[shailendra-nv]

Summary

Restore Windows executable-path matching from #3482 on the windows branch, where that behavior is currently missing. A policy naming C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CURL.EXE now authorizes trusted runtime c:/windows/system32/curl.exe when Windows confirms case-insensitive lookup, including subsequent HTTP request checks.

This PR intentionally targets windows. The downstream Windows repository port will follow the merged upstream change.

Related Issue

Closes #5013

Changes

• Normalize ordinary Windows separators in YAML and protobuf policies and runtime matching. Fold ASCII case only after every parent directory of the trusted runtime executable confirms case-insensitive lookup. Preserve exact case for sensitive or indeterminate directories and exact spelling for namespace paths.
• Keep Win32 queries behind a safe API in openshell-binary-identity, preserving the network crate's prohibition on unsafe code. Never open policy-authored paths or alter the executable path used for hashing.
• Carry matching evidence from connection authorization into the pinned HTTP evaluator and credential-grant owner selection. Preserve non-Windows matching and exclude command-line-only paths from grants.
• Add regression tests and an MXC socket-owner scenario with deliberately changed case and separators. Update the subsystem READMEs, published policy guide, and policy-authoring skill.

Testing

• Checks appropriate to the affected code and behavior pass
• Unit tests added/updated
• E2E tests added/updated

The current windows base (5d1bfbf9) has exactly the same source tree as the previously tested base. After carrying over the patch, this PR's complete tree is also identical to the tested implementation (8475b9b57a63f946970c048b1bb8584840042dee). Every changed runtime/test file was additionally compared against the source archive used on the Windows machine. Validation below was performed on that identical implementation in this work session; no runtime changes were made while retargeting the PR.

• Native Windows ARM64: 1,517 network unit tests and 2 integration tests passed; 7 existing environment-dependent tests ignored. Coverage includes case-sensitive ancestors, failed directory queries, ancestor/glob matching, command-line denial, and inspected HTTP relay behavior.
• macOS: affected-crate suite 1,524 unit tests and 4 integration tests passed; 7 existing environment-dependent tests ignored.
• Native Windows Clippy passed for both affected crates using the Windows lane's existing dead-code, unused-imports, and clippy::unused-async allowances.
• mise run pre-commit passed, including the commit hook; policy skill Markdown validation passed.
• Native MXC E2E passed: pc_proxy_scopes_network_policy_to_socket_owner covered exact-path allow, mixed-case/slash allow, and wrong-owner deny (1 passed, 0 failed, 0 ignored). It used the freshly rebuilt supervisor with existing gateway, CLI, and Windows boundary binaries whose runtime code matches this base.
• git diff --check passed after carrying the patch onto windows.

Full mise run ci was attempted and stopped on five unchanged VM-driver tests because the macOS host lacks mke2fs/mkfs.ext4 (e2fsprogs). The affected network suite passed separately.

Checklist

• Follows Conventional Commits
• Commit is signed off (DCO)
• Subsystem documentation updated in the existing crate READMEs and published policy guide

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Codex Review Summary

This comment shows the latest Codex review activity on this pull request.

Review	Status	Commit	Review trigger
📝 Code Review	✅ Completed 2026-10-28T19:21:54.555047Z	bbc7bb5	PR opened
🔒 Security Review	🔄 Running since 2026-10-28T19:19:54.809057Z	bbc7bb5	PR opened

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