# pawletcache-server > Local network content cache for PawletOS device updates — the same idea as > Apple's Content Caching service, scoped to what `BgUpd` fetches (component > APKs/manifests: system apps, custom apps, webview providers). Runs on a box on your LAN (NAS, Raspberry Pi, home server) — **not** on the device. Devices discover it, verify it's a legitimately registered cache (not a rogue LAN box), and route `BgUpd` asset downloads through it instead of `oxmc.me` directly. OTA system images and general media caching are explicitly out of scope for this daemon; they'd be a separate cache class behind the same client-side resolver (`PawletCacheService` on-device), not this binary. ## Contents - [Quick start](#quick-start) - [Why trust a box some rando plugged into the LAN?](#why-trust-a-box-some-rando-plugged-into-the-lan) - [Discovery](#discovery-per-deployment-policy) - [Central registry API](#central-registry-api-implemented-on-oxmcme-not-in-this-repo) - [Device-facing asset protocol](#device-facing-asset-protocol) - [Package layout](#package-layout) --- ## Quick start ```bash git clone https://git.oxmc.me/PawletOS/cache-server.git pawletcache-server cd pawletcache-server npm install sudo mkdir -p /etc/pawletcache sudo cp config.example.yml /etc/pawletcache/config.yml # edit enrollmentToken, hostname sudo node src/index.js ``` Requires Node ≥ 20 (uses global `fetch` and `Readable.fromWeb`). No build step — CommonJS throughout. Testing locally without a real `oxmc.me` account? See [`dev-registry/`](dev-registry/) and `scripts/smoke-test.sh` — a throwaway stand-in registry plus an end-to-end script that exercises register → token → cache miss/hit → SSRF rejection. --- ## Why trust a box some rando plugged into the LAN? Two independent layers, deliberately overlapping: | Layer | What it stops | How | |---|---|---| | **Content integrity**
*(already exists, unrelated to this project)* | A malicious cache serving tampered/wrong bytes | `BgUpd`'s `SignatureVerifier` checks the downloaded APK's signing certificate against the SHA-256 the manifest declared, regardless of which host served it. A malicious cache can serve garbage or nothing; it cannot get bad code installed. | | **Server identity**
*(what this project adds)* | A malicious cache impersonating a legitimate one — DoS'ing updates, or passively fingerprinting which components/versions a device runs | Signed registration + TLS pinned to the attested fingerprint (below). | **Signed registration.** The server generates an Ed25519 keypair on first run, registers with a central authority (`oxmc.me`), and gets back a short signed *cache token* binding its identity to a TLS certificate fingerprint. Devices verify that signature against a public key baked into the OS — no network round-trip required, so this also works for LAN-only/offline enterprise deployments. **TLS pinned to that fingerprint.** A device doesn't trust whatever's speaking the cache protocol on port 8443 — it pins the connection to the exact key fingerprint the signed token attests to. ``` central authority private key (never leaves oxmc.me) │ signs ▼ cache token (pubkey + TLS SPKI fingerprint + expiry) │ verified by device against ▼ pinned public key baked into PawletCacheService ``` --- ## Discovery (per deployment policy) Both discovery paths run by default; either can be pinned or disabled via policy (see the table below). | Method | Trigger | Reach | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | **mDNS/DNS-SD** | Always tried on LAN (fallback) | Same broadcast domain only | Server advertises `_pawletcache._tcp.local.` with the signed cache token in a TXT record. Zero WAN dependency. | | **Central lookup** | Preferred by default | Any VLAN sharing one WAN egress | Server registers its *public* IP with `oxmc.me`. Device asks "is there a registered cache behind my public IP?" — the lookup uses the request's own source IP, the same trick Apple's content caching uses (nothing client-supplied to spoof). Needs `oxmc.me` reachable. | Policy is resolved from three tiers, **most specific wins**: 1. **Runtime override** — `/data/misc/pawletcache/policy.json`. Written by a `content-cache` payload from `pawletprofiled` (`git.oxmc.me/PawletOS/profiled`) via MDM push, any time after first boot. Can pin `mode: lan` / `central` / `disabled`, or an exact server + fingerprint, skipping discovery entirely. See [`pawletprofiled-config-schema/schema/profile.schema.yml`](../pawletprofiled-config-schema/schema/profile.schema.yml). 2. **Vendor/OEM default** — `/vendor/etc/pawletcache/policy.json`. Same file shape, read-only, set at build time. Lets a device builder ship a standing default with no MDM enrollment needed. See [`android_packages_apps_PawletCache/vendor-config/README.md`](../android_packages_apps_PawletCache/vendor-config/README.md). 3. **Compiled-in fallback** — central lookup preferred, mDNS as fallback if central is unreachable or returns nothing. See `PolicyOverride.kt` for the exact tiering logic. --- ## Central registry API (implemented on `oxmc.me`, not in this repo) This daemon is a client of two endpoints. They're out-of-tree (server infra), documented here so both sides agree on the contract. ```http POST https://oxmc.me/apis/aosp/cache/register ``` ```jsonc // Request body { "hostname": "cache.local.lan", "port": 8443, "pubkeyEd25519": "", "tlsSpkiSha256": "", "signedAt": "", "signature": "", "enrollmentToken": "" } ``` ```jsonc // 200 response { "serverId": "", "token": "", "expiresAt": "" } ``` ```http GET https://oxmc.me/apis/aosp/cache/lookup ``` *(no body — server reads the caller's own public IP from the connection)* ```jsonc // 200 response { "available": true, "token": "" } // or { "available": false } ``` `enrollmentToken` is how you keep randoms from registering a cache server against your `oxmc.me` account — issue one per deployment out of band. The `signature` proves the *same* server is renewing (its persisted Ed25519 key signs every registration/renewal; the central registry pins `pubkeyEd25519` to `serverId` on first registration and expects renewals signed by it). ### `CacheToken` — the signed payload (JSON before base64+signing) ```json { "serverId": "uuid", "pubkeyEd25519": "base64", "tlsSpkiSha256": "base64", "hostname": "cache.local.lan", "lanHost": "192.168.1.50", "port": "8443", "issuedAt": "2026-07-24T00:00:00Z", "expiresAt": "2026-08-23T00:00:00Z" } ``` - Every field is a string, `port` included — kept a string so device-side canonicalization can treat every payload field uniformly (see `CacheTokenVerifier.kt`). - `lanHost`/`port` are what the device actually connects to. Deliberately *inside* the signed payload rather than sitting next to `token` in the lookup response, so nothing on the path between device and registry can redirect a device to a different host without invalidating the signature. - `hostname` stays separate — it's the server's self-reported identity (matches what it advertises via mDNS). `lanHost` is what the central registry resolved for *this* device's lookup (may differ once you're doing anything more than single-subnet matching). Signed with the central authority's Ed25519 private key (held only by `oxmc.me`). The corresponding public key is compiled into `PawletCacheService` (see `Constants.CACHE_TRUST_ROOT_PUBKEY` — **placeholder value, must be replaced with the real deployment key before shipping**). > For local development, see [`dev-registry/`](dev-registry/) — a throwaway > stand-in registry you run yourself, generating its own root keypair, so > you can test the whole register → discover → verify → cache flow without > touching real `oxmc.me` infra or its signing key. ### Wire format Every `token` string (register response, lookup response, mDNS TXT record) is the same envelope: ``` base64( JSON.stringify({ payload: , signature: base64(...) }) ) ``` `signature` is the central authority's Ed25519 signature over the canonical JSON of `payload` alone (`JSON.stringify` with keys sorted, matching `registration.js`'s `canonicalize()`). Device-side verification: base64-decode → JSON-parse → re-canonicalize `payload` → verify `signature` against the pinned root public key → check `expiresAt`. --- ## Device-facing asset protocol Once a device trusts a cache server (mDNS or central lookup + signature verified), `BgUpd` rewrites its download from `oxmc.me` to the cache: ``` GET https://:/asset?url= ``` On a miss, the daemon downloads the full origin URL to disk first, then serves it — to the request that triggered the miss, and every request after — from disk. Concurrent misses for the same URL collapse into one origin fetch. No parsing of `BgUpd`'s manifest format happens here; it's a dumb reverse-proxy cache keyed by URL, which is why OTA/media can reuse the same server later just by pointing their own resolvers at it. > **SSRF guard:** `url` is restricted to `config.yml`'s `allowedOrigins`. > Without that check this would be an open proxy pivot for anything on the > LAN that can reach port 8443. --- ## Package layout ``` pawletcache-server/ ├── package.json ├── config.example.yml ├── dev-registry/ Local stand-in for the oxmc.me registry — see its own README ├── scripts/ │ ├── dummy-origin.js Throwaway HTTPS origin for the smoke test │ └── smoke-test.sh End-to-end register → cache → asset-fetch check └── src/ ├── index.js Entry point, wires every subsystem together ├── config.js config.yml loading (js-yaml) ├── identity.js Ed25519 keypair + self-signed TLS keypair persistence ├── registration.js POST /register against oxmc.me, token refresh loop ├── mdns.js _pawletcache._tcp advertiser (bonjour-service) ├── cache.js Asset fetch-through cache (disk-backed) └── server.js HTTPS listener serving /asset ```