Give the Tailscale ACL step a working policy file (#53)
Follow-up to #52, which merged before this landed. Docs only — no code, no compose changes. `DEPLOY.md` §7 told the operator to "tag the two machines" and showed a bare `acls` fragment. Following it literally does not work and is actively harmful: - the fragment references `tag:bookmark-api` / `tag:bookmark-browser` without a `tagOwners` section, so the policy is rejected on save; - it never says how a tag gets onto a device (`tailscale up --advertise-tags=...`, which re-authenticates); - replacing the tailnet's default allow-all with only that one rule **removes the operator's own SSH access to the browser machine**. Replaced with a complete, saveable policy file: `tagOwners`, the CDP rule, a second rule preserving own-device access including `:22`, and a `tests` block so a later edit that widens 9222 is rejected rather than silently applied. Also records two things that were assumed rather than stated: - **Why tagging is load-bearing.** Tailscale has no `deny`, so restricting 9222 means removing the blanket accept and enumerating what remains. That is only expressible if the browser machine falls outside a selector that still covers your own devices — which is exactly what a tag does, since a tagged device has no user and stops matching `autogroup:member` / `autogroup:self`. Without that, the whole step reads as arbitrary ceremony. - **Tagging replaces a device's user identity**, so it suits a dedicated box and disrupts a daily driver. Both paths are now written down. Finally, separates two checks the old text conflated: the existing `curl` runs on the home machine and proves only the **bind**, because node-local traffic is not filtered. Proving the **ACL** needs a third device, so that check is now its own step. Verified: `tailscale.com/docs/reference/syntax/policy-file` and `/docs/features/tags` (validated Apr 2026 / Dec 2025) for `tagOwners`, `autogroup:self` semantics vs tagged devices, `--advertise-tags` re-auth and key-expiry behaviour. Markdown fences balanced. Reviewed-on: #53 Co-authored-by: Sulthan Zaki <sultankiki05@gmail.com> Co-committed-by: Sulthan Zaki <sultankiki05@gmail.com>
This commit was merged in pull request #53.
This commit is contained in:
@@ -309,18 +309,95 @@ refuses to start rather than guess.
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**Narrow it to the one device that needs it.** The bind address keeps CDP off
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your LAN; it still leaves port 9222 open to every device on the tailnet, and
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CDP has no login. Add a rule in the Tailscale admin console's access controls
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so only the VPS can reach it — tag the two machines, then:
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CDP has no login — a compromised phone is enough to drive this host. A new
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tailnet's policy is allow-all, so this is the step that makes "Tailscale
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identity is the access control" true rather than aspirational.
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Tailscale has no `deny`, so a restriction is expressed by removing the blanket
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grant and enumerating what is left. That only works if the browser machine can
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be *excluded* from a selector that still covers your own devices — which is
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what tagging buys: a tagged device has no user, so `autogroup:member` and
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`autogroup:self` stop matching it. Tagging is the mechanism, not decoration.
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In the admin console, under **Access controls**, the shipped policy grants
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`{"src": ["*"], "dst": ["*"], "ip": ["*"]}`. Replace it:
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```jsonc
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// tailnet policy file
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"acls": [
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{ "action": "accept", "src": ["tag:bookmark-api"], "dst": ["tag:bookmark-browser:9222"] },
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]
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{
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"tagOwners": {
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// Empty list: implicitly owned by the tailnet Owner/Admins, which is you.
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"tag:bookmark-api": [],
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"tag:bookmark-browser": [],
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},
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"grants": [
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// The only thing on the tailnet that may drive the browser.
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{
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"src": ["tag:bookmark-api"],
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"dst": ["tag:bookmark-browser"],
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"ip": ["tcp:9222"],
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},
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// Your own devices reach your own devices, and the VPS, in full.
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{
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"src": ["autogroup:member"],
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"dst": ["autogroup:self", "tag:bookmark-api"],
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"ip": ["*"],
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},
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// On the browser machine you get SSH and nothing else. Widen this to `*`
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// and the restriction above is void; delete it and you are locked out.
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{
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"src": ["autogroup:member"],
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"dst": ["tag:bookmark-browser"],
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"ip": ["tcp:22"],
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},
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// Uncomment if you route traffic through an exit node — dropping the
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// blanket grant takes exit-node access with it.
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// {"src": ["autogroup:member"], "dst": ["autogroup:internet"], "ip": ["*"]},
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],
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// Tagged devices left `autogroup:self`, so Tailscale SSH needs them named.
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// Irrelevant if you reach these boxes with ordinary sshd over the tailnet —
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// that is the `tcp:22` grant above.
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"ssh": [
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{
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"action": "check",
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"src": ["autogroup:member"],
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"dst": ["autogroup:self", "tag:bookmark-api", "tag:bookmark-browser"],
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"users": ["autogroup:nonroot", "root"],
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},
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],
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// Run on every save, so a later edit that reopens 9222 is rejected outright.
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"tests": [
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{ "src": "tag:bookmark-api", "accept": ["tag:bookmark-browser:9222"] },
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{
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"src": "you@example.com",
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"accept": ["tag:bookmark-browser:22"],
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"deny": ["tag:bookmark-browser:9222"],
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},
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],
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}
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```
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Without a rule the tailnet default is allow-all, so this step is what makes
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"Tailscale identity is the access control" true rather than aspirational.
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Then apply the tags — on the VPS and the home machine respectively:
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```bash
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sudo tailscale up --advertise-tags=tag:bookmark-api
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sudo tailscale up --advertise-tags=tag:bookmark-browser
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```
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Each re-authenticates in a browser and issues a new node key; the tailnet IP is
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unchanged, so `BROWSER_WS_URL` and `BROWSER_BIND_ADDR` still hold. Key expiry is
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disabled once a device is tagged, which is what you want for a server — an
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expired key would otherwise take the poller down every few months.
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**Tagging replaces the device's user identity**, so do this only to machines
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that exist to run these services. If your "home machine" is also your daily
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driver, tag it anyway and reach it through the `:22` rule above, or skip the
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tag and accept that any device of yours can reach CDP.
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Enforcement is by the destination's packet filter, so the check below is real,
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not advisory.
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Prove the bind is tight, from the home machine itself:
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@@ -334,6 +411,17 @@ The first call is also what wakes Chrome: it is not running until something
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connects, and it is reaped again after five idle minutes. A cold first response
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takes a few seconds; that is the browser starting, not a fault.
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That check proves the *bind*, not the ACL — traffic that starts on the node is
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not filtered. Prove the ACL from somewhere else: on your laptop or phone the
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same URL must now time out, and from the VPS it must answer.
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```bash
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# on any other device of yours -> hangs until timeout
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curl -s -m 5 http://<home machine tailnet IP>:9222/json/version
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# on the VPS -> JSON
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curl -s -m 20 http://<home machine tailnet IP>:9222/json/version
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```
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**On the VPS:**
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```bash
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