Testing and Validation

Cypheron Core implements comprehensive testing across multiple validation layers to ensure NIST compliance, cryptographic correctness, and security properties.

For complete technical details, see Architecture Documentation.

Testing Categories

1. Known Answer Tests (KAT)

Purpose: NIST compliance validation using official test vectors

cargo test kat_                # Run all KAT tests
cargo test ml_kem_kat         # ML-KEM specific KAT  
cargo test ml_dsa_kat         # ML-DSA specific KAT

Coverage:

• FIPS 203 (ML-KEM) compliance validation
• FIPS 204 (ML-DSA) compliance validation
• Parameter compliance verification
• Cross-platform consistency testing

2. Property-Based Testing

Purpose: Cryptographic property verification using proptest

cargo test property_          # All property-based tests
cargo test correctness_       # Cryptographic correctness
cargo test roundtrip_         # Encryption/decryption cycles

Properties Verified:

• Key generation produces valid keypairs
• Encryption/decryption roundtrip correctness
• Signature generation/verification consistency
• Hybrid cryptography composition properties

3. Security Analysis Testing

Purpose: Security vulnerability detection and validation

cargo test security_          # Security-focused tests
cargo test timing_            # Basic timing attack detection  
cargo test memory_safety_     # Memory safety validation

Security Testing:

• Memory safety validation with sanitizers
• Basic timing attack resistance
• Buffer boundary protection testing
• FFI safety validation

4. Fuzzing Infrastructure

Purpose: Robustness testing with malformed and edge-case inputs

# Install cargo-fuzz
cargo install cargo-fuzz

# Run fuzzing campaigns
cargo fuzz run fuzz_ml_kem    # ML-KEM fuzzing
cargo fuzz run fuzz_ml_dsa    # ML-DSA fuzzing  
cargo fuzz run fuzz_hybrid    # Hybrid crypto fuzzing

Fuzzing Targets:

• Algorithm input validation
• FFI boundary robustness
• Error handling completeness
• Memory safety under stress

5. Performance Benchmarking

Purpose: Performance regression detection and analysis

cargo bench                   # Run all benchmarks
cargo bench ml_kem           # ML-KEM performance
cargo bench signatures       # Signature algorithm performance

Performance Metrics:

• Key generation timing
• Encryption/decryption performance
• Signature generation/verification speed
• Memory usage analysis

NIST Compliance Testing

Test Vector Validation

The KAT implementation validates against official NIST test vectors:

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
#[test]
fn test_ml_kem_768_kat() {
    // Load NIST test vectors
    let test_vectors = load_nist_kat_vectors("ML-KEM-768");
    
    for vector in test_vectors {
        // Validate key generation
        let (pk, sk) = MlKem768::keypair_deterministic(&vector.seed)?;
        assert_eq!(pk.as_bytes(), &vector.public_key);
        assert_eq!(sk.as_bytes(), &vector.secret_key);
        
        // Validate encapsulation  
        let (ct, ss) = MlKem768::encapsulate_deterministic(&pk, &vector.enc_seed)?;
        assert_eq!(ct.as_bytes(), &vector.ciphertext);
        assert_eq!(ss.expose_secret(), &vector.shared_secret);
    }
}
}

Integration Testing

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
#[test]
fn test_algorithm_integration() {
    // Cross-algorithm compatibility
    test_hybrid_kem_dsa_integration();
    
    // Platform consistency
    test_cross_platform_compatibility();
    
    // Error handling
    test_comprehensive_error_cases();
}
}

Security Testing

Memory Safety Testing

# AddressSanitizer
RUSTFLAGS="-Zsanitizer=address" cargo test

# MemorySanitizer  
RUSTFLAGS="-Zsanitizer=memory" cargo test

# ThreadSanitizer
RUSTFLAGS="-Zsanitizer=thread" cargo test

FFI Boundary Testing

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
#[test]
fn test_ffi_boundary_safety() {
    // Buffer boundary validation
    test_buffer_overflow_protection();
    
    // Null pointer handling
    test_null_pointer_safety();
    
    // Invalid input handling
    test_malformed_input_handling();
    
    // Error propagation
    test_c_error_handling();
}
}

Timing Analysis

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
#[test]
fn test_timing_side_channels() {
    // Basic constant-time validation
    let measurements = measure_operation_timing();
    validate_timing_consistency(&measurements);
}
}

Development Testing Workflow

Pre-Commit Testing

#!/bin/bash
# scripts/pre-commit-test.sh

# Format check
cargo fmt --check

# Lint check  
cargo clippy -- -D warnings

# Unit tests
cargo test --all

# Integration tests
cargo test --test integration

# Documentation tests
cargo test --doc

Continuous Integration Testing

# .github/workflows/test.yml (excerpt)
- name: Security Testing
  run: |
    # Memory safety testing
    RUSTFLAGS="-Zsanitizer=address" cargo test
    
    # Dependency audit
    cargo audit
    
    # Security lints
    cargo clippy -- -D warnings -W clippy::all

Platform Testing Matrix

Test Data Management

NIST Test Vectors

tests/data/
├── kat/
│   ├── ml-kem-512.rsp        # NIST KAT for ML-KEM-512
│   ├── ml-kem-768.rsp        # NIST KAT for ML-KEM-768
│   ├── ml-kem-1024.rsp       # NIST KAT for ML-KEM-1024
│   ├── ml-dsa-44.rsp         # NIST KAT for ML-DSA-44
│   └── ...
└── vectors/
    ├── property_test_seeds.txt
    └── fuzzing_corpus/

Test Coverage Reporting

# Generate coverage report
cargo install cargo-tarpaulin
cargo tarpaulin --out Html --output-dir coverage/

# View coverage report
open coverage/tarpaulin-report.html

Contributing Testing

Adding New Tests

1. Unit Tests: Add alongside implementation in src/
2. Integration Tests: Add to tests/ directory
3. KAT Tests: Update with new NIST vectors when available
4. Property Tests: Add to tests/property/
5. Fuzzing: Add new fuzz targets in fuzz/

Test Quality Standards

• Comprehensive Coverage: All public APIs tested
• Edge Case Testing: Boundary conditions validated
• Error Path Testing: All error conditions exercised
• Performance Testing: No performance regressions
• Security Testing: Security properties validated

For complete testing architecture including specific test implementations and validation methodologies, see the full Architecture Documentation.