Resolved all 11 open questions based on project guidance: Transport: - OQ-01/OQ-07: ACME/Let's Encrypt with domain + IP paths (ADR-008) - OQ-02: Default to n0 relay, --iroh-relay override (ADR-009) - OQ-05: Transport chaining supported natively (ADR-010) Client: - OQ-06: Programmatic-first API, no ~/.ssh/config (ADR-011) Server: - OQ-04: Ed25519 + OpenSSH cert-authority, no password auth (ADR-012) - OQ-08: fail2ban-friendly logging + built-in rate limiting (ADR-013) TUN: - OQ-03/OQ-09: Deferred entirely, recommend tun2proxy (ADR-014) - tun-shim.md marked deprecated NAPI: - OQ-10: Expose both connect() and serve() (ADR-016) - OQ-11: Use napi-rs for FFI bridge (ADR-015) Additional ADRs created during review: - ADR-006: No logging of tunnel destinations (was phantom reference) - ADR-017: Stealth mode protocol multiplexing - ADR-018: Control channel for pubsub over SSH Fixed: ADR-002 status → Superseded, ADR-007 title typo, WRAUTH_SERVER typo, ADR-005 stale wraith-tun refs, undefined ACL feature removed from server.md, --proxy semantic difference documented.
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ADR-017: Stealth Mode — Protocol Multiplexing on Port 443
Status
Accepted
Context
When running a wraith server with TLS transport on port 443, the server should be indistinguishable from a regular HTTPS web server to port scanners and deep packet inspection (DPI) systems. This is important for censorship circumvention — if SSH traffic on port 443 is detectable, it can be blocked.
After the TLS handshake completes, the server sees a raw byte stream. SSH protocol identification starts with SSH-2.0-, while HTTP starts with HTTP method verbs (GET, POST, etc.). The server can inspect the first bytes to determine the protocol.
Decision
When --stealth is enabled with TLS transport:
- After completing the TLS handshake, peek at the first few bytes of the connection
- If the connection starts with
SSH-2.0-, proceed with SSH session viaserver::run_stream() - If the connection starts with anything else (HTTP, random data), respond with
HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found\r\nServer: nginx\r\n\r\nand close the connection
This makes the server appear as an nginx web server returning 404 errors to all non-SSH connections. Scanners and DPI systems see a typical HTTPS site with no SSH exposure.
The fake response uses Server: nginx headers to match the most common web server profile.
Consequences
- Positive: TLS+wraith servers on port 443 are indistinguishable from ordinary HTTPS sites to automated scanners.
- Positive: Simple implementation — just peek at the first bytes and branch.
- Positive: Consistent with censorship circumvention best practices.
- Negative: Legitimate HTTPS traffic to the same port gets a 404. If the same IP needs to serve real web content, use a reverse proxy (nginx/haproxy) in front that routes by SNI or path.
- Negative: The
--stealthflag only applies to TLS transport. It has no effect on TCP or iroh transports.