Docs + guide for Mode B HTTPS interception; record Pi 5 verification

Updated README/architecture/security/limitations/testing/api/CHANGELOG and the
LaTeX user guide (now 14pp) with the Certificates and HTTP Explorer screens.
0 called Go vulns, npm audit clean.
This commit is contained in:
Andy Dixon
2026-10-10 08:14:02 +01:00
parent 5dbf85f84e
commit f3cfa9ccf1
12 changed files with 129 additions and 20 deletions
+26 -5
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@@ -12,15 +12,36 @@ single most common misunderstanding about a tool like this.
unrelated to anything captured. The installer prints its SHA-256 fingerprint;
verify it the first time your browser warns about it.
2. **Interception CA** — a separate authority that *would* let PiLens decrypt a
test device's HTTPS, by having that device explicitly trust it. **This is not
implemented in this version** (Phase 4). When it is, it will be opt-in,
per-device, and require you to install and trust the CA on the client
yourself. There is no way to do it silently.
2. **Interception CA** — a separate authority that lets PiLens decrypt a test
device's HTTPS, *after* that device's owner explicitly installs and trusts it.
Generated in-app (RSA-2048, `PiLens Interception CA`), downloadable from the
Certificates page (public cert only — the key never leaves the appliance).
Interception is a toggle, **off by default**. There is no way to make a device
trust it silently or over the network.
The two are kept independent on purpose: compromising or distributing an
interception CA must never affect the management channel.
## Mode B: authorised interception (optional, off by default)
Turn it on from **Certificates & HTTPS Inspection**. PiLens then transparently
redirects AP clients' TCP 80/443 to a local mitmdump, which presents certificates
signed by the appliance CA. A device that has installed and trusts that CA sees a
valid chain, so its HTTPS is decrypted and the transactions appear in the **HTTP
Explorer**. A device that has *not* installed it sees an untrusted certificate and
its connections fail — which is why interception is useless (and harmless) until
you do the manual install step on each device you own.
- Redirect is `iifname <ap>` only, TCP 80/443. The proxy accepts only
connections the redirect created (`ct status dnat`), so it is never an open
proxy for clients.
- **Excluded hosts** (pinned apps, privacy-sensitive sites) are passed straight
through, still encrypted.
- **Bodies are not retained by default.** Enable it per-investigation; the data
is on the appliance disk until cleared, and views/exports are audited.
- Pinned apps, private trust stores, mutual TLS and QUIC cannot be intercepted
and are reported as such — never bypassed, never downgraded.
## Why HTTPS content is unavailable without client trust
TLS exists precisely to stop a device in the middle from reading traffic. To