fix(SEC-31,SEC-32): re-partition the API-key failure limiter on (peer, key id) with probe admission

The gRPC auth failure limiter partitioned on the key id parsed out of the
*unauthenticated* token and rejected with ResourceExhausted before VerifyAsync
ran. Key ids are not secret — they ride in every token and are listed on the
dashboard — so any network peer could send 10 garbage-secret requests per minute
and deny that key indefinitely: the legitimate holder's correct secret was
refused before it was ever checked, and the success-path Reset that would clear
the block sat behind the verification the block prevented (SEC-31). The tracked
map was also flushable — any `a_b_c`-shaped junk minted a fresh partition (the
`mxgw` literal was never compared), so ~4096 throwaway tokens evicted a blocked
entry and reset the window (SEC-32).

ApiKeyFailureLimiter moves from IsBlocked/RecordFailure/Reset(string peer) to a
partition-pair API: Check/RecordFailure/Reset(ApiKeyThrottlePartition) with an
ApiKeyThrottleDecision result. Two layers share one sliding window — a composite
(transport peer, key id) partition at ApiKeyFailureLimit, and a per-key-id
aggregate across all peers at the new ApiKeyFailureAggregateLimit (default 30)
that bounds a source-rotating sprayer. An over-limit state is now a valve rather
than a wall: one request per the new ApiKeyFailureProbeIntervalSeconds (default
5) is admitted through to the real verifier, so the correct secret always reaches
the constant-time compare and resets both layers. Guarantees preserved: guessing
stays bounded per window, and the failure path still spends no store read per
attempt.

SEC-32 rides the same change set: the interceptor validates token shape (literal
`mxgw` prefix, >= 3 non-empty `_` segments, key id <= 64 chars) before minting a
key-id partition, each transport peer may mint at most 32 of them before the
overflow collapses onto its fallback partition, and eviction prefers fully
expired windows and never drops an over-limit partition below a 2x transient
overshoot ceiling. Throttled attempts increment mxgateway.auth.throttled, tagged
stage=peer|aggregate only — /metrics is unauthenticated (open SEC-14), so no key
material may appear there.

Docs in the same commit: GatewayConfiguration limiter rows plus the two new keys,
the Authentication hot-path paragraph, the Authorization SEC-11 section, and the
limiter / SecurityOptions XML remarks (the old NAT rationale described the
defective keying). Tracking rows flipped to Done with a change-log entry.

Tests: new ApiKeyFailureLimiterTests (11) covering window pruning, composite vs
aggregate trip points, probe cadence, absolute-block mode, reset across both
layers, junk-spray eviction resistance, the per-peer cap, and expired-window
eviction preference; GatewayGrpcAuthorizationInterceptorTests gains the four
SEC-31 contract tests plus NonMxgwToken_FallsBackToTransportPeerPartition (20
total); GatewayOptionsValidatorTests covers both new keys including 0 as a
supported disable value (66 total).

docs/Authentication.md

@@ -116,6 +116,26 @@ a dictionary lookup. Both windows are configurable and may be set to `0` to disa
 the respective mechanism; see
 [GatewayConfiguration](./GatewayConfiguration.md).
 
+Failures are never cached — a wrong secret always reaches the store — so the
+failure path is shielded by `ApiKeyFailureLimiter` instead, consulted before
+`VerifyAsync` runs. It counts failures over one sliding
+`MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureWindowSeconds` window in two layers: a composite
+`(transport peer, key id)` partition capped at `ApiKeyFailureLimit`, and a
+per-key-id aggregate across all peers capped at `ApiKeyFailureAggregateLimit`. The
+key id never partitions on its own — it is public, so an attacker-supplied one
+would otherwise let any peer throttle a key it does not hold — and it joins the
+partition only when the presented token is validly shaped
+(`mxgw_<keyId>_<secret>`, key id at most 64 characters), with at most 32 key-id
+partitions per address before the overflow collapses onto that address's fallback
+partition. An over-limit state admits one probe per
+`ApiKeyFailureProbeIntervalSeconds` through to the real verifier and refuses
+everything else with `ResourceExhausted` before the store read, so a legitimate
+holder presenting the correct secret always reaches the constant-time compare and
+resets both layers; the counter's LRU eviction (`ApiKeyFailureTrackedPeers`)
+prefers expired windows and will not drop an over-limit partition below a 2x
+overshoot ceiling, so the memory bound cannot be turned into a way to clear an
+active block. See [Authorization](./Authorization.md) for the enforcement path.
+
 ## Storage
 
 API-key state lives in a dedicated SQLite database owned by the shared library.

docs/Authorization.md

@@ -89,9 +89,14 @@ The flow is:
 
 The status codes are deliberately distinct: `Unauthenticated` signals "we do not know who you are," and `PermissionDenied` signals "we know who you are, but you cannot do this." Treating the two as the same code would make troubleshooting harder for client implementations.
 
-### Rate limiting the auth surface (SEC-11)
+### Rate limiting the auth surface (SEC-11, SEC-31, SEC-32)
 
-Before the verification store read, the helper checks a cheap in-process per-peer failure counter (`ApiKeyFailureLimiter`). A peer that has accumulated more than `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureLimit` failed attempts inside the sliding `ApiKeyFailureWindowSeconds` window is short-circuited with `StatusCode.ResourceExhausted` — so online guessing of API-key secrets cannot spend a SQLite read (and, in a naive design, a cache miss) per attempt. The peer is keyed on the presented key id where the token parses, falling back to the transport peer address; keying on key id throttles a single abusive credential without penalizing co-located clients behind a shared NAT. A successful verification resets the peer's counter. The counter is a bounded LRU (`ApiKeyFailureTrackedPeers`) so it cannot grow without limit. `ResourceExhausted` reveals only that throttling is in effect, not whether any particular secret was valid, preserving the opaque-failure property.
+Before the verification store read, the helper asks a cheap in-process failure counter (`ApiKeyFailureLimiter`) whether the attempt may proceed, so online guessing of API-key secrets cannot spend a SQLite read (and, in a naive design, a cache miss) per attempt. The counter has two layers over one sliding `ApiKeyFailureWindowSeconds` window:
+
+- **Composite `(transport peer, key id)` partitions.** Reaching `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureLimit` failures binds the throttle to the address that produced them. The key id alone is never the partition: key ids are not secret — they ride in every token and are listed on the dashboard — so keying on them let any network peer deny a key to its legitimate holder. The key id joins the partition only after a token-shape check (literal `mxgw` prefix, at least three non-empty `_` segments, key id of at most 64 characters), and one address may mint at most 32 key-id partitions before the overflow collapses onto that address's fallback partition.
+- **A per-key-id aggregate** across all peers (`ApiKeyFailureAggregateLimit`, default 30), which bounds a distributed or source-rotating sprayer that never trips any single partition.
+
+An over-limit state is a valve, not a wall: one request per `ApiKeyFailureProbeIntervalSeconds` (default 5 s) is admitted through to the real verifier, and everything else is refused with `StatusCode.ResourceExhausted` before the store read. A successful verification resets both layers — which is why the reset path stays reachable while a key is under active spray. The tracked partitions form a bounded LRU (`ApiKeyFailureTrackedPeers`) whose eviction prefers fully expired windows and never removes an over-limit partition below a 2x transient overshoot ceiling, so the cap bounds memory without becoming a reset button for an active block. `ResourceExhausted` reveals only that throttling is in effect, not whether any particular secret was valid, preserving the opaque-failure property. Refusals increment `mxgateway.auth.throttled`, tagged `stage=peer|aggregate` and nothing else — `/metrics` is unauthenticated, so neither key ids nor peer addresses may appear there.
 
 The dashboard login surface is throttled independently: `POST /auth/login` carries a fixed-window ASP.NET Core rate-limiter policy keyed per remote IP (`MxGateway:Security:LoginRateLimit*`), rejecting a burst with HTTP 429 before the LDAP bind is relayed to the directory. See [GatewayConfiguration](./GatewayConfiguration.md#security-options).
 

docs/GatewayConfiguration.md

@@ -361,9 +361,11 @@ model requires otherwise.
 | `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyLastUsedCoalesceSeconds` | `60` | Coalescing window, in seconds, for the `last_used_utc` write. The library verifier writes `last_used` on every successful verification; this bounds the write to at most one per key per window, so a hammered key does not churn the WAL. `0` forwards every write. Must be zero or greater. |
 | `MxGateway:Security:LoginRateLimitPermitLimit` | `10` | Maximum `POST /auth/login` attempts permitted per remote IP within `LoginRateLimitWindowSeconds` before requests are rejected with HTTP 429. Throttles LDAP credential stuffing before the bind is relayed to the directory. Must be greater than zero. |
 | `MxGateway:Security:LoginRateLimitWindowSeconds` | `60` | Fixed-window length, in seconds, for the per-IP login rate limit. Must be greater than zero. |
-| `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureLimit` | `10` | Failed API-key verifications, per peer, within `ApiKeyFailureWindowSeconds` that trip the in-process short-circuit. Once tripped, the gRPC auth path rejects further attempts with `ResourceExhausted` **before** the store read; a successful verification resets the peer's counter. The peer is keyed on the presented key id (falling back to the transport address) so a single abusive credential behind a shared NAT is throttled without locking out co-located clients. Must be greater than zero. |
-| `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureWindowSeconds` | `60` | Sliding-window length, in seconds, over which API-key verification failures are counted per peer. Must be greater than zero. |
-| `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureTrackedPeers` | `4096` | Maximum distinct peers tracked by the failure counter (a bounded LRU) so a spray of unique peer keys cannot grow memory without limit. Must be greater than zero. |
+| `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureLimit` | `10` | Failed API-key verifications, per `(transport peer, key id)` partition, within `ApiKeyFailureWindowSeconds` that trip the in-process short-circuit. Once tripped, the gRPC auth path rejects further attempts from that partition with `ResourceExhausted` **before** the store read — except for the probe admitted every `ApiKeyFailureProbeIntervalSeconds` — and a successful verification resets the partition. The partition always includes the sender's transport address: key ids are public (they ride in every token and are listed on the dashboard), so keying on the key id alone let any peer deny a key to its legitimate holder. Must be greater than zero. |
+| `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureWindowSeconds` | `60` | Sliding-window length, in seconds, over which API-key verification failures are counted, for both the per-partition and the per-key-id aggregate layer. Must be greater than zero. |
+| `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureAggregateLimit` | `30` | Failed verifications for one key id counted across **all** transport peers within `ApiKeyFailureWindowSeconds` before that key id enters probe mode. This second layer bounds a distributed or source-rotating sprayer that never trips any single `(peer, key id)` partition. `0` disables the aggregate layer, leaving only per-partition counting. Must be zero or greater. |
+| `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureProbeIntervalSeconds` | `5` | Minimum interval, in seconds, between probe admissions for an over-limit partition or key-id aggregate. An over-limit state is a valve rather than a wall: one request per interval reaches the real verifier, so the holder of the correct secret always gets through and clears the state, while everything else is still refused before the store read. `0` blocks absolutely instead — **not recommended**, because an unauthenticated peer can then deny the key to its holder for the whole window. Must be zero or greater. |
+| `MxGateway:Security:ApiKeyFailureTrackedPeers` | `4096` | Maximum distinct partitions tracked by the failure counter (a bounded LRU) so a spray of unique tokens cannot grow memory without limit. It cannot be used to flush an active block either: only a validly shaped `mxgw_<keyId>_<secret>` token mints a key-id partition (everything else lands on the sender's transport-peer partition), each address may mint at most 32 key-id partitions before the overflow collapses onto that address's fallback partition, and eviction prefers fully expired windows, never removing an over-limit partition until the map exceeds twice this cap. Must be greater than zero. |
 
 ## Galaxy Options