# ZJX 1.27 CIPHERGLASS qualification source note

Prepared: 2026-09-06

This scrubbed note summarizes the retained CIPHERGLASS qualification record. It distinguishes the historical 1.27 qualification from the later published package, and keeps basic product evidence available independently of the paid Chronicle.

## Release chronology

ZJX 1.27 CIPHERGLASS qualified on September 5, 2026, on the 1.26 RELICWIRE lineage. It was not separately publicly distributed. Its encrypted-archive capability was first distributed inside ZJX 1.28.0 LOCKWIRE, published September 6. The [1.28.0 public release record](https://greyforge.tech/research/zjx-1-28-lockwire-release-record-2026-09-06.md) controls current artifact identity, checksums and publication status.

## Qualified capability

CIPHERGLASS provides native passphrase protection for archive contents, internal filenames and metadata. It can create an encrypted archive or protect the exact bytes of an existing ordinary ZJX archive. It authenticates the complete encrypted envelope before interpreting the inner archive and reports envelope authentication separately from native archive integrity.

Locked inspection exposes only the bounded outer information. Encrypted extraction requires a fresh destination, stages the completed result and publishes it atomically. Plain creation refuses to overwrite an encrypted archive. Legacy plaintext operation sidecars are refused for encrypted creation. Resource admission rejects insufficient budgets without reducing the fixed key-derivation cost. The [current product documentation](https://zjx.greyforge.tech/docs.html) summarizes the supported contract.

## Historical qualification evidence

The final September 5 record reports the baseline/design, cryptographic integration, native containment/workflow, compatibility/review, and local-artifact qualification gates passed. These are project qualification gates, not certification by an external body.

- Native suite: **145 of 145 tests passed**.
- Python regression suite: **232 reported, 3 skipped, 229 executed successfully, 0 failures**. This is not 232 passing tests.
- A separately written C reference and the native Zig implementation read each other's encrypted envelopes and recovered the expected inner bytes. Both use the same cryptographic library, so this is independent format implementation evidence, not independent cryptographic primitives.
- A clean installation created, inspected, tested and extracted encrypted content using the native binary, with byte-identical restored content. No separate encryption executable, Python environment or desktop interface was required for that exercise.
- Bounded authentication and malformed-input checks exercised rejection before publication. Wrong passphrases and damaged encrypted input did not produce an extracted destination in those tests.
- A source review separate from implementation found five nonblocking issues; the record reports all five resolved before qualification. The review was model-assisted, not an external professional cryptographic audit.

These are retained historical results. Preparing this note did not rerun the product suite. Current published-package qualification belongs to the later LOCKWIRE release record.

## Limits that travel with the claim

Encryption qualified on Linux only. Private temporary storage may contain plaintext; cleanup is not a guarantee of secure erasure or protection against every interruption. Unlocking authenticates and spools the complete inner archive, so it has a sequential whole-archive cost. The outer file size and fixed header remain visible. Unlocked inspection output is itself plaintext metadata. There is no passphrase recovery or sender-identity guarantee.

Workspace qualification includes owner and permission-mode controls, with deeper access-control and race-hardening limits retained in the qualification record. One post-publication durability-error path was inspected without a live fault-injecting-filesystem exercise. The software distinguishes a committed result with uncertain durability from a result never published; the review is not represented as direct fault-injection evidence for that path.

Development-machine timing observations were functional evidence only, not qualified release-performance figures. Bounded tests and review do not establish immunity to every defect. No external security certification, FIPS compliance, universal platform support, or guarantee that plaintext never touches disk is claimed.

The commercial and availability terms remain on the [ZJX product site](https://zjx.greyforge.tech/). Publication of this evidence does not grant a software license or provide a support commitment.

## Related Chronicles

- [CIPHERGLASS engineering edition: free preview, $19 full edition](https://greyforge.tech/chronicles/zjx-1-27-cipherglass).
- [LOCKWIRE release Chronicle: fully free](https://greyforge.tech/chronicles/zjx-1-28-lockwire).