases	FortivaPersonal-{version}-Setup.exe (auto-update manifest)
EXE installer	Inno Setup — packaging/installer/
Intune / Endpoint Manager	.intunewin wrap (see packaging/intune/)
SCCM / GPO	Silent install via EXE /VERYSILENT

Installers bundle .NET 8 + Windows App SDK and install WebView2 + VC++ x64 when missing.

Documentation

Document	Description
docs/UserManual.md	End-user guide (install, vault, security audit, backup)
docs/THREAT-MODEL.md	Threat model, trust boundaries, mitigations
docs/VAULT-FORMAT.md	.fva binary format specification
docs/POLICY-LICENSING.md	License structure, policy engine
docs/ONBOARDING-RECOVERY.md	Onboarding, panic lock, snapshot recovery
docs/UPDATE-STRATEGY.md	Personal auto-update via GitHub Releases
docs/RELEASE-PIPELINE.md	CI/CD release workflow
docs/SECURITY-PENTEST-REPORT.md	Adversarial review findings

QA

dotnet test tests/Fortiva.Core.Tests/
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/qa-stress-audit.ps1 -SkipBuild

CI/CD

GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/ci.yml, release.yml):

1. Core — build + test
2. Release — build-release.ps1, prerequisites fetch, Inno Setup installers, GitHub Release assets
3. CodeQL — security scanning