From 288569297f229cddbf93651ecf4fca43f46364a8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Marc-Andr=C3=A9=20Bombeck?= <mbombeck@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 20:55:46 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix(crypto): fail closed on weak dev key outside
 development/test
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The dev-only SHA-256 key padding was gated on the absence of a production
marker, so a staging or preview container with NODE_ENV unset silently
derived a weak key the operator never recorded — rotating to a real key
later orphaned those rows (decrypt is fail-closed). Gate the padding on an
explicit NODE_ENV of development or test; every other case, including unset
NODE_ENV, throws the same hard error as in production.
---
 src/lib/__tests__/crypto.test.ts | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/lib/crypto.ts                | 12 +++++++++--
 2 files changed, 46 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/lib/__tests__/crypto.test.ts b/src/lib/__tests__/crypto.test.ts
index 25efbcd5c..fc2a0a299 100644
--- a/src/lib/__tests__/crypto.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/__tests__/crypto.test.ts
@@ -132,4 +132,40 @@ describe("crypto (AES-256-GCM, key versioning)", () => {
     _resetCryptoCacheForTests();
     expect(() => encrypt("test")).toThrow(/no matching entry/);
   });
+
+  // A 40-char hex string is too short for a 256-bit key but long enough to
+  // reach the dev-only SHA-256 padding branch (base64-decodes to 30 bytes, so
+  // it falls through to the >=32-hex path). It must only pad in development /
+  // test and otherwise fail closed.
+  const SHORT_HEX_KEY = "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567";
+
+  it("fails closed when NODE_ENV is unset and only a short hex key is set", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("NODE_ENV", undefined);
+    vi.stubEnv("ENCRYPTION_KEYS", "");
+    vi.stubEnv("ENCRYPTION_ACTIVE_KEY_ID", "");
+    vi.stubEnv("ENCRYPTION_KEY", SHORT_HEX_KEY);
+    _resetCryptoCacheForTests();
+    expect(() => encrypt("test")).toThrow(
+      /must be 64 hex characters .* outside development\/test/,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("fails closed for a short hex key in production", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("NODE_ENV", "production");
+    vi.stubEnv("ENCRYPTION_KEYS", "");
+    vi.stubEnv("ENCRYPTION_ACTIVE_KEY_ID", "");
+    vi.stubEnv("ENCRYPTION_KEY", SHORT_HEX_KEY);
+    _resetCryptoCacheForTests();
+    expect(() => encrypt("test")).toThrow(/outside development\/test/);
+  });
+
+  it("still pads a short hex key in development/test for local use", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("NODE_ENV", "development");
+    vi.stubEnv("ENCRYPTION_KEYS", "");
+    vi.stubEnv("ENCRYPTION_ACTIVE_KEY_ID", "");
+    vi.stubEnv("ENCRYPTION_KEY", SHORT_HEX_KEY);
+    _resetCryptoCacheForTests();
+    const ct = encrypt("dev-secret");
+    expect(decrypt(ct)).toBe("dev-secret");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/crypto.ts b/src/lib/crypto.ts
index 913871e9a..b2bba0cb4 100644
--- a/src/lib/crypto.ts
+++ b/src/lib/crypto.ts
@@ -59,9 +59,17 @@ function decodeKey(raw: string, label: string): Buffer {
     }
   }
   if (/^[0-9a-fA-F]+$/.test(raw) && raw.length >= 32) {
-    if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "production") {
+    // Fail closed unless we are explicitly in a local dev or test run. The
+    // SHA-256 padding below derives a key the operator never recorded; if a
+    // staging/preview container runs with NODE_ENV unset it would silently
+    // encrypt under that derived key, and rotating to a real key later
+    // orphans those rows (decrypt is fail-closed → undecryptable). Only the
+    // two known throwaway-data environments may take the padding path; every
+    // other case (production AND unset NODE_ENV) throws the same hard error.
+    const env = process.env.NODE_ENV;
+    if (env !== "development" && env !== "test") {
       throw new Error(
-        `Encryption key '${label}' must be 64 hex characters (256 bits) in production. ` +
+        `Encryption key '${label}' must be 64 hex characters (256 bits) outside development/test. ` +
           `Generate one with: openssl rand -hex 32`,
       );
     }