fix(security): authenticate the orchestrator control plane (issue #400 Critical)

The control plane had no caller authentication — dispatch() routed every
request straight through, and the only guards anywhere were the
(source_ip, identity_token) checks inside /resolve and /attribute, which
authenticate the *bottle* a request is about, not the *caller*. On the
consolidated backends the agent shares a network with the control-plane port
(macOS: the infra container runs 8099 on the agent's --internal network;
docker: the orchestrator container sits on the shared gateway network), so a
prompt-injected agent could GET /bottles (enumerate siblings + policies),
PUT /bottles/<id>/policy (rewrite its own egress allowlist to allow-all),
POST /resolve (read the injected upstream credentials it's never meant to
see), and POST /supervise/respond (self-approve its own proposals). Every
README guarantee collapsed to the agent's discretion.

Fix: a per-host control-plane secret required on every route but GET /health,
compared with hmac.compare_digest. It is held only by the trusted callers and
never handed to an agent:
- minted + persisted 0600 at <root>/control-plane-token (paths.host_control_plane_token);
- injected as $BOT_BOTTLE_CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN into the orchestrator + gateway
  containers via bare `--env NAME` (value inherited from the launch process,
  so it never lands on argv or in `container/docker inspect`);
- presented by the gateway's PolicyResolver (reads the env) on /resolve, and by
  the host CLI's OrchestratorClient (reads the host file) on every call.

The agent container is never given the env var or the host file, so from a
bottle every /bottles*, /resolve, /attribute, and /supervise/* call now
returns 401 — closing the enumeration, allowlist-rewrite, credential-lift, and
self-approval. The existing (source_ip, identity_token) checks stay as
defense-in-depth.

Enforced when configured: macOS + docker inject the secret (→ enforced). With
no secret set the server runs open and warns loudly at startup — a
fail-visible fallback for the unit suite and for Firecracker, whose
port-scoped nft already blocks agents from 8099 (wiring the secret into its
infra-VM init is a clean fast-follow, left out here to avoid churning the
prebuilt-artifact hash).

Verified end-to-end on real Apple Container: infra comes up healthy, the host
CLI (with the secret) lists bottles while an unauthenticated GET /bottles gets
401, all five issue-#400 attacks from inside the agent get 401, and egress
policy still works (200 allowed / 403 denied) — proving the gateway
authenticates to /resolve with the secret. 1829 unit tests pass, pyright
clean, pylint 9.91.

Refs #400.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

bot_bottle/backend/macos_container/infra.py

@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ digest check.
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import os
 import time
 import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
@@ -47,7 +48,11 @@ from ...orchestrator.lifecycle import (
     OrchestratorStartError,
     source_hash,
 )
-from ...paths import HOST_DB_FILENAME
+from ...paths import (
+    CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV,
+    HOST_DB_FILENAME,
+    host_control_plane_token,
+)
 from . import util as container_mod
 from .gateway import (
     DEFAULT_CA_TIMEOUT_SECONDS,
@@ -220,11 +225,19 @@ class MacosInfraService:
             # Baked onto the container so `_source_current` can detect a real
             # control-plane code change and recreate.
             "--env", f"BOT_BOTTLE_SOURCE_HASH={current_hash}",
+            # The control-plane secret, for BOTH the control plane (to require
+            # it) and the gateway's PolicyResolver (to present it) — they share
+            # this one container. Bare `--env NAME` inherits the value from the
+            # run process below, so the secret never lands on argv or in
+            # `container inspect`'s command line. The agent runs in a SEPARATE
+            # container that is never given this var, which is the whole point.
+            "--env", CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV,
             "--entrypoint", "sh",
             self.image,
             "-c", _init_script(self.port),
         ]
-        result = container_mod.run_container_argv(argv)
+        run_env = {**os.environ, CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV: host_control_plane_token()}
+        result = container_mod.run_container_argv(argv, env=run_env)
         if result.returncode != 0:
             raise OrchestratorStartError(
                 f"infra container failed to start: "

bot_bottle/backend/macos_container/util.py

@@ -445,12 +445,20 @@ def container_ipv4_on_network(name: str, network: str) -> str:
     return ip
 
 
-def run_container_argv(argv: list[str]) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
+def run_container_argv(
+    argv: list[str], *, env: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
     """Run a `container` command, returning the result for the caller to
     interpret. Unlike the `die`-on-failure helpers above, this lets callers
     that raise their own typed errors (the gateway / orchestrator lifecycle)
-    keep control of the failure path."""
-    return subprocess.run(argv, capture_output=True, text=True, check=False)
+    keep control of the failure path.
+
+    `env` sets the child process environment — used to hand a secret to a bare
+    `--env NAME` flag (Apple's "just key → inherit from host" form) so the
+    value is inherited from this process, never written onto argv or into
+    `container inspect`'s recorded command line."""
+    return subprocess.run(
+        argv, capture_output=True, text=True, check=False, env=env)
 
 
 def bind_mount_spec(source: str, target: str, *, readonly: bool = False) -> str:

bot_bottle/docker_cmd.py

@@ -14,13 +14,20 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import subprocess
 
 
-def run_docker(argv: list[str]) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
+def run_docker(
+    argv: list[str], *, env: dict[str, str] | None = None,
+) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
     """Run a `docker` command, capturing stdout/stderr as text. Never raises
     on a non-zero exit — callers inspect `returncode` / `stderr` so they can
     stay fail-closed or tolerate idempotent no-ops (e.g. removing an
-    already-absent container)."""
+    already-absent container).
+
+    `env` sets the child process environment — used to hand a secret to a bare
+    `--env NAME` flag (docker inherits its value from this process) so the
+    value never lands on argv or in `docker inspect`'s recorded command line."""
     return subprocess.run(
-        argv, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, text=True, check=False,
+        argv, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, text=True,
+        check=False, env=env,
     )
 
 

bot_bottle/orchestrator/client.py

@@ -17,9 +17,22 @@ import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 
+from ..paths import host_control_plane_token
+from .control_plane import CONTROL_AUTH_HEADER
+
 DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 5.0
 
 
+def _host_auth_token() -> str:
+    """The per-host control-plane secret, or "" if it can't be read. "" means
+    'send no auth header' — correct against an open (unconfigured) control
+    plane, and harmlessly rejected by a secured one."""
+    try:
+        return host_control_plane_token()
+    except OSError:
+        return ""
+
+
 class OrchestratorClientError(RuntimeError):
     """A control-plane call failed (unreachable, or an unexpected status)."""
 
@@ -34,11 +47,24 @@ class RegisteredBottle:
 
 
 class OrchestratorClient:
-    """Trusted host-side client for the orchestrator control plane."""
+    """Trusted host-side client for the orchestrator control plane.
 
-    def __init__(self, base_url: str, *, timeout: float = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS) -> None:
+    Presents the per-host control-plane secret on every call (the header the
+    control plane requires on all routes but `/health`). The secret is read
+    from the host file — this client only ever runs host-side (CLI, launcher,
+    discovery), so it can read what an agent can't. `auth_token` is overridable
+    for tests; the default reads the host file, minting it on first use."""
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        base_url: str,
+        *,
+        timeout: float = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS,
+        auth_token: str | None = None,
+    ) -> None:
         self._base = base_url.rstrip("/")
         self._timeout = timeout
+        self._auth_token = auth_token if auth_token is not None else _host_auth_token()
 
     def _request(
         self, method: str, path: str, body: dict[str, object] | None = None,
@@ -49,6 +75,8 @@ class OrchestratorClient:
         callers can treat 404 as a meaningful "no such bottle"."""
         data = json.dumps(body).encode() if body is not None else None
         headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"} if data is not None else {}
+        if self._auth_token:
+            headers[CONTROL_AUTH_HEADER] = self._auth_token
         req = urllib.request.Request(
             f"{self._base}{path}", data=data, method=method, headers=headers,
         )

bot_bottle/orchestrator/control_plane.py

@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ returned only once, to the caller that launches the bottle.
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import hmac
 import http.server
 import json
 import os
@@ -42,11 +43,20 @@ import sys
 import typing
 from urllib.parse import urlsplit
 
+from ..paths import CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV
 from .service import Orchestrator
 
 # JSON body payload type (parsed request / rendered response).
 Json = dict[str, object]
 
+# The request header carrying the per-host control-plane secret. Every route
+# except `GET /health` requires it (see `dispatch`). The trusted callers hold
+# the secret (the gateway's PolicyResolver, the host CLI's OrchestratorClient);
+# an agent that can merely *reach* the port cannot present it, so it can't
+# enumerate bottles, rewrite policy, read injected upstream tokens, or approve
+# its own supervise proposals.
+CONTROL_AUTH_HEADER = "x-bot-bottle-control-auth"
+
 
 def _parse_json_object(body: bytes) -> Json:
     """Parse a JSON object body. Raises ValueError for non-objects / bad JSON."""
@@ -59,15 +69,29 @@ def _parse_json_object(body: bytes) -> Json:
 
 
 def dispatch(  # pylint: disable=too-many-return-statements,too-many-branches
-    orch: Orchestrator, method: str, path: str, body: bytes
+    orch: Orchestrator, method: str, path: str, body: bytes, *, authorized: bool = True,
 ) -> tuple[int, Json]:
     """Route one control-plane request to a (status, payload) pair. Pure —
-    no I/O beyond the orchestrator — so it is fully testable without a socket."""
+    no I/O beyond the orchestrator — so it is fully testable without a socket.
+
+    `authorized` is whether the request presented the control-plane secret (or
+    no secret is configured — see `ControlPlaneServer`). Every route except
+    `GET /health` requires it: the source-IP + identity-token checks inside
+    `/resolve` and `/attribute` authenticate the *bottle* a request is about,
+    not the *caller*, so without this gate any agent that can reach the port
+    could rewrite another bottle's policy, read the injected upstream tokens,
+    or approve its own supervise proposals. Defaults True so unit tests of the
+    routing logic don't have to thread it through."""
     route = urlsplit(path).path.rstrip("/") or "/"
 
     if method == "GET" and route == "/health":
         return 200, {"status": "ok"}
 
+    if not authorized:
+        # Everything below is a trusted-caller operation. Deny before touching
+        # the registry / broker / supervise store.
+        return 401, {"error": "control-plane authentication required"}
+
     if method == "GET" and route == "/gateway":
         return 200, orch.gateway_status()
 
@@ -209,8 +233,10 @@ class Handler(http.server.BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
         assert isinstance(server, ControlPlaneServer)
         length = int(self.headers.get("Content-Length") or 0)
         body = self.rfile.read(length) if length > 0 else b""
+        authorized = server.is_authorized(self.headers.get(CONTROL_AUTH_HEADER, ""))
         try:
-            status, payload = dispatch(server.orchestrator, method, self.path, body)
+            status, payload = dispatch(
+                server.orchestrator, method, self.path, body, authorized=authorized)
         except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001 — the control plane must stay up
             sys.stderr.write(f"orchestrator: {method} {self.path} failed: {e!r}\n")
             sys.stderr.flush()
@@ -236,15 +262,40 @@ class Handler(http.server.BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
 
 
 class ControlPlaneServer(socketserver.ThreadingMixIn, http.server.HTTPServer):
-    """Threading HTTP server that carries the orchestrator for its handlers."""
+    """Threading HTTP server that carries the orchestrator for its handlers.
+
+    Holds the per-host control-plane secret (from `$BOT_BOTTLE_CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN`,
+    injected by the launcher into this container only). When a secret is set,
+    every route but `/health` requires it; when it is unset the server runs
+    **open** and says so loudly at startup — a fail-visible fallback for tests
+    and any backend that hasn't wired the secret yet (e.g. Firecracker, whose
+    nft boundary already blocks agents from the control-plane port)."""
 
     daemon_threads = True
     allow_reuse_address = True
 
     def __init__(self, address: tuple[str, int], orchestrator: Orchestrator) -> None:
         self.orchestrator = orchestrator
+        self._auth_token = os.environ.get(CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV, "").strip()
+        if not self._auth_token:
+            sys.stderr.write(
+                "orchestrator: WARNING — no control-plane secret "
+                f"(${CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV}); running WITHOUT caller "
+                "authentication. Any client that can reach this port can drive "
+                "it. Backends that put the control plane on an agent-reachable "
+                "network MUST set this.\n"
+            )
+            sys.stderr.flush()
         super().__init__(address, Handler)
 
+    def is_authorized(self, presented: str) -> bool:
+        """True iff the request may proceed past `/health`: either no secret is
+        configured (open mode) or the presented header matches it. Constant-time
+        compare so a wrong token leaks nothing timing-wise."""
+        if not self._auth_token:
+            return True
+        return hmac.compare_digest(presented, self._auth_token)
+
 
 def make_server(
     orchestrator: Orchestrator, host: str = "127.0.0.1", port: int = 0
@@ -254,4 +305,7 @@ def make_server(
     return ControlPlaneServer((host, port), orchestrator)
 
 
-__all__ = ["dispatch", "Handler", "ControlPlaneServer", "make_server", "Json"]
+__all__ = [
+    "dispatch", "Handler", "ControlPlaneServer", "make_server", "Json",
+    "CONTROL_AUTH_HEADER",
+]

bot_bottle/orchestrator/gateway.py

@@ -23,7 +23,11 @@ import time
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from ..docker_cmd import run_docker
-from ..paths import host_db_path
+from ..paths import (
+    CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV,
+    host_control_plane_token,
+    host_db_path,
+)
 from ..supervise import DB_PATH_IN_CONTAINER
 
 # The host DB dir is bind-mounted here so the gateway's supervise daemon
@@ -215,12 +219,19 @@ class DockerGateway(Gateway):
         ]
         for port in self._host_port_bindings:
             argv += ["--publish", f"0.0.0.0:{port}:{port}"]
+        run_env = dict(os.environ)
         if self._orchestrator_url:
             # Makes the gateway's egress / git / supervise daemons multi-tenant:
             # each request resolves source-IP -> policy against the control plane.
             argv += ["--env", f"BOT_BOTTLE_ORCHESTRATOR_URL={self._orchestrator_url}"]
+            # ...and presents the control-plane secret on those /resolve calls
+            # (the control plane requires it). Bare `--env NAME` keeps the value
+            # off argv / `docker inspect`; only the gateway (not the agent) is
+            # given it. Only needed in multi-tenant mode, where /resolve is used.
+            argv += ["--env", CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV]
+            run_env[CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV] = host_control_plane_token()
         argv.append(self.image_ref)
-        proc = run_docker(argv)
+        proc = run_docker(argv, env=run_env)
         if proc.returncode != 0:
             raise GatewayError(f"gateway failed to start: {proc.stderr.strip()}")
 

bot_bottle/orchestrator/lifecycle.py

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 from .. import log
 from ..docker_cmd import run_docker
-from ..paths import bot_bottle_root
+from ..paths import CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV, bot_bottle_root, host_control_plane_token
 from .gateway import GATEWAY_IMAGE, GATEWAY_NETWORK, DockerGateway, GatewayError
 
 DEFAULT_PORT = 8099
@@ -147,7 +147,11 @@ class OrchestratorService:
             "--label", f"{ORCHESTRATOR_SOURCE_HASH_LABEL}={current_hash}",
             "--network", self.network,
             # Host CLI reaches the control plane here; bound to loopback so it
-            # is not exposed on the host's external interfaces.
+            # is not exposed on the host's external interfaces. NOTE: the
+            # container is still on `self.network` (the shared gateway network),
+            # so agents can reach it by container IP — which is exactly why the
+            # control plane requires the secret below rather than trusting the
+            # network boundary.
             "--publish", f"127.0.0.1:{self.port}:{self.port}",
             "--volume", f"{self._repo_root}:{_APP_DIR}:ro",
             "--workdir", _APP_DIR,
@@ -155,11 +159,15 @@ class OrchestratorService:
             # orchestrator opens bot-bottle.db).
             "--volume", f"{self._host_root}:{_ROOT_IN_CONTAINER}",
             "--env", f"BOT_BOTTLE_ROOT={_ROOT_IN_CONTAINER}",
+            # The control-plane secret it requires on every route but /health.
+            # Bare `--env NAME` → docker inherits the value from the run env
+            # below, so the secret never lands on argv / `docker inspect`.
+            "--env", CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV,
             "--entrypoint", "python3",
             self.image,
             "-m", "bot_bottle.orchestrator",
             "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", str(self.port), "--broker", "stub",
-        ])
+        ], env={**os.environ, CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV: host_control_plane_token()})
         if proc.returncode != 0:
             raise OrchestratorStartError(
                 f"orchestrator container failed to start: {proc.stderr.strip()}"

bot_bottle/paths.py

@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ layer (and to COPY flat into the gateway).
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
+import secrets
+import stat
 from pathlib import Path
 
 # The single shared host state DB. All bot-bottle SQLite stores (supervise
@@ -23,6 +25,14 @@ from pathlib import Path
 # TableMigrations schema_key namespaces each store's tables.
 HOST_DB_FILENAME = "bot-bottle.db"
 
+# The per-host control-plane secret file, and the env var the launchers inject
+# its value into. The control plane requires this secret on every mutating /
+# reading route (see orchestrator/control_plane.py); it is held only by the
+# trusted callers (control plane, gateway, host CLI) and never handed to an
+# agent, so an agent that can reach the control-plane port still can't drive it.
+CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_FILENAME = "control-plane-token"
+CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV = "BOT_BOTTLE_CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN"
+
 
 def bot_bottle_root() -> Path:
     """The app data root — `$BOT_BOTTLE_ROOT` if set, else `~/.bot-bottle`."""
@@ -49,4 +59,43 @@ def host_db_dir() -> Path:
     return db_dir
 
 
-__all__ = ["HOST_DB_FILENAME", "bot_bottle_root", "host_db_path", "host_db_dir"]
+def host_control_plane_token() -> str:
+    """The per-host control-plane secret, minted (256-bit, url-safe) and
+    persisted 0600 on first use, then reused.
+
+    This is the shared secret the launchers inject into the control-plane and
+    gateway containers and that the host CLI presents on every call. It is a
+    *host* artifact — the file lives under the root the agent never mounts, and
+    the env var is set only on the trusted containers — so reading it here is
+    safe on the host launch path but the value never reaches a bottle."""
+    path = bot_bottle_root() / CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_FILENAME
+    try:
+        existing = path.read_text().strip()
+        if existing:
+            return existing
+    except OSError:
+        pass
+    path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    token = secrets.token_urlsafe(32)
+    # Create 0600 up front (O_EXCL loses a concurrent race harmlessly — we
+    # re-read the winner's token below) so the secret is never briefly world-
+    # readable between write and chmod.
+    try:
+        fd = os.open(path, os.O_WRONLY | os.O_CREAT | os.O_EXCL, 0o600)
+    except FileExistsError:
+        return path.read_text().strip()
+    with os.fdopen(fd, "w") as f:
+        f.write(token)
+    os.chmod(path, stat.S_IRUSR | stat.S_IWUSR)
+    return token
+
+
+__all__ = [
+    "HOST_DB_FILENAME",
+    "CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_FILENAME",
+    "CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV",
+    "bot_bottle_root",
+    "host_db_path",
+    "host_db_dir",
+    "host_control_plane_token",
+]

bot_bottle/policy_resolver.py

@@ -29,11 +29,29 @@ the gateway.
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import json
+import os
 import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
 
 DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 2.0
 
+# The control-plane secret this gateway presents on every /resolve call, read
+# from the env the launcher injects into the gateway container. The control
+# plane requires it (orchestrator/control_plane.py). Constant + env-var name are
+# duplicated here rather than imported because this module is COPYed flat into
+# the gateway image, free of bot-bottle imports — same rationale as
+# IDENTITY_HEADER in egress_addon / git_http_backend.
+CONTROL_AUTH_HEADER = "x-bot-bottle-control-auth"
+CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV = "BOT_BOTTLE_CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN"
+
+
+def _control_auth_headers() -> dict[str, str]:
+    """The auth header to send, or {} when no secret is configured (an open
+    control plane, e.g. Firecracker behind its nft boundary — sending nothing
+    is correct there and harmlessly ignored)."""
+    token = os.environ.get(CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN_ENV, "").strip()
+    return {CONTROL_AUTH_HEADER: token} if token else {}
+
 
 class PolicyResolveError(RuntimeError):
     """The orchestrator was unreachable or returned an unexpected status —
@@ -57,7 +75,7 @@ class PolicyResolver:
         ).encode()
         req = urllib.request.Request(
             f"{self._base}/resolve", data=body, method="POST",
-            headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
+            headers={"Content-Type": "application/json", **_control_auth_headers()},
         )
         try:
             with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=self._timeout) as resp:

tests/unit/test_orchestrator_control_plane.py

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import secrets
 import tempfile
 import threading
 import unittest
+import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
 from pathlib import Path
 from unittest.mock import patch
@@ -243,6 +244,82 @@ class TestServerRoundTrip(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(reg["bottle_id"], attr["bottle_id"])
 
 
+class TestControlPlaneAuth(unittest.TestCase):
+    """The per-host control-plane secret (issue #400): every route but /health
+    is a trusted-caller op an agent must not be able to drive just because it
+    can reach the port."""
+
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        self._tmp = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory()
+        self.addCleanup(self._tmp.cleanup)
+        self.orch = _orchestrator(Path(self._tmp.name) / "r.db")
+
+    def test_health_is_public_even_unauthorized(self) -> None:
+        status, _ = dispatch(self.orch, "GET", "/health", b"", authorized=False)
+        self.assertEqual(200, status)
+
+    def test_unauthorized_denies_every_other_route(self) -> None:
+        for method, path, body in [
+            ("GET", "/bottles", b""),
+            ("POST", "/bottles", _body({"source_ip": "10.0.0.1"})),
+            ("PUT", "/bottles/x/policy", _body({"policy": "routes: []"})),
+            ("DELETE", "/bottles/x", b""),
+            ("POST", "/resolve", _body({"source_ip": "10.0.0.1", "identity_token": "t"})),
+            ("POST", "/attribute", _body({"source_ip": "10.0.0.1", "identity_token": "t"})),
+            ("GET", "/supervise/proposals", b""),
+            ("POST", "/supervise/respond", _body({"proposal_id": "p", "bottle_slug": "s", "decision": "approve"})),
+        ]:
+            status, _ = dispatch(self.orch, method, path, body, authorized=False)
+            self.assertEqual(401, status, f"{method} {path} should be 401 unauthorized")
+
+    def test_deny_happens_before_the_registry_is_touched(self) -> None:
+        """An unauthorized DELETE must not tear a bottle down. 401, and the
+        bottle is still there."""
+        rec = self.orch.registry.register("10.0.0.9", policy="", metadata="")
+        status, _ = dispatch(
+            self.orch, "DELETE", f"/bottles/{rec.bottle_id}", b"", authorized=False)
+        self.assertEqual(401, status)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(self.orch.registry.get(rec.bottle_id))
+
+    def _server_with_secret(self, secret: str):
+        with patch.dict("os.environ", {"BOT_BOTTLE_CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN": secret}):
+            server = make_server(self.orch, "127.0.0.1", 0)
+        self.addCleanup(server.server_close)
+        threading.Thread(target=server.serve_forever, daemon=True).start()
+        self.addCleanup(server.shutdown)
+        host, port = server.server_address[0], server.server_address[1]
+        return f"http://{host}:{port}"
+
+    def _status(self, url: str, *, header: str | None = None) -> int:
+        req = urllib.request.Request(url)
+        if header is not None:
+            req.add_header("x-bot-bottle-control-auth", header)
+        try:
+            return urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=5).status
+        except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+            return e.code
+
+    def test_configured_server_enforces_the_header_over_http(self) -> None:
+        base = self._server_with_secret("s3cret-admin")
+        # /health is public — no header needed.
+        self.assertEqual(200, self._status(f"{base}/health"))
+        # /bottles requires the secret.
+        self.assertEqual(401, self._status(f"{base}/bottles"))
+        self.assertEqual(401, self._status(f"{base}/bottles", header="wrong"))
+        self.assertEqual(200, self._status(f"{base}/bottles", header="s3cret-admin"))
+
+    def test_unconfigured_server_runs_open(self) -> None:
+        """No secret set (tests / nft-protected Firecracker): open mode, so the
+        existing round-trip and unit behavior are unchanged."""
+        with patch.dict("os.environ", {}, clear=False):
+            import os
+            os.environ.pop("BOT_BOTTLE_CONTROL_PLANE_TOKEN", None)
+            server = make_server(self.orch, "127.0.0.1", 0)
+        self.addCleanup(server.server_close)
+        self.assertTrue(server.is_authorized(""))
+        self.assertTrue(server.is_authorized("anything"))
+
+
 class TestDispatchSupervise(unittest.TestCase):
     """The /supervise/* routes over the pure dispatch()."""
 

tests/unit/test_orchestrator_gateway.py

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class TestDockerGateway(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_ensure_running_noop_when_up_and_image_current(self) -> None:
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"]:
                 return _proc(stdout=self.sc.name)          # running
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class TestDockerGateway(unittest.TestCase):
         # a rebuild's new flat daemons take effect.
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"]:
                 return _proc(stdout=self.sc.name)
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class TestDockerGateway(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_ensure_running_starts_the_singleton_when_absent(self) -> None:
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             return _proc(stdout="") if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"] else _proc()
 
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ class TestDockerGateway(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_ensure_running_creates_network_when_missing(self) -> None:
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             if argv[:3] == ["docker", "network", "inspect"]:
                 return _proc(returncode=1, stderr="No such network")
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ class TestDockerGateway(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_ensure_running_reuses_existing_network(self) -> None:
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             return _proc(stdout="") if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"] else _proc()
 
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ class TestDockerGateway(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual([], [c for c in calls if c[:3] == ["docker", "network", "create"]])
 
     def test_ensure_running_raises_on_docker_failure(self) -> None:
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"]:
                 return _proc(stdout="")
             if argv[:2] == ["docker", "run"]:
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ class TestDockerGatewayBuild(unittest.TestCase):
         # build-if-missing silently ran a stale single-tenant image.
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def rec(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def rec(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             return _proc()  # image present, build succeeds
 
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ class TestDockerGatewayBuild(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_ensure_built_no_cache_env_forces_full_rebuild(self) -> None:
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def rec(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def rec(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             return _proc()
 

tests/unit/test_orchestrator_lifecycle.py

@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class TestOrchestratorService(unittest.TestCase):
         current = source_hash(self.svc._repo_root)
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"]:
                 return _proc(stdout=ORCHESTRATOR_NAME)
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class TestOrchestratorService(unittest.TestCase):
         # effect, same as the gateway's image-staleness check.
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"]:
                 return _proc(stdout=ORCHESTRATOR_NAME)
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ class TestOrchestratorService(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_ensure_running_starts_orchestrator_container_when_absent(self) -> None:
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"]:
                 return _proc(stdout="")   # not running
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ class TestOrchestratorService(unittest.TestCase):
         # gateway data plane — built from Dockerfile.orchestrator when absent.
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"]:
                 return _proc(stdout="")                 # orchestrator not running
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ class TestOrchestratorService(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_ensure_running_skips_orchestrator_image_build_when_present(self) -> None:
         calls: list[list[str]] = []
 
-        def fake(argv: list[str]) -> Mock:
+        def fake(argv: list[str], **_kw: object) -> Mock:
             calls.append(argv)
             if argv[:2] == ["docker", "ps"]:
                 return _proc(stdout="")