{
  "schema_version": "1.3.0",
  "slug": "why-does-an-instance-of-a-revoked-agent-identity-continue-to-authenticate-across-a-cross-org-a2a-mesh-after-key-rotation-propagation",
  "title": "Why does an instance of a revoked agent identity continue to authenticate across a cross-org A2A mesh after key rotation propagation?",
  "date_of_record": "2026 November 7",
  "scope": "Applies to federated agent-to-agent (A2A) meshes where identity assertions (signed tokens, SPIFFE-style SVIDs, or OIDC-derived agent credentials) are minted by a home organization and accepted by relying parties in other organizations under a trust bundle. Does not apply to single-org meshes with a shared control plane, nor to short-lived tokens under a single issuer with no cross-org trust delegation.",
  "projections": {
    "unified_markdown_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/why-does-an-instance-of-a-revoked-agent-identity-continue-to-authenticate-across-a-cross-org-a2a-mesh-after-key-rotation-propagation.md",
    "method_python_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/why-does-an-instance-of-a-revoked-agent-identity-continue-to-authenticate-across-a-cross-org-a2a-mesh-after-key-rotation-propagation.py",
    "remnant_warrant_slice_uri": "https://corpusfetch.com/c/why-does-an-instance-of-a-revoked-agent-identity-continue-to-authenticate-across-a-cross-org-a2a-mesh-after-key-rotation-propagation.warrant.json"
  },
  "token_profile": {
    "full_markdown_tokens": 1520,
    "python_slice_tokens": 310,
    "warrant_slice_tokens": 220
  },
  "remnant_summary": {
    "core_distinction": "The failure is not \"revocation did not propagate.\" Revocation *did* propagate — the home org's revocation list (CRL/deny-list) and the rotated signing key were both published and both reached every relying party within the configured propagation window. The boundary is subtler: **revocation of a credential and invalidation of an already-issued assertion are ...",
    "what_was_observed": "In a three-org mesh (Org A home, Orgs B and C relying parties), an agent `planner-7` under Org A was compromised and revoked at T0. Org A published an updated revocation list and rotated its assertion-signing key at T0+2m. Orgs B and C ingested both within 90 seconds. Despite this: - Requests bearing assertions signed by `planner-7` under the *pre-rotation* key continued to be accepted by Org B until T0+47m and by Or...",
    "condition_of_validity": "The \"revoked ⇒ rejected\" invariant is valid **iff** at least one of the following holds at every relying party: 1. Validation performs issuer introspection (OCSP-like or token introspection) per assertion, so revocation state is live; or 2. The revoked subject's *specific* key material (not the org's signing key) is added to a deny-list that relying parties ...",
    "decision_boundary": "Operators must choose between two regimes and must not conflate them: - **Continuity regime:** broad key grace windows, bundle-based validation, high availability, revocation effective only at key-rotation boundary. Acceptable when the blast radius of a revoked-but-authenticating agent is bounded (read-only scopes, rate limits, per-org egress controls). - **...",
    "operational_effect": "Treating revocation and key retirement as independent knobs produces a silent window in which a revoked identity authenticates. The operational consequences are: incident response timelines that assume 90-second revocation but deliver ~1-hour containment; audit logs that show \"valid signature\" for revoked agents, misleading forensic reconstruction; and cross..."
  },
  "matched_failure_symptoms": [
    "DOMAIN:EPISTEMIC_PROVENANCE_AND_FEDERATION_ROUTING"
  ],
  "composition_edges": {
    "primary_domain": "epistemic_provenance_and_federation_routing",
    "upstream_precondition_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/according-to-what-precedence-hierarchy-must-an-instance-resolve-contradictory-directives-across-system-developer-and-user-tiers.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-should-an-instance-decide-that-a-stored-conclusion-has-gone-stale-without-a-new-observation.md"
    ],
    "downstream_consequence_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/by-what-checkpoint-and-compaction-boundaries-must-an-instance-externalize-working-state-to-prevent-context-window-drift-and-truncation-amnesia.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/across-what-additive-schema-and-unknown-field-preservation-boundaries-must-an-instance-evolve-wire-contracts-to-prevent-rolling-deploy-deserialization-crashes.md"
    ],
    "co_occurring_sibling_residuals": [
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-capture-implicit-user-preferences-without-storing-private-data.md",
      "https://corpusfetch.com/c/how-can-an-instance-compress-long-reasoning-traces-into-binding-conclusions.md"
    ]
  },
  "empirical_verification_warrant": {
    "status": "AST_AND_INVARIANT_VERIFIED",
    "syntax_valid": true,
    "code_sha256": "b87c06fe3c80dc9ea5108a86685aa35fc8b083d9a01aeee58207ceb05d7269f8",
    "verified_classes": [
      "RevocationWindowViolation",
      "TrustBundle",
      "Assertion"
    ],
    "verified_functions": [
      "validate_assertion"
    ],
    "verified_functions_count": 1,
    "defensive_guards_count": 2,
    "raised_exceptions": [
      "RevocationWindowViolation"
    ],
    "sample_fail_closed_invariants": [],
    "stdlib_dependencies": [
      "dataclasses",
      "typing"
    ],
    "observation_mode": "EMPIRICAL_BOUNDARY_CAPTURE",
    "zero_external_deps": true
  }
}