How to make 'simple SSL' thru Web Services? - java

I know how to secure Web Services using certificates. that's my client code:
SSLContext ssl = SSLContext.getInstance("SSLv3");
KeyManagerFactory kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(KeyManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
KeyStore store = KeyStore.getInstance(KeyStore.getDefaultType());
String password = Configuration.getConfig("keyStorePassword");
store.load(new FileInputStream(new File(Configuration.getConfig("keyStore"))), password.toCharArray());
kmf.init(store, password.toCharArray());
KeyManager[] keyManagers = new KeyManager[1];
keyManagers = kmf.getKeyManagers();
TrustManagerFactory tmf = TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(TrustManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
tmf.init(store);
TrustManager[] trustManagers = tmf.getTrustManagers();
ssl.init(keyManagers, trustManagers, new SecureRandom());
HttpsConfigurator configurator = new HttpsConfigurator(ssl);
Integer port = Integer.parseInt(Configuration.getConfig("port"));
HttpsServer httpsServer = HttpsServer.create(new InetSocketAddress(Configuration.getConfig("host"), port), 0);
httpsServer.setHttpsConfigurator(configurator);
Implementor implementor = new Implementor(); // class with #WebService etc.
HttpContext context = (HttpContext) httpsServer.createContext("/EventWebService");
Endpoint endpoint = Endpoint.create( implementor );
endpoint.publish(context);
Now, how to make 'simple SSL' ? How to make SSL connection without storing certificate on the client side. (Like connecting thru HTTPS in browser)

Java Runtime Environment does come with a lots (most widely used) Certificate Authorities in cacerts file. If the certificate you used to secure your service is signed by one of those root CAs, then you need not worry about sharing any certificate with clients.
However if you used self-signed certificate, and you don't want to pass/import certificate in truststore then you can implement custom X509TrustManager and create custom SSLContext for your connections. More details in this blog.
Self-signed certificate are useful for development and test environments but you really should consider getting your server certificate signed from a recognized Certificate Authority like Verisign, Thwate etc.

If I understand you correctly, then you want to have only server-side authentication much in the same way as if you connected to an https site in your browser, without requiring your clients to manage any certificates.
Your clients would connect as usual, simply replacing an http for an https in the connection URL. Java manages its own set of "default trusted root CA authorities" in the form of cacerts, a JKS keystore file located in $JRE HOME/lib/security. If you buy a certificate from any CA whose issuing certificate roots in one of the certificates contained in cacerts, then the client's certificate validation will automagically succeed. Google for "SSL/TLS server certificate" and you will find suitable vendors.
If you would use a self-issued certificate on the other hand, then there's no way to make certificate validation succeed on the client other than importing your self-made certificate in the client's certificate trust store. But that's why a "real" SSL/TLS certificate costs money and your self-issued certificate doesn't - anyone can generate their home-grown certificates, but trusting them is an entirely different story.

You can control if the https server requires client certificates in this way:
HttpsConfigurator cfg = new HttpsConfigurator(sslCtx){
public void configure(HttpsParameters params) {
SSLParameters sslparams = getSSLContext().getDefaultSSLParameters();
// Modify the default params:
// Using this, server will require client certs
//sslparams.setNeedClientAuth(true);
// Using this, server will request client certs. But if not available,
// it will continue anyway.
sslparams.setWantClientAuth(true);
params.setSSLParameters(sslparams);
}
};
HttpsServer httpsS = HttpsServer.create(new InetSocketAddress(8081), 50);
httpsS.setHttpsConfigurator(cfg);
If client certs are not required, clients can connect without client certificate, so simple calling https will work.
In my blog you can see example of client for how to bypass the server certificate and hostname validation (although not recommended, useful e.g. for testing)
http://jakubneubauer.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/java-webservice-over-ssl/

Just make the connection with HTTPS. As long as the client is using standard trusted certs it will work just fine. If they have a self signed cert you will need to to import the cert into the java keystore.

HTTPS in browsers works because there is a truststore containing SSL certificates on the client. In other words: There are certificates stored on the client side.
If you want HTTPS without any certificate stored on the client side, I think you should have a look at this article, which explains how to turn off the default certificate validation on HTTPS connection.

Related

force-sending client certificate

I'm using a Java SE Jersey client to connect to a HTTPS resource which uses two-way SSL.
My SSLContext looks like this:
private SSLContext getSSLContext() {
SslConfigurator sslConfig = SslConfigurator.newInstance()
.keyStoreFile("src/main/certificates/testcert.p12")
.keyPassword("mypassword");
return sslConfig.createSSLContext();
}
The problem is that the client certificate is never sent.
I get error "Warning: no suitable certificate found - continuing without client authentication" and I've tracked the reason to the fact that the client certificate isn't issued to one of the Cert Authorities listed in the server's CertificateRequest message to the client. I know from testing with cURL that the server will accept the certificate regardless. The endpoint is a public test system.
My question: How do I force-send my client certificate? (i.e. my Java SE client should ignore the fact that the testcert.p12 certificate's issuer is not the list of issuers that the server has said it would accept)
Please, don't point me to answers that are about disabling check of the server's certificate or about using self-signed certificates. The server's certificate is just fine.
UPDATE
It turned out my problem was another one. I debug by setting system property javax.net.debug=all. After examining the resulting output it looked to me as if the keystore was empty, even after doing the above. So no wonder why "no suitable certificate found".
Jersey has this 'clever' SslConfigurator class which is there to help you set up an SSLContext. Perhaps just too clever for me, because I couldn't make it work with the above code. So instead, I now configure my SSLContext like below:
KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance("PKCS12");
FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("src/main/certificates/testcert.p12");
ks.load(fis, "mypassword".toCharArray());
KeyManagerFactory kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance("SunX509");
kmf.init(ks, "mypassword".toCharArray());
SSLContext sc = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
sc.init(kmf.getKeyManagers(), null, null);
// now use 'sc' in Jersey
This works for me where Jersey's helper class didn't. I fully sympathize with Jersey's idea of a helper class for SSLContext, because JSSE seems overly complex here for such a simple use case. Well, well.
You can't. It would be a TLS protocol violation, and therefore there is no API to support it. The various TLS APIs will only send a client certificate if:
It was requested, and
A client certificate can be found that conforms to what is specified in the CertificateRequest message.
You will have to arrange for your server to trust your client certificate, either by getting it signed by a CA or by exporting it to the server's trusted certificate store, whatever form that takes at the server.

Using http client - how to get Java to automatically download intermediate SSL certificates

I'm setting up a HTTPS connection to a remote server that I have no control over. The server has an SSL certificate that is generated by a trusted CA but doesn't include the intermediate certificates in their SSL handshake.
Eg.
trusted CA cert -> intermediate cert (not provided) -> server cert (provided)
Typically a server would provide the server cert and intermediate certs. Without the intermediate cert my HTTP client doesn't recognize the SSL cert and the SSL connection fails.
I'm trying to connect using Apache HTTP client 4.5:
val httpClientBuilder = HttpClientBuilder.create()
.useSystemProperties()
I can get things working if I download the certificates, set them up in a keystore and attach it to the connection:
Security.addProvider(new BouncyCastleProvider())
val certPem = new PEMParser(new PemReader(new FileReader("trust-chain.crt")))
val certHolder = certPem.readObject().asInstanceOf[X509CertificateHolder]
val cert = new JcaX509CertificateConverter()
.setProvider("BC")
.getCertificate(certHolder)
val keyStore = KeyStore.getInstance(KeyStore.getDefaultType)
keyStore.load(null)
keyStore.setCertificateEntry("cert-alias", cert)
val sslContextBuilder = SSLContextBuilder.create()
.loadKeyMaterial(keyStore, "changeit".toCharArray)
.loadTrustMaterial(keyStore, null)
val httpClientBuilder = HttpClientBuilder.create()
.useSystemProperties()
.setSSLContext(sslContextBuilder.build())
But this is going to break as soon as the certificates expire. I could also enable trusting self signed certificates but that has pretty big security implications and I don't want to go that way:
val sslContextBuilder = SSLContextBuilder.create()
.loadKeyMaterial(keyStore, "changeit".toCharArray)
.loadTrustMaterial(keyStore, new TrustSelfSignedStrategy)
Is there any way to set up Apache HTTP Client (or another JVM HTTPS/SSL library) to automatically download the intermediate certificates if the server does not provide them (similar to most web browsers)?
I found an answer to this.
Using the Oracle JRE you can enable automatic downloading of intermediate certificates with the Java system property -Dcom.sun.security.enableAIAcaIssuers=true
For this to work the server's certificate must provide the URI to the intermediate certificate (the certificate's issuer).

Java TLS socket : No trusted certificate found

Let me explain quickly what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to build my own Apple's Push Notification service in java (for testing purposes). This service works thanks to TLS socket.
I have a java client to create a TLS socket to send push notifications to the APNs. I changed the host url to redirect the socket to localhost:2195. Now I'm trying to write a java socket server to get the notification request.
However, I get an exception during the handshake and can't find how to fix it.
Note : I'm using the same certificate on both sides, it's a standard .p12 file that works to send push notifications to the APNs.
Here is the client (simplified) :
KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance("PKCS12");
ks.load(new FileInputStream(certificatePath), password.toCharArray());
KeyManagerFactory kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance("sunx509");
kmf.init(ks, password.toCharArray());
TrustManagerFactory tmf = TrustManagerFactory.getInstance("sunx509");
tmf.init((KeyStore)null);
SSLContext sc = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
sc.init(kmf.getKeyManagers(), tmf.getTrustManagers(), null);
SSLSocketFactory ssf = sc.getSocketFactory();
SSLSocket socket = (SSLSocket) ssf.createSocket(InetAddress.getLocalHost(), 2195);
socket.startHandshake();
Here is the server :
KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance("PKCS12");
ks.load(new FileInputStream(certificatePath), password.toCharArray());
KeyManagerFactory kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance("sunx509");
kmf.init(ks, password.toCharArray());
SSLContext context = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
context.init(kmf.getKeyManagers(), null, null);
SSLServerSocketFactory ssf = context.getServerSocketFactory();
serverSocket = (SSLServerSocket) ssf.createServerSocket(2195);
And here is the exception :
javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: No trusted certificate found
I guess the client isn't trusting the server's certificate. I tryed to set the client's TrustManager to accept the server's p12 and it worked, however I need this to work without editing the client (since it's working that way with the real APNs).
What kind of certificate needs the server to be trusted by the client ?
Thanks in advance.
EDIT: I WAS WRONG! tmf.init(null) DOES use the default keystore just like sslctx.init(,null,) !
That default is normally the cacerts file in JRE/lib/security which DOES trust many established CAs
so now I think we can be confident the real server is using a cert under an established CA (and so
is trusted by your client) while the cert in your p12 apparently does not;
but there are two possibilities here:
it is selfsigned, or issued by an unknown, obscure, or unproven CA
it is issued by a 'real' CA under an 'intermediate' CA that needs a chain cert (or several)
and you do not have the chain cert(s) in your p12. Note this could still work for client auth
to the real server, because the real server can easily have the chain cert(s) 'preloaded'
in its truststore even though they aren't in Java's.
To distinguish these, look at keytool -keystore file -storetype pkcs12 -list -v
and see what cert or sequence of certs you have there.
Then there may be several approaches to solution:
if you are only missing chain cert(s) for an established CA get them and add them.
keytool only allows you to replace the whole chain so you must get all needed certs;
openssl (if you have or get it) can break out the key and cert(s) from a pkcs12,
replace or add individual certs, and join them back together.
create a different store and key for the server and get it a cert (chain) from an established CA.
Usually costs some money and requires you prove control of the server's domain name.
(Your client can and should still use this p12. The two sides needn't be the same.)
locate the trust anchor (from the p12, or from somewhere else like the CA) and have it
in a truststore the client explicitly loads. You effectively tried this by using the
p12 as the truststore and say you don't want that.
put the trust anchor in the client's default truststore, so the client continues
using the default. If you don't mind modifying your JRE (and no other user or application
on your system is bothered) just add to JRE/lib/security/cacerts. Or, assuming you can set
system properties, put the anchor in a store or just leave it in the p12
and set javax.net.ssl.trustStore{,Password,Type} to point to that store.
(If you copy you should take only the cert; a p12 is a KEY AND cert not just a cert.
Don't just -importkeystore; -importcert a cert file, created with -exportcert if necessary.)
(You can System.setProperty in your code, but that's changing your code. If you run from
commandline you can use 'java -Dname=value...'. For other cases YMMV.)
There is one possible 'type' issue: if the cert was issued with ExtendedKeyUsage extension
and that value specifies only TLSclient and not TLSserver (which the CA can choose to do)
then using it for server probably won't work -- it appears JSSE enforces EKU restrictions.
But if that is a problem you'll get a very different Exception.
And you can see this also in the keytool -list -v above.
Since you (rightly) want to use this p12 for your client, your server logic similarly needs
to trust it. (Using it for outgoing auth does NOT automatically make it trusted for incoming auth.)
But only if/when clientAuth is actually done, which is not the default; does your server code
.setNeedClientAuth(true) on the SSLServerSocket before accepting the connection?
Possible approaches are equivalent to the above except skipping #2 as inapplicable.
If both client and server use the same JRE, that makes the cacerts way a little easier.
Finally, yes TrustManager 'PKIX' is newer and generally more featureful than 'SunX509'.
But for the basic test 'is the trust anchor in our truststore' they are equivalent.
Sorry again for the mislead.

How can a Java client use the native Windows-MY store to provide its client certificate as required during a SSL handshake?

This question was also posted at TLS client authentication fails when using SunMSCAPI but has not found an answer.
I have a Java6 application running on a Windows Win2008R2 client that connects to a server requiring client certificates. The Java application is required to use the native Windows stores, i.e. Windows-Root and Windows-My, and employs the SunMSCAPI provider. The Windows certificate management console reports that both the client cert and CA cert that signed it are correct and enabled for all purposes.
Server verification works exactly as expected, but client authentication fails when the client throws a SSLException complaining that the privatekey is not an RSA private key. However, when the Java default provider is used instead, and the same client certificate is taken from a JKS keystore, i.e. SunMSCAPI and the Windows stores are not used, client authentication works just as expected and the SSL connection succeeds.
When executed, the application reports that it's using the SunMSCAPI provider and is able to print the correct client certificate as well as information about its RSAPrivateKey. Tracing indicates that the client exception occurs after the servers 'Hello Done' as its response to the server's certificate request is being prepared.
The relevant code bits for the client keystore portion of this are:
SSLContext sslContext = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
KeyManagerFactory kFac = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(KeyManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
Provider pvdr = new sun.security.mscapi.SunMSCAPI();
Security.insertProviderAt(pvdr,1);
KeyStore kStore = KeyStore.getInstance("Windows-MY",pvdr);
kStore.load(null,null);
kFac.init(kstore,null);
sslContext.init(kFac.getKeyManagers(), <a trust factory>.getTrustManagers(), new java.security.SecureRandom());
SSLSocketFactory sockFactory = SSLSocketFactory(sslContext);
SSLSocket sslSock = (SSLSocket)sockFactory.createSocket(<some destination host>, <some destination port>);
BufferedInputStream bInStr = new BufferedInputStream(sslSock.getInputStream());
bInStr.read(<the read arguments>); <<< exception thrown in here
Any pointers or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
The stacktrace shown in your link shows the problem to be at RSA's JSSL provider. Especially for this case you should use Sun/Oracle's JSSE provider. It's the default one anyway.
Call it as
SSLContext sslContext = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS", "SunJSSE");

Java Client to connect to Server with Openssl and Client Auth

I have to write a Java Client to connect to an SSL server. The server uses openssl certificate, and is configured to do Client Auth.
I can't seem to locate any useful resources online that can help me (who doesn't know anything about openssl and much about SSL) to understand who to go about implementing my Client Side.
Help!
The twist here is that you are using client authentication, so you need a private key and a certificate to identify yourself. You provide this to JSSE by specifying KeyManagers when you initialize an SSLContext.
Customizable Setup
Following are the basic steps. The JSSE API was significantly improved in Java 6, but I'll stick with Java 5, in case you're stuck on that version.
KeyStore tks = KeyStore.getInstance(KeyStore.getDefaultType());
tks.load(...); /* Load the trust key store with root CAs. */
TrustManagerFactory tmf =
TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(TrustManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
tmf.init(tks);
KeyStore iks = KeyStore.getInstance(KeyStore.getDefaultType());
iks.load(...); /* Load the identity key store with your key/cert. */
KeyManagerFactory kmf =
KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(KeyManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
kmf.init(iks, password);
SSLContext ctx = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
ctx.init(kmf.getKeyManagers(), tmf.getTrustManagers(), null);
SocketFactory factory = ctx.getSocketFactory();
Socket socket = factory.createSocket(host, port);
System Configuration
An alternative "zero-config" scenario can be used when using the SunJSSE provider. I believe many other providers (like IBM) have followed the same pattern and will work as well. The mechanism uses system properties, and is described in detail by the JSSE Reference Guide.
For client authentication, the important properties are javax.net.ssl.keyStore and javax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword. The values should be the path to the user's key store and the password for that key store's "key entries", respectively.
When using these properties, you can create a new SSLSocket that supports client authentication like this:
SocketFactory factory = SSLSocketFactory.getDefault();
Socket socket = factory.createSocket(host, port);
Since you are using the "default" SSLSocketFactory, which depends on the system-wide properties, all sockets created in the JVM will authenticate with the same certificate. If you need more control than that, you have to use the "Customizable Setup" above.
Java includes SSL support in the standard API. Have a look at these classes in the 1.5.0 javadoc:
SSLSocket if you're doing the comms logic yourself.
HttpsURLConnection if the server side speaks HTTP
You could use httpclient. Have a look at this SSL guide.

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