This repository is a research prototype for FPGA AES-GCM / experimental MACsec. The archived revision must not be deployed as a production MACsec endpoint. The known security deficiencies are public and documented:

• RX releases plaintext before tag authentication (auth-before-release failure) — confirmed by an independent behavioral experiment.
• Reset rolls the TX PN back to its initial value with the same key, creating an AES-GCM nonce-reuse risk — confirmed by an independent behavioral experiment.
• Replay protection is not implemented.
• SA/key lifecycle, key zeroization, generation/context binding are not implemented.
• The framing format is a custom experimental format, not a full IEEE 802.1AE implementation.

See docs/SECURITY_STATUS.md, docs/VERIFICATION_STATUS.md, and the audits in docs/audits/ for the complete, evidence-based picture.

Please report suspected vulnerabilities via the repository issue tracker (preferred) or a future security advisory process. Because this is a research prototype, there is no promise of long-term security support or of a guaranteed fix cadence.

• The current audited release branch only.
• Historical generated artifacts (old bitstreams, old IP checkpoints) are unsupported and should not be used for anything security-sensitive.

Do not use this project's AES key handling, IV construction, or tag verification as a reference implementation for a production MACsec design.