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Padserve - Secure Messaging System over Tailscale

License Go

This Go-based messaging system implements a secure TCP server-client communication protocol, utilizing Tailscale to establish a secure network overlay. The server and clients use elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key exchange to establish a shared secret for encrypted message exchanges, providing secure, authenticated communication over the Tailscale network.

Features

  1. ECDH Key Exchange: The server and client exchange public keys to establish a shared secret.
  2. AES and OTP Encryption: Messages are encrypted using AES for all-client messages or OTP for one-to-one messages.
  3. Tailscale Integration: This system is designed to work exclusively over Tailscale, using its internal IP addresses (100.64.0.0/10 and fd7a:115c:a1e0::/48).
  4. IPv4 and IPv6 Support: The server now supports binding to both IPv4 and IPv6 Tailscale addresses, based on user preferences.
  5. Basic Commands: Support for user registration, listing active users, sending messages, and fetching server information.
  6. Operator Commands: Support for basic server operator command including banning and unbanning of clients.

Requirements

  1. Go (version 1.23.2 or later)
  2. Tailscale installed and running
  3. A configured Tailscale network

Installation

Clone the repository and navigate to the project directory:

git clone https://github.com/tailsecurity/padserve.git
cd padserve

Building the Server

To build the server, run the following command:

go build

Running the Server

The server can detect its Tailscale IP address (both IPv4 and IPv6) and listen on port 12345. The server can be run in IPv4 mode, IPv6 mode, or both, based on user preferences.

  1. Ensure Tailscale is active and configured.

  2. Start the server with:

    go run . [-ipv4] [-ipv6]

    Use the -ipv4 flag to enable IPv4 mode, the -ipv6 flag to enable IPv6 mode, or both to enable dual-stack support.

    • If no flags are provided, the server defaults to IPv4 mode.

  3. The server will display its Tailscale IP and listen for incoming client connections.

Server Commands

The server supports the following commands sent from clients:

  • REGISTER <ClientID>: Registers a new client with a unique ID.
  • SEND <RecipientID|ALL> <Message>: Sends a message to a specific client or broadcasts to all.
  • LIST: Lists all connected clients.
  • SERVERHELP: Lists available server commands.

Operator Commands

  • SERVERINFO: Displays server information.
  • KICK <ClientID>: Disconnects the specified client from the server.
  • BAN <ClientID>: Bans the specified client and disconnects them if connected.
  • UNBAN <ClientID>: Removes a client from the banned list.
  • LISTBANS: Lists all banned clients.

Running the Client

UPDATE: The client has been moved from this repository to its own repository. Please refer to the Padserve Client for usage instructions.

Example Usage

  1. Start the server:

    go run . -ipv4 -ipv6

    This starts the server in dual-stack mode, listening on both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Notes

  • Ensure that all clients are on the same Tailscale network.
  • Each client should register with a unique identifier (the server will reject duplicate identifiers).
  • The server supports encrypted messaging; however, it is limited to the Tailscale network.
  • Both the client and server are cross-platform and have been tested on macOS, Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD.
  • The server can now operate in IPv4, IPv6, or both modes, depending on the specified flags.

Security Considerations

  • Messages are encrypted with either AES (for all-client messages) or OTP encryption (for individual messages).
  • Shared secrets are derived using ECDH and hashed with SHA-256.
  • Operator commands are restricted to the client initially registered as the operator.

Contributing

Please refer to our CONTRIBUTING.md file for details on how to contribute to this project.

Also See

  • tailutils for Tailscale utility functions
  • padclient for the official Padserve Client implementation

License

This project is licensed under the MIT license.