Enforce crash-safe build policy

Add compile-time checks for silent reboot, disabled core dumps, and
disabled debugger-aware panic handling. Include regression coverage,
hardening guidance, and update Phase 8/9 project status.

docs/agent/code-map.md

@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ This is a semantic map, not a complete file inventory. Start here, then read the
 - Dependencies: every subsystem initializer
 - Lifecycle constraint: optional display/network failures should not remove UART0 administrative recovery or USB UART1 access; the custom administration frontend starts only after command registration.
 
+## Crash/debug build policy
+
+- Files: `src/security_build_policy.c`, registration in `src/CMakeLists.txt`, diagnostic flags in `sdkconfig.defaults`; tests: `tests/security_build_policy/run.py` (optional `--sdkconfig-header` checks the generated configuration).
+- Compile-only guard: require no core dumps and silent panic reboot; reject panic/register output, panic/runtime GDB stubs and OCD-aware panic handling. No runtime allocation/task or physical JTAG restriction. Policy, operational profiles and target gates: [Phase 9 hardening](../security_hardening.md).
+
 ## Secure randomness
 
 **Responsibility:** provide the sole project-owned, mutex-serialized application DRBG, seeded before Wi-Fi/radio use.

docs/agent/current-state.md

@@ -2,6 +2,15 @@
 
 Working memory, not an implementation timeline. Source is authoritative; begin with [code map](code-map.md), then [architecture](architecture.md) and [decisions](design-decisions.md).
 
+## Phase 9A — crash/debug baseline — 2026-09-15
+
+- User requested Phase 9 and explicitly excluded secure boot and encrypted NVS. Roadmap now marks Phase 9 in progress; Phase 8 acceptance remains closed. Physical extraction/firmware replacement stay outside the threat model even after hardening; no encryption/eFuse/partition changes.
+- `src/security_build_policy.c` enforces resolved no-core-dump + silent-panic-reboot settings and rejects panic/register output, runtime/panic GDB stubs and OCD-aware handling. Registered unconditionally in CMake; explicit defaults. No runtime task/buffer added. This intentionally removes decoded panic traces, not ordinary boot/status logging or physical debug access.
+- `docs/security_hardening.md` defines shared operational profiles, secret-bearing artifact handling, evidence limits and target gates. Reserved partitions unchanged; old dump/credential copies are not erased. No generated assets/dependency changes.
+- Validation: `pio run` PASS **94,196 B linked RAM / 1,828,565 B flash**. Host policy matrix PASS17; actual generated SDK header PASS as eighteenth case. Initial host test hit read-only ccache storage; `CCACHE_DISABLE=1` rerun passed. Independent review found no actionable issues and repeated both host modes and diff check. No upload, erase, hardware validation or commit.
+- **9A target gate remains open:** synthetic-secret controlled panic, no register/UART/flash dump, reboot rather than halt, UART0/USB/network recovery and broker behavior. No test-only panic command was added to production.
+- **Next implementation: SSH cross-connection authentication throttling.** Read-only audit verified three counted attempts per slot reset on reconnect, with unsigned key probes uncounted; web already gates five verifications per fixed global 60-second window. Choose bounded monotonic admission and explicit counters without sleeping the SSH owner, preserve currentness/slot ownership and test real wolfSSH callback ordering. No auth behavior changed in 9A. Remaining zeroization/crypto/dependency/license/lifecycle audits are planned, not completed.
+
 ## Web popup cosmetics — 2026-09-14
 
 - `src/web_ui.c`: contextual buttons now occupy entire status cards; bounded grid columns and clipped/ellipsized values prevent narrow-window overflow. Quick panels preserve the visible terminal title, admin toolbar and selected-view indication; full-page promotion retains drafts and restores Settings presentation.
@@ -28,7 +37,7 @@ Working memory, not an implementation timeline. Source is authoritative; begin w
 - Extremely low internal/DMA lifetime minima warrant correlated transient-headroom investigation; overlapping capability pools and conservative/non-simultaneous region minima do not prove allocation failure. Numeric reserves, HTTPD/dispatcher stack margins, peak correlation and detailed soak/fault evidence remain unapproved/unreported. Do not reopen functional sign-off or invent a reserve threshold.
 - SDK TLS `-0x004C` is generic NET_RECV_FAILED, not OOM. Two boot auth failures plausibly involve stale cookies, but causation is unconfirmed. Prior intermittent web admission issues and accepted idle cleanup do not justify claiming every admission failure fixed.
 - Real DNS/reannouncement, NVS power-loss, browser geometry/accessibility, individual fault cases and exact duration claims require explicit evidence if investigated; retained [regression procedures](../user_administration_tests.md) are not execution records.
-- **Next: Phase 9 security/production hardening only if requested.** No source, configuration, test implementation, build, upload, erase, branch or commit is authorized by documentation consolidation.
+- The earlier documentation-only handoff is superseded by the user's Phase 9 request; current scope and evidence are recorded above. Device operations remain unperformed.
 
 ## Scope and safety to retain
 

docs/agent/design-decisions.md

@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ Only constraints supported by implementation or current project documentation be
 
 ## NVS is persistence, not a physical security boundary
 
-**Decision:** The current firmware stores Wi-Fi credentials and TLS/SSH private keys in unencrypted application NVS. The reserved NVS-key partition does not enable encryption.
+**Decision:** The current firmware stores Wi-Fi credentials and TLS/SSH private keys in unencrypted application NVS. The reserved NVS-key partition does not enable encryption. Phase 9 explicitly excludes secure boot and encrypted NVS by user preference; physical extraction and firmware replacement remain outside the supported threat model, not deferred guarantees of this phase.
 
 **Rationale/evidence:** `partitions.csv`, README security notes, and current code show no NVS-encryption setup. Original rationale for deferring encryption is outside the implementation; the observable limitation is explicit.
 
@@ -142,6 +142,12 @@ Only constraints supported by implementation or current project documentation be
 
 **Relevant files:** `partitions.csv`, `README.md`, `src/web_security.c`, `src/ssh_security.c`, `src/wifi_config.c`
 
+## Supported builds do not export crash memory
+
+**Decision:** Phase 9A requires disabled core dumps and silent panic reboot, and forbids panic/runtime GDB stubs and OCD-aware panic handling. `src/security_build_policy.c` checks resolved SDK configuration at compile time; defaults alone are insufficient. Development, test and production handling profiles share this baseline, with no bypass flag.
+
+**Consequence:** Decoded panic traces/register output are deliberately lost; ordinary boot/status diagnostics remain and are not universally sanitized by this policy. No eFuse, physical JTAG restriction, partition change or retroactive dump clearing is implied. Target panic/recovery validation remains necessary. [Policy and tests](../security_hardening.md).
+
 ## Wi-Fi callbacks enqueue; the manager owns policy
 
 **Decision:** ESP event callbacks copy bounded event data into the Wi-Fi manager queue. A permanent manager task performs driver operations, profile/AP policy, deadlines, reconciliation, and station mDNS announcement transitions. mDNS initializes at most once, remains allocated across transient disconnects while its component handlers withdraw/re-enable the STA interface, and treats failure as nonfatal.