fix(security): drop unbindable publish binds instead of crash-looping the app

The dd61a204 bind hardening published Bitcoin RPC on the archy-net gateway
10.89.0.1 — but rootlessport binds in the HOST netns, where that address
does not exist. First real deploy (.228, 2026-07-09) crash-looped
bitcoin-knots AND bitcoin-core the moment the gate's stop→start regenerated
the unit from the re-signed catalog: 'rootlessport listen tcp
10.89.0.1:8332: bind: cannot assign requested address', restart counter 132.
Hand-edits to the unit don't survive — the orchestrator regenerates it from
the signed catalog manifest within seconds.

- New archipelago_container::manifest::host_can_bind_publish_ip(): empty/
  wildcard/loopback accepted without probing, anything else ephemeral-bind
  probed. Applied at all three publish paths — quadlet from_manifest
  (PublishPort), podman API create (host_ip), and the legacy -p string
  table loop — each dropping the publish with a warn instead of taking the
  container down. This neutralizes the bad binds already in the SIGNED
  catalog, so nodes recover on binary deploy alone (no ceremony needed).
- Remove the gateway publishes from bitcoin-knots/-core manifests and the
  legacy config.rs tables: verified on .228 that every in-node consumer
  (lnd, btcpay/nbxplorer, fedimint, mempool-api) dials the container's
  archy-net alias directly (bitcoin-knots:8332) and lnd uses RPC polling
  (no ZMQ) — the gateway publish had zero consumers. Loopback-only RPC/ZMQ
  (the approved LAN lockdown) stands; P2P 8333 stays public.

Catalog still ships the gateway binds until the next signing ceremony
regenerates it from these manifests; the guard makes that non-urgent.

Tests: container crate 65/65 (2 new guard tests), quadlet 40/40.

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

apps/bitcoin-core/manifest.yml

@@ -71,18 +71,17 @@ app:
     network_policy: isolated
 
   ports:
-    # RPC is auth-only: publish host-local + the archy-net gateway
+    # RPC is auth-only: publish host-local ONLY - the LAN cannot reach
-    # (host.archipelago / host.containers.internal -> 10.89.0.1) so in-node
+    # nodeIP:8332. In-node consumers (lnd, fedimint, btcpay, mempool-api)
-    # consumers (lnd, fedimint-gateway, btcpay) keep their backend-agnostic
+    # dial the container's archy-net alias directly (bitcoin-core:8332),
-    # endpoint - but the LAN can no longer reach nodeIP:8332. P2P stays public.
+    # which needs no publish at all. Do NOT bind the archy-net gateway
+    # (10.89.0.1): rootlessport binds in the HOST netns where that address
+    # does not exist, and the whole unit crash-loops (2026-07-09, .228).
+    # P2P 8333 stays public.
     - host: 8332
       container: 8332
       protocol: tcp
       bind: 127.0.0.1
-    - host: 8332
-      container: 8332
-      protocol: tcp
-      bind: 10.89.0.1
     - host: 8333
       container: 8333
       protocol: tcp

apps/bitcoin-knots/manifest.yml

@@ -71,18 +71,17 @@ app:
     network_policy: isolated
 
   ports:
-    # RPC is auth-only: publish host-local + the archy-net gateway
+    # RPC is auth-only: publish host-local ONLY - the LAN cannot reach
-    # (host.archipelago / host.containers.internal -> 10.89.0.1) so in-node
+    # nodeIP:8332. In-node consumers (lnd, fedimint, btcpay, mempool-api)
-    # consumers (lnd, fedimint-gateway, btcpay) keep their backend-agnostic
+    # dial the container's archy-net alias directly (bitcoin-knots:8332),
-    # endpoint - but the LAN can no longer reach nodeIP:8332. P2P stays public.
+    # which needs no publish at all. Do NOT bind the archy-net gateway
+    # (10.89.0.1): rootlessport binds in the HOST netns where that address
+    # does not exist, and the whole unit crash-loops (2026-07-09, .228).
+    # P2P 8333 stays public.
     - host: 8332
       container: 8332
       protocol: tcp
       bind: 127.0.0.1
-    - host: 8332
-      container: 8332
-      protocol: tcp
-      bind: 10.89.0.1
     - host: 8333
       container: 8333
       protocol: tcp

core/archipelago/src/api/rpc/package/config.rs

@@ -660,16 +660,15 @@ pub(super) async fn get_app_config(
         ),
         "bitcoin-core" => (
             vec![
-                // RPC + ZMQ are auth-only/unauthenticated: host-local + the
+                // RPC + ZMQ are auth-only/unauthenticated: host-local ONLY —
-                // archy-net gateway (host.archipelago) only — never the LAN.
+                // never the LAN. In-node consumers dial the container's
-                // P2P 8333 stays public.
+                // archy-net alias directly; never bind the archy-net gateway
+                // (10.89.0.1) — rootlessport can't hold it and podman run
+                // fails outright (2026-07-09, .228). P2P 8333 stays public.
                 "127.0.0.1:8332:8332".to_string(),
-                "10.89.0.1:8332:8332".to_string(),
                 "8333:8333".to_string(),
                 "127.0.0.1:28332:28332".to_string(),
-                "10.89.0.1:28332:28332".to_string(),
                 "127.0.0.1:28333:28333".to_string(),
-                "10.89.0.1:28333:28333".to_string(),
             ],
             vec!["/var/lib/archipelago/bitcoin:/home/bitcoin/.bitcoin".to_string()],
             vec![],
@@ -708,16 +707,15 @@ pub(super) async fn get_app_config(
         ),
         "bitcoin" | "bitcoin-knots" => (
             vec![
-                // RPC + ZMQ are auth-only/unauthenticated: host-local + the
+                // RPC + ZMQ are auth-only/unauthenticated: host-local ONLY —
-                // archy-net gateway (host.archipelago) only — never the LAN.
+                // never the LAN. In-node consumers dial the container's
-                // P2P 8333 stays public.
+                // archy-net alias directly; never bind the archy-net gateway
+                // (10.89.0.1) — rootlessport can't hold it and podman run
+                // fails outright (2026-07-09, .228). P2P 8333 stays public.
                 "127.0.0.1:8332:8332".to_string(),
-                "10.89.0.1:8332:8332".to_string(),
                 "8333:8333".to_string(),
                 "127.0.0.1:28332:28332".to_string(),
-                "10.89.0.1:28332:28332".to_string(),
                 "127.0.0.1:28333:28333".to_string(),
-                "10.89.0.1:28333:28333".to_string(),
             ],
             vec!["/var/lib/archipelago/bitcoin:/home/bitcoin/.bitcoin".to_string()],
             vec![],

core/archipelago/src/api/rpc/package/install.rs

@@ -720,6 +720,24 @@ impl RpcHandler {
         self.create_data_dirs(package_id, &volumes).await;
 
         for port in &ports {
+            // Drop publishes whose bind address the host can't hold (e.g. the
+            // archy-net gateway 10.89.0.1 under rootless podman) — passing
+            // them through makes `podman run` itself fail and takes the app
+            // down. "ip:host:container" has 2 colons; plain "host:container"
+            // has 1 (no IPv6 binds in the legacy string table).
+            let bind = if port.matches(':').count() == 2 {
+                port.split(':').next().unwrap_or("")
+            } else {
+                ""
+            };
+            if !archipelago_container::manifest::host_can_bind_publish_ip(bind) {
+                warn!(
+                    app = %package_id,
+                    publish = %port,
+                    "dropping publish: bind address not assignable on this host"
+                );
+                continue;
+            }
             run_args.push("-p");
             run_args.push(port);
         }

core/archipelago/src/container/quadlet.rs

@@ -433,6 +433,19 @@ impl QuadletUnit {
             ports: app
                 .ports
                 .iter()
+                .filter(|p| {
+                    let ok = archipelago_container::manifest::host_can_bind_publish_ip(&p.bind);
+                    if !ok {
+                        tracing::warn!(
+                            app = %app.id,
+                            bind = %p.bind,
+                            host_port = p.host,
+                            "dropping publish: bind address not assignable on this host \
+                             (rootlessport would crash-loop the unit)"
+                        );
+                    }
+                    ok
+                })
                 .map(|p| (p.host, p.container, p.protocol.clone(), p.bind.clone()))
                 .collect(),
             environment: app.environment.clone(),

core/container/src/manifest.rs

@@ -523,6 +523,33 @@ impl From<(u16, u16)> for PortMapping {
     }
 }
 
+/// True when the host can actually bind a publish to `ip` right now.
+///
+/// Rootless podman forwards published ports via rootlessport, which listens
+/// in the HOST network namespace — an address that only exists inside the
+/// rootless netns (e.g. the archy-net bridge gateway `10.89.0.1`) fails with
+/// "cannot assign requested address" and systemd crash-loops the whole unit
+/// (bitcoin went down fleet-wide-capable this way, 2026-07-09 on .228).
+/// Callers drop such publishes instead of passing them through: a publish
+/// that cannot bind provides nothing, while the failed bind takes the
+/// container down with it.
+///
+/// Empty (= 0.0.0.0), wildcard, and loopback binds are always accepted
+/// without probing. Anything else is probed with an ephemeral-port bind.
+/// Unparseable addresses return false — podman would reject them anyway.
+pub fn host_can_bind_publish_ip(ip: &str) -> bool {
+    if ip.is_empty() {
+        return true;
+    }
+    let Ok(addr) = ip.parse::<std::net::IpAddr>() else {
+        return false;
+    };
+    if addr.is_unspecified() || addr.is_loopback() {
+        return true;
+    }
+    std::net::TcpListener::bind((addr, 0)).is_ok()
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct Volume {
     #[serde(rename = "type")]
@@ -1364,6 +1391,25 @@ mod tests {
     use std::fs;
     use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
+    #[test]
+    fn host_can_bind_accepts_empty_wildcard_and_loopback_without_probing() {
+        assert!(host_can_bind_publish_ip(""));
+        assert!(host_can_bind_publish_ip("0.0.0.0"));
+        assert!(host_can_bind_publish_ip("127.0.0.1"));
+        assert!(host_can_bind_publish_ip("::"));
+        assert!(host_can_bind_publish_ip("::1"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn host_can_bind_rejects_addresses_absent_from_the_host() {
+        // TEST-NET-1 (RFC 5737) is never assigned to a real interface. The
+        // production case is 10.89.0.1 (podman bridge gateway, exists only
+        // inside the rootless netns), but that could legitimately bind on a
+        // rootful host, so the test probes an address that can't.
+        assert!(!host_can_bind_publish_ip("192.0.2.1"));
+        assert!(!host_can_bind_publish_ip("not-an-ip"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn partition_taints_plain_entries_that_interpolate_secrets() {
         let plain = vec![

core/container/src/podman_client.rs

@@ -291,6 +291,15 @@ impl PodmanClient {
         // Build the container spec for the API
         let mut port_mappings = Vec::new();
         for port in &manifest.app.ports {
+            if !crate::manifest::host_can_bind_publish_ip(&port.bind) {
+                tracing::warn!(
+                    app = %manifest.app.id,
+                    bind = %port.bind,
+                    host_port = port.host,
+                    "dropping publish: bind address not assignable on this host"
+                );
+                continue;
+            }
             // Honour the manifest's protocol (default tcp). netbird's STUN port
             // is 3478/udp; forcing tcp here would publish the wrong protocol and
             // silently break relay discovery.