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Fusion Identity Spec v1 (DRAFT)

The fusion identity spec is a specification for how to relate multiple devices in such a way that they represent a new combined (fusion) identity. The primary purpose is an individual with multiple devices and thus multiple SSB identities. Only new members can be added to a fusion, there is no removal of members only tombstoning.

In the case where a fusion identity is tombstoned because a member is removed and another fusion must take its place, the concept of redirecting and attestations of these was considered. But instead of baking these concepts into the protocol in an initial version, we have decided to include them in an future version once we get more real world experience.

The string representation of a fusion id is: ssb:identity/fusion/<PUBLIC_KEY>

Usages:

  • Can mention a fusion identity and all members can use that as notification
  • Can private message a fusion identity and all members will be able to decrypt the message and respond
  • Acts as a public record of what feeds are part of an identity (discoverability)
  • Following a fusion identity for replication
  • Messages can be shown as coming from the same identity across multiple devices

Out of scope for v1:

  • Redirection
  • Attestation of redirects
  • Private invitations to fusion identity
  • Inviting fusion identities to private groups
  • Use of fusion identity for authorisation logic
    • this is a priority, but will be addressed in subsequent versions
  • Invite a fusion identity to an existing fusion identity

Overview

Alice has SSB installed on per laptop and installs a client on her phone. She wants one identity that links her two devices. Either device can do an init to create a new fusion identity. Lets assume laptop does. Then laptop invite phone to the identity. The phone consent the invite, after which laptop will entrust phone with the private key. Lastly phone posts a proof-of-key message announcing the possession of the key. At this point phone is now a member of the fusion identity and can invite other devices.

t   @laptop                                   @phone
-   ---------------------------------------   -----------------
1   init(@fuID)
2   enc(entrust(sk), [@laptop, @fuID])
3   invite(@phone)
4                                             %cID = consent(yes)
5   enc(entrust(sk, %cID), [@phone, @fuID])
6                                             proof-of-key(%cID, proof)

If Alice is at a party and looses her rooted phone on the way home. From this point on she tombstones the fusion identity to tell other peers not to send private messages to the fusion identity any longer as those messages might be read by a third party.

Fusion Identity Operations:

init

Start the new identity. This results in two messages: an init message and a key to self.

{
  type: 'fusion',
  subtype: 'fusion/init',
  id: 'ssb:identity/fusion/3h89vDLAcoi68wXZRZ2kVrXs0WT0vthGo9uW1XBPLhU=',
  members: {
    '@mmEKdNyVBtxQM3bwAVS8ujJvi/C1PR07tEQZVtyCp1c=.ed25519': 1
  },
  tangles: {
    fusion: { root: null, previous: null }
  }
}

DM key to self:

{
  type: 'fusion/entrust',
  secretKey: 'k4eUDLq4rzUvWRxYjVM8PE64DiU6tidLEn+5ERax3OnbO0IXQhe4yQAHom/lnGjrV+hIi3fvSHoG/UuIuuecvA==',
  rootId: '%ZxAJbfRTwhkhpD9viErN9zBzIEzrm6FTndaH/bEnbfI=.sha256',
  recps: [
    'ssb:identity/fusion/3h89vDLAcoi68wXZRZ2kVrXs0WT0vthGo9uW1XBPLhU=',
    '@mmEKdNyVBtxQM3bwAVS8ujJvi/C1PR07tEQZVtyCp1c=.ed25519'
  ]
}

secretKey is in base64.

To keep things simple the public encryption key for DMs is the same as the identity.

The author of the message is now the first member of the fusion identity.

Preconditions:

  • The id must not be used in another fusion identity (different root), in that case all fusions with the same id is considered tombstoned.

invite

Invite one or more feeds to join a fusion.

{
  type: 'fusion',
  subtype: 'fusion/invite',
  invited: {
    '@2Cu6gvifd39hHvE/HkT4M7dP5KY5CZ+AsYzM1w2mtT8=.ed25519': 1
  },
  tangles: {
    fusion: {
      root: '%ZxAJbfRTwhkhpD9viErN9zBzIEzrm6FTndaH/bEnbfI=.sha256', // init
      previous: ['%ZxAJbfRTwhkhpD9viErN9zBzIEzrm6FTndaH/bEnbfI=.sha256'] // init
    }
  }
}

Preconditions:

  • The feed writing this message message must be a member
  • You can invite multiple feeds
  • Inviting yourself is considered an error

consent

Respond to an invitation message.

For an accept:

{
  type: 'fusion',
  subtype: 'fusion/consent',
  consented: { 
    '@2Cu6gvifd39hHvE/HkT4M7dP5KY5CZ+AsYzM1w2mtT8=.ed25519': 1
  },
  tangles: {
    fusion: {
      root: '%ZxAJbfRTwhkhpD9viErN9zBzIEzrm6FTndaH/bEnbfI=.sha256', // init
      previous: ['%1UFhwpETE+dR/3IiqXpMIxsh5ga6DsCj6if8Q0JMYAE=.sha256'] // invite
    }
  }
}

For a decline:

{
  type: 'fusion',
  subtype: 'fusion/consent',
  consented: { 
    '@2Cu6gvifd39hHvE/HkT4M7dP5KY5CZ+AsYzM1w2mtT8=.ed25519': 0
  },
  tangles: {
    fusion: {
      root: '%ZxAJbfRTwhkhpD9viErN9zBzIEzrm6FTndaH/bEnbfI=.sha256', // init
      previous: ['%1UFhwpETE+dR/3IiqXpMIxsh5ga6DsCj6if8Q0JMYAE=.sha256'] // invite
    }
  }
}

Preconditions:

  • The author must be invited to the fusion
  • The author must not have consented positivily before
  • The author must not be a member of the fusion

entrust

Give secret key to someone that has consented an invite. This is similar to the message to sent self on fusion/init.

{
  type: 'fusion/entrust',
  secretKey: 'k4eUDLq4rzUvWRxYjVM8PE64DiU6tidLEn+5ERax3OnbO0IXQhe4yQAHom/lnGjrV+hIi3fvSHoG/UuIuuecvA==',
  rootId: '%ZxAJbfRTwhkhpD9viErN9zBzIEzrm6FTndaH/bEnbfI=.sha256',
  consentId: '%J0IY7Xxx6OqUr9HXlhIQGJoad+saCEOxkYlkkViY8Oc=.sha256',
  recps: [
    'ssb:identity/fusion/3h89vDLAcoi68wXZRZ2kVrXs0WT0vthGo9uW1XBPLhU=',
    '@2Cu6gvifd39hHvE/HkT4M7dP5KY5CZ+AsYzM1w2mtT8=.ed25519'
  ]
}

secretKey is in base64.

Preconditions:

  • The recipient must have consented the fusion invite

NOTE:

  • we could have included a private section of the fusion/invite which included the key, but decided against this because it makes the flow less clear
  • adding an additional step to send the key after consent does not add significant latency because we are presumed to be in control of all the devices in this fusion identity

proof-of-key / member

A way to publicly announce that you are in possession of private key and thus announce that you are now a member.

{
  type: 'fusion',
  subtype: fusion/proof-of-key,
  members: { 
    '@2Cu6gvifd39hHvE/HkT4M7dP5KY5CZ+AsYzM1w2mtT8=.ed25519': 1
  },
  consentId: '%71lcX2CY306hlZQW1UtoZ0uODm/RurnGlc8mCCjwn7w=.sha256',
  proofOfKey: 'fqhDYLkijSEKhYD3nQziMcszCFVxBaIAEZuue+1RA/dhm14OgryVHOXK6fhwsdlrFzj58HWBPZUAjVz4zafYCQ==.sig.ed25519',
  tangles: {
    fusion: { 
      root: '%ZxAJbfRTwhkhpD9viErN9zBzIEzrm6FTndaH/bEnbfI=.sha256', // init
      previous: ['%71lcX2CY306hlZQW1UtoZ0uODm/RurnGlc8mCCjwn7w=.sha256'] // consent
  }
}

proofOfKey must be signed by the entrusted fusion key as sign(%consentId + 'fusion/proof-of-key').

Preconditions:

  • The author must be have consented an invite in %consentId
  • The author writes this proof-of-key message when it sees the entrust, this ensures that they are in posession of the key

tombstone

Nullify or revoke a fusion identity.

Given you have a shared private key, there is no easy way to "remove" a device from a fusion identity. Our solution is to "tombstone" identities and require that you mint a new fusion identity with the devices you trust.

{
  type: 'fusion',
  tombstone: { 
    set: { 
      date: 1641983852373, 
      reason: 'bye' 
    }
  },
  tangles: {
    fusion: {
      root: '%ZxAJbfRTwhkhpD9viErN9zBzIEzrm6FTndaH/bEnbfI=.sha256', // init
      previous: ['%Wo2vAn/LuCCDauDfbZEncCu/5eV/uuk2M1tIbT0DjC8=.sha256'] // proof-of-key
    }
  }
}

Preconditions:

  • Only a member of a fusion identity can tombstone it
  • There is no undo for a tombstone
  • After a tombstone, the only messages which are allowed to extend the tangle are other tombstone messages

NOTE:

  • you MUST NOT DM a tombstoned identity
  • tangles can have divergent state (many tips to the graph). We consider a tangle tombstoned if any of the tips are a tombstone message

Flow

A flow diagram of what action can follow another. Please note that multiple invites can happen concurrently. The tangle structure keeps track of the state of the identity. After a tombstone, the only valid operation on the identity is attestation.

The <state> -> tombstone is left out in the list above because any state can lead to the tombstone state. Similarly <state> -> invite is also left out.

// identity tangle state changes
invite -> consent
invite -> attestation (deny)
consent -> entrust
entrust -> proof-of-key
tombstone -> attestation

Private messages

Private messages uses box2.

FIXME: precise definition. See #6

Operations

Besides the operations operating directly on a fusion identity described above: init, invite, consent, entrust, proof-of-key, tombstone, the following operations can be useful:

read

Gets the current state of a fusion including the status of feeds such as invited, members, consented.

invitations

Which fusion identities have I been invited to and not yet responded to.

all

The current active fusion identies

tombstoned

All tombstoned fusion identies

Out of scope for v1

redirect operations

The purpose of redirects is to make it easy to point from a tombstoned record to it's replacement.

A redirect is an independant tangle. It is neither part of the old or new fusion identity. This means there is no causality between the old, the new and the redirect. Clearly the old and new needs to exist before a redirect can be created but there is no need for a redirect to be attested before the new identity can start inviting members.

{
  type: 'fusion/redirect',
  old: ssb:identity/fusion/id1,
  new: ssb:identity/fusion/id2,
  tangles: {
    redirect: {
      root: null,
      previous: null
    }
  }
}
{
  type: 'fusion/redirect',
  tombstone: {
    date,
    reason
  },
  tangles: {
    redirect: {
      root,      // the root message of a fusion/redirect tangle
      previous
    }
  }
}

It might also be useful to have authenticated redirects.

NOTE:

  • there can be many redirects, which ones you choose to trust are up to you (you might like to consider who authored it, and who's atteseted it - see below below)
  • the only person allowed to tombstone a redirect is the person who published it

attestation

Is the redirect valid?

{
  type: 'fusion/attestation',
  target: %redirectId,                    // static
  position: confirm|reject|null,
  reason: String,                         // optional
  tombstone: { reason }                   // optional
  tangles: {
    attestation: { root: null, previous: null }
  }
}

Everyone who agrees with a redirect must attest it publicly because it makes it harder for an adversary to try and hide the fact that a identity have been revoked by withholding messages from a single feed.

Flow

// redirect tangle state changes
redirect -> attestation
redirect -> tombstone of redirect?

// attestation tangle state changs
attestation -> tombstone

Attacks

Someone trying to add fake identities to a fusion just before posting a tombstone in order for them to appear to have the majority when it comes to redirecting.

Related work

SoK: Multi-Device Secure Instant Messaging

https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/498.pdf

Ideas from that one:

  • Use 2 keys instead of one to allow differentiation between devices, meaning you could have some devices that you don't trust so much so they are only allowed to read messages to the identity, not to add members or revoke the identity.

Backchannel

https://www.inkandswitch.com/backchannel/

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