Isolated trusted-local AOT compilation and native cache

latent-wasmtime provides bounded isolated compilation. Its IsolatedAotCompiler launches an approved one-job executable, verifies its input and output, and returns locally authenticated native bytes with an owned memory allowance. The child uses Wasmtime 47.0.4's safe Engine::precompile_component; it never instantiates a guest or loads native output.

Persistent native reuse and authenticated loading are opt-in. A configured factory uses its exact directory catalog, approved isolated compiler, protected host key, bounded raw-blob cache and bounded receipt cache. The normal configuration continues to compile portable components locally. There is no automatic CLI cache or distributed native-artifact trust protocol.

ADR-0026 and RFC-0001 distinguish these implemented compiler/native-load mechanisms from guest-process isolation. The trusted-local default remains for operator-controlled workloads. The external-capsule profile now requires enforced admission, protected configuration, the patched runtime baseline and supported isolated compilation together. check-config and startup authenticate an actual readiness child without sending a capsule or creating caches. Enabling signatures alone does not select this compiler. The parent parser, configured compiler, native loader, Wasmtime and OS remain trusted; a separate compiler process does not make its native output untrusted code safe to execute in the node.

Host API and input authority

Create a ValidatedAotProfile from a validated WasmtimeConfig, configure a TrustedAotCompilerAuthority with a protected local key, and construct IsolatedAotCompiler with the absolute executable path, its approved SHA-256, the profile, authority and AotProcessLimits.

reserve_selected accepts a concrete OwnedArtifactPreparationSource, exact ReleaseDigest and selected publication ID. The component-only reserve method requires an unambiguous component association. The producer obtains the catalog's current lifecycle/admission capability and reserves resources before the fresh bounded fetch. The job checks component bytes, descriptor, manifest, metadata and the retained capability. Missing capabilities and different release associations are rejected. Enforced catalogs retain their configured trust authority; trusted-local catalogs retain their explicit local scope. A local artifact without an OCI package has an absent package identity, never an invented digest.

let job = compiler.reserve_selected(catalog_source, &release, Some(&publication))?;
let cancellation = job.control();
// Run on an existing bounded blocking worker; this call owns the child.
let output = job.run()?;
let native_bytes = output.output();
let receipt = output.receipt();

The publication runtime contract also binds the native compatibility key and authenticated output/receipt to that publication. Sharing component bytes cannot transfer another tenant's or package's authority.

AotJobControl::cancel signals the owner. Dropping an unstarted job starts no process. The producer has no internal queue, compiler thread pool or dormant service process. In the integrated mode its blocking operation runs on the existing fixed compiler workers, or on the existing synchronous control path.

To enable that mode, construct NativeAotSettings with the approved executable, one moved TrustedAotCompilerAuthority, AotProcessLimits, NativeAotCacheConfig and NativeImageLimits, then call:

let factory = WasmtimeComponentEngineFactory::with_catalog_and_aot(
    config, services, catalog, settings,
)?;

Both preparation APIs are bound to that exact catalog owner. A caller cannot substitute a different repository or use a raw-artifact preparation method to bypass configured isolated compilation. The standalone node's optional isolatedAot settings and configuration schema describe executable approval, private key-file checks and separate cache roots.

Exact compatibility and provenance

Private construction of AotCompatibilityKey binds:

• catalog scope, exact publication, optional real package identity, component SHA-256 and size;
• the verified component metadata fingerprint;
• complete validated runtime/security configuration, actual target and detected CPU requirements;
• Wasmtime's actual engine compatibility fingerprint, measured from a real compiler-only engine;
• the exact host capability-contract digest;
• the approved compiler executable digest; and
• the versioned sandbox policy and its configured resource limits.

Human-readable CPU/compiler labels and caller metadata cannot substitute for these derived identities. The compiler-only engine uses the runtime's relevant code-generation settings without allocating runtime pooling resources. The pinned Wasmtime feature configuration excludes parallel compilation; unexpected thread creation is also denied by the sandbox.

The parent checks the configured executable and waits for a fixed eight-byte launch message from the child after its clean re-exec. Linux can release a vfork parent before the new process memory is installed, so a returned PID alone is insufficient for inspecting its executable. The launch message grants no authority: the parent still hashes the actual running /proc/<pid>/exe before sending any bootstrap data. A malformed, partial or stalled launch remains subject to the same deadline, cancellation and kill/reap ownership. It checks the child's actual engine fingerprint and exact enforced-sandbox profile before sending untrusted Wasm. Successful output requires exact framing, EOF, successful child exit and a fresh check of the original release capability. A lifecycle or policy change does not silently upgrade a queued job to a new capability.

Linux sandbox

The implemented profile is Linux x86_64 with Landlock ABI 3 and seccomp. Unsupported hosts, unavailable facilities and partial enforcement fail closed. The child accepts only three directional pipe descriptors and one thread. Before reading its bootstrap header, it applies finite hard limits and marks inherited descriptors above stderr close-on-exec through the safe close_fds API, then re-executes /proc/self/exe. This preserves its PID and exact executable image. A private clean marker suppresses a second re-exec but still requires strict descriptor inventory; it grants no enforcement capability. The fallback CLOEXEC scan is fixed and bounded, and any descriptor left open causes rejection.

The child sets a parent-death signal with a parent-identity race check, disables core dumps, sets hard resource limits and enables no-new-privileges. These prerequisites are checked again after trusted engine initialization.

Final entry completes its /proc/self inventory and personality checks before setting and verifying non-dumpable state through prctl. Linux changes proc file ownership when dumpability is disabled, so doing this earlier prevents an unprivileged child from reading its own personality. This order also preserves the parent's earlier executable authentication. No untrusted component bytes are read until dump protection, Landlock and seccomp all succeed; the final filter forbids changing dumpability. The acceptance harness runs every child probe without root credentials, including when its launcher runs as root.

Before receiving the component, the child installs a Landlock filesystem policy with no allowed paths and a fixed default-deny seccomp policy. File opens, networking, process/thread creation, further executable launches, privilege changes and unrelated kernel interfaces are denied. Reads are restricted to stdin; writes are restricted to stdout/stderr. Only private anonymous non-executable mappings and required non-executable protection changes are permitted. Executable mmap/mprotect, file mappings, pkey changes and remapping are denied. A read-implies-execute personality is rejected.

No child scratch directory, cache, filesystem log, namespace or delegated cgroup is required. All input/output uses bounded pipes. Existing native compiler and library mappings remain executable. The sandbox does not claim to hide all host metadata or isolate the kernel itself. The configured compiler binary, trusted bootstrap and host OS remain part of the trusted computing base.

Protocol and ownership

The executable is an internal worker, not a general-purpose CLI. Its fixed startup arguments carry the parent PID, sandbox limits and input/output ceilings. All numbers and argument counts are validated. --worker-v1 launches the bounded sanitation stage; --worker-clean-v1 carries the same numeric arguments after re-exec and repeats prerequisite checks. Neither mode can skip full sandbox enforcement.

1. Parent authenticates the running executable, then writes a four-byte little-endian bootstrap length and at most 4,096 trusted bootstrap bytes. Child has already applied launch limits and checked clean descriptors before reading the fixed prefix. Dump protection is deferred until final entry, after the parent's executable authentication and the child's final proc reads. Direct descriptor I/O prevents read-ahead into later frames.
2. Child initializes the trusted engine and enters the full sandbox. Its readiness frame contains LSFAOTR1, the 32-byte engine fingerprint, a two-byte profile-ID length and the exact lsf-linux-x86_64-landlock3-seccomp-v1 profile ID.
3. Parent checks readiness, writes an eight-byte component length and exact component bytes, then closes stdin. Child requires EOF before compiling, so extra input is not interpreted as another job.
4. Child writes an eight-byte native-output length and exact bytes, then exits. Parent accepts only complete bounded output followed by EOF and success.

The parent clears the child environment and owns nonblocking pipe I/O without per-pipe threads. Diagnostics are fixed strings; panic details are suppressed. The parent caps collected diagnostics. Cancellation, timeout, malformed frames and compiler failures retain the child owner and resource reservations through termination and reaping. A shutdown timeout does not report those resources as already freed.

Default bounds

Limits are independently validated and may be lowered. Byte allowances may be exhausted before a job-count ceiling.

Resource	Default	Hard ceiling
Reserved/running jobs	2	16
Aggregate input allowance	128 MiB	512 MiB
Aggregate document allowance	128 MiB	512 MiB
Aggregate native-output allowance	256 MiB	1 GiB
Retained output owners	4	64
One component	64 MiB	64 MiB
One native output	128 MiB	512 MiB
One job deadline, including its unstarted reservation	30 seconds	300 seconds
Child virtual address space	512 MiB	4 GiB
Child CPU time	30 seconds	300 seconds
Child stack	8 MiB	64 MiB
Child descriptor ceiling	16	64

The child address-space ceiling includes executable mappings, engine, input, output and intermediate allocations; it is not an RSS metric. Process creation is denied, so descendants cannot multiply that allowance. Core and regular-file output limits are zero. Bootstrap and one output receipt are additionally bounded at 4 KiB and 8 KiB respectively.

The parent's maximum_metadata_bytes controls acceptance/fingerprinting of metadata; it is not a pre-decode heap ceiling. Encoded source reads are bounded by maximum_document_bytes and the concrete repository's read bounds, and decoding retains that repository's fixed validation limits. Producer allowance counters do not represent all decoder allocations or measured process RSS.

snapshot() reports reserved jobs, input/document/native allowances, output owners and their fixed metadata charge. TrustedAotOutput is immutable and neither cloneable nor publicly constructible/deserializable. Its native allowance remains charged until the actual output owner is dropped, even after compilation and shutdown finish. Borrowing bytes does not release that ownership.

Local authentication and persistent reuse

TrustedAotCompilerAuthority holds a nonzero 256-bit key in zeroizing storage. Provision it outside the child and any replaceable cache. The producer does not provision keys or trust keys supplied in packages or receipts.

Only the private completed-job path can seal native bytes. Its domain-separated keyed-BLAKE3 authenticator binds the compatibility-key digest, exact native SHA-256, size and configured compiler identity. Verification uses constant-time MAC equality. Replacing native bytes and recomputing caller-controlled digests does not establish authentic output. The bounded receipt remains untrusted storage metadata until the configured authority authenticates it; it is not a public constructor for TrustedAotOutput.

This authority is local to the configured host/key. It implies no publisher-key reuse, distributed native attestation protocol or keyless trust. Authentication also does not grant current release eligibility. Changing the host key makes old receipts unusable. Catalog membership, lifecycle generation, signing currentness and runtime compatibility are checked independently of cache contents.

A persistent hit starts with one fresh bounded fetch from the sealed catalog source. The checked input derives the exact compatibility key; its receipt must match every key field and authenticate its claimed native digest and size before the raw blob is pinned or read. A bounded raw-byte owner is then independently checked against those claims. The private native proof borrows that exact immutable owner and the same checked input. Receipt read memory can be released before the larger blob read. There is no public load(bytes) or restored-output constructor.

The sole audited unsafe operation is Component::deserialize over this immutable authenticated slice. Wasmtime 47.0.4 copies the bytes into its own mapping; the loader never deserializes a replaceable file or trusts a filename. It checks the actual engine fingerprint, current input capability and job control before entry, then checks currentness again after the synchronous loader returns. Wasmtime provides no cancellation hook inside that call. Surface validation, linking and runtime adoption retain the native owner and its allowance through all errors.

Missing cache entries and rejected cached content permit at most one isolated compilation after independent input and engine checks. There is no in-process Component::new fallback in configured isolated mode. Lifecycle, policy, cancellation, deadline and resource-limit errors remain failures. Blob bytes are persisted before their compatibility receipt. If persistence of freshly produced output fails, that owned authenticated output can still prepare the runtime; the failure is counted, and later preparations check storage afresh. Failed cleanup retains its storage charge. Unknown files and links are not silently adopted as cache entries.

Resident prepared-runtime hits retain the existing compact catalog checks and avoid this fresh fetch; persistent native hits after a prepared miss or restart still perform it. Neither cache upgrades old in-process lifecycle capabilities. Prepared/queued pins are not accepted invocation starts. Final guarded start checks remain in force, while starts already accepted by the authority may finish.

Native image and cache accounting

Before native loading, NativeImageLimits reserves one image and the complete ELF length rounded up to the actual host page size, using checked arithmetic. The per-image limit applies to that rounded length, and total bytes must be at least the per-image limit.

Image resource	Default	Hard ceiling
Live or loading images	64	4,096
One rounded mapping	128 MiB	256 MiB
All rounded mappings	256 MiB	1 GiB

Integrated output settings are also capped at 256 MiB and must fit the raw-cache object/read/staging limits and the rounded image limit. The receipt cache defaults to 1,024 entries, 16 MiB of disk, 2 MiB of metadata, 8 KiB per receipt, and eight read owners sharing 64 KiB. Raw blobs use the independently bounded raw artifact cache. These domains can exhaust independently; an entry-count ceiling is not a guaranteed capacity.

native_aot_snapshot() on the factory and backend returns None when this mode is absent. When configured it reports producer, raw-storage, receipt and image usage plus cache hits/misses/rejections, isolated compilation attempts and persistence failures. images.loader_attempts increments immediately before the actual native load; failed preconditions and reservations do not increment it. Loading counts/bytes are subsets of live image counts/bytes and must not be added again. The existing prepared-runtime ledger reports logical image spans, while this separate image budget also charges final page padding.

The image permit remains with the runtime through resident, ready and active pins. Cache eviction or cancellation does not refund an image while such an owner survives; native handles are destroyed before its final refund. The input byte lease overlaps the new mapping during copying. These counters exclude decoder/type/unwind heap, allocator arena retention, lazy COW memfd data and file descriptors, guest/pooling mappings and RSS. Focused correctness tests do not establish a new throughput target, long-running memory bound or 100,000-release performance result.

Source: producer and process ownership, worker protocol, sandbox, and local output seal, authenticated copying loader, and image ownership.