TEE Infrastructure

Trusted Execution Environments for Deterministic, Auditable, and Attested Smart Clause Processing

4.1.1 Why TEE Infrastructure Matters for NSF

Smart Clauses in NSF often govern:

• High-stakes financial flows

• Disaster response mechanisms

• Treaty-bound thresholds

• Risk-model-driven simulations

• Multi-agent decision-making

To be trusted, execution must occur:

• In verifiably isolated runtimes

• With cryptographic attestation

• With no unauthorized access to memory, state, or output

• Under formal governance boundaries

Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) provide hardware-enforced isolation, enabling Clause-Attested Compute (CAC)—the foundational output unit of the NSF execution layer.

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4.1.2 Core Properties of a TEE

A valid NSF-supported TEE must:

Property	Description
Isolated memory	Clause logic and data are inaccessible to the host OS or hypervisor
Sealed storage	Internal secrets (keys, config) remain encrypted outside the enclave
Remote attestation	External parties can verify enclave identity and runtime state
Deterministic execution	Input-output behavior is fully traceable and reproducible
Cryptographic sealing	CAC outputs are signed with enclave-specific keys and proof of integrity
Governance scope tagging	Execution must reference DAO, jurisdiction, and credential context

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4.1.3 Supported TEE Types in NSF

TEE Type	Vendor / Stack	Status in NSF
Intel SGX	Intel	Widely supported; attestation + ecosystem maturity
AMD SEV-SNP	AMD	Enabled for multi-node deployments; strong isolation guarantees
Arm TrustZone	Arm	Used for edge and mobile nodes; constrained but useful
Enarx	OSS (Confidential WebAssembly)	NSF preferred abstraction layer; hardware-agnostic, OSS-first
RISC-V Keystone	Experimental	Roadmap inclusion for sovereign hardware support

Each TEE type must pass NSF Certification Benchmarks for:

• Memory protection

• Sealing

• Remote attestation

• Performance

• Open-source audibility (if applicable)

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4.1.4 Enarx as Default NSF Runtime Abstraction

NSF adopts Enarx as the standardized runtime for cross-platform TEE execution:

• Compiles clause logic into WebAssembly (WASM)

• Runs in SGX, SEV, TrustZone, and more

• Supports governance-controlled workload scheduling

• Integrates with remote attestation services

• Enforces input/output sealing for CAC generation

• Open-source and auditable

• Designed for confidential governance applications

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4.1.5 Attestation Infrastructure

Every TEE node must:

• Generate a quote proving the enclave’s measurement hash

• Include a certificate chain to hardware manufacturer (Intel, AMD)

• Include enclave-specific metadata (clause ID, DAO, jurisdiction, runtime hash)

• Be verifiable by remote validators, DAOs, or third-party auditors

Quotes must be:

• Included in CAC metadata

• Signed and timestamped

• Anchored to Audit Layer and optionally to public blockchains

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4.1.6 TEE Provisioning and Governance Onboarding

Before a node may execute clauses:

1. TEE is registered in the NSF Registry Layer

2. Node undergoes proof-of-attestation and baseline clause test suite

3. Governance DAO assigns scope (domain, jurisdiction, role)

4. Node receives execution credential: TEEExecutorVC

Provisioning includes:

• Hardware fingerprinting

• Jurisdictional constraints

• Governance-assigned workload types

• Attestation policies (frequency, quote expiration, audit triggers)

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4.1.7 Clause Runtime Determinism Enforcement

TEEs must ensure:

• No non-deterministic system calls

• No external clock access without mediation

• All random inputs (e.g., sampling) are bounded and seed-anchored

• Inputs/outputs are hashed and sealed before leaving enclave

• Remote parties can replay inputs to validate outputs

This guarantees that every clause execution in a TEE is:

• Trusted

• Verifiable

• Auditable

• Repeatable

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4.1.8 Execution Path from Trigger to CAC

1. Trigger fires (sensor, DAO vote, timer, simulation output)

2. Execution scheduler assigns clause + inputs to available TEE node

3. TEE loads clause logic and validates execution scope

4. Clause runs inside enclave with input sealing and output signing

5. CAC is generated: clause ID, input hash, output, attestation quote, jurisdiction

6. CAC is:

   • Stored in the Audit Layer

   • Available to credential issuers

   • Anchored to public chains (optional)

   • Used to trigger smart contracts, credential updates, or DAO workflows

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4.1.9 Multi-Tier TEE Architecture for NSF

NSF supports:

TEE Tier	Description
Core Executors	Primary clause runners for high-value or treaty-bound logic
Edge Executors	Sensor-close nodes for early warning and real-time response
Validator Runners	Independent third-party enclave verifiers for CAC replication
Confidential Copilots	Agent-local TEEs for user governance interfaces and privacy-preserving logic
Sim Nodes	Dedicated TEE nodes for forecast model execution and risk analytics

Each tier has specific governance, credentialing, and logging rules.

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4.1.10 TEEs as the Hardware Root of Verifiable Governance

In NSF:

• Code = policy

• Simulation = foresight

• TEE = execution trust anchor

Together, they enable Clause-Attested Compute (CAC) that is:

• Isolated

• Enclave-attested

• Governance-approved

• Agent-executable

• Jurisdiction-scoped

This turns TEEs into the hardware-level substrate for global governance—cryptographically secure, policy-bound, and publicly auditable.