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Using the Java Secure Socket Extensions
Last revision (yyyy-mm-dd): 2010-10-21
Comment: The page should be updated.
Status
Requires review
The code included in this article has not been reviewed and should not be used without proper analysis. If you have reviewed the included code (or portions of it), please post your findings back to this page or to: stephen [at] corsaire.com.
Overview
What is SSL ?
SSL - Secure Socket Layer is an Application layer cryptographic protocol developed by Netscape for securing communication over the Internet. The security services provided by SSL are
- Confidentiality through Encryption of data using Symmetric Key Encryption Algorithms
- Non - Repudiation of Origin / Origin Integrity through Digital Signatures using Asymmetric key Encryption Algorithms or Public Key Cryptographic Algorithms
- Data Integrity through Hashing using Message Digest or Hashing Algorithms
What is JSSE ?
JSSE is the acronym of Jave Secure Socket Extensions. As the name implies it is a set of Java API's which provides SSL / TLS functionality. JSSE follows a Provider Architecture wherein the functionality specified in the Service Provider Interface can be implemented by any Service Provider. JSSE comes bundled with a default service provider named SunJSSE. JSSE was an optional package on jdk ##x and ##x. Since jdk ##x, JSSE comes pre-configured with the standard jdk package
The JSSE Implementation of SSL
JSSE provides an implementation for creating SSLSocket (used by clients) and SSLServerSocket (used by server).
Algorithm for creating SSL Client socket
- Determine the SSL Server Name and port in which the SSL server is listening
- Register the JSSE provider
- Create an instance of SSLSocketFactory
- Create an instance of SSLSocket
- Create an OutputStream object to write to the SSL Server
- Create an InputStream object to receive messages back from the SSL Server
Algorithm for creating SSL Server socket
- Register the JSSE provider
- Set System property for keystore by specifying the keystore which contains the server certificate
- Set System property for the password of the keystore which contains the server certificate
- Create an instance of SSLServerSocketFactory
- Create an instance of SSLServerSocket by specifying the port to which the SSL Server socket needs to bind with
- Initialize an object of SSLSocket
- Create InputStream object to read data sent by clients
- Create an OutputStream object to write data back to clients.
SSL Handshake Protocol
The SSL handshake protocol happens between the client and the server and comprises of 4 rounds that enable peers to agree on keys, ciphers and MAC algorithms. The handshake is explained below with the parameters captured in the debug mode during the execution of SSLClient and SSLServer java files.
Round 1 : Create the SSL connection between the Client and the Server
C -> S {ver || randomcookie1 || sessionid || Cipher Suites || Compression Methods } *** ClientHello, TLSv1 RandomCookie: GMT: 1165141617 bytes = { 250, 20, 142, 231, 143, 78, 72, 52, 254, 46, 199, 39, 146, 23, 238, 5, 108, 171, 75, 192, 78, 173, 26, 151, 89, 86, 58, 197 } Session ID: {} Cipher Suites: [SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5, SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA, TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5, SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_DSS_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA] Compression Methods: { 0 } S -> C {ver || randomcookie2 || session_id || cipher || compression } *** ServerHello, TLSv1 RandomCookie: GMT: 1165141617 bytes = { 33, 91, 78, 189, 156, 183, 142, 253, 119, 155, 22, 193, 46, 0, 50, 153, 168, 170, 19, 220, 68, 97, 98, 3, 36, 228, 103, 117 } Session ID: {69, 115, 166, 113, 102, 3, 65, 68, 227, 239, 225, 34, 115, 49, 73, 69, 174, 111, 222, 219, 119, 162, 5, 11, 77, 149, 181, 24, 38, 98, 5, 204} Cipher Suite: SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 Compression Method: 0
Round 2 : Server authenticates itself
S -> C {server_cert} *** %% Created: [Session-1, SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5] ** SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 [read] MD5 and SHA1 hashes: len = 74 0000: 02 00 00 46 03 01 45 73 A6 71 21 5B 4E BD 9C B7 ...F..Es.q![N... 0010: 8E FD 77 9B 16 C1 2E 00 32 99 A8 AA 13 DC 44 61 ..w.....#....Da 0020: 62 03 24 E4 67 75 20 45 73 A6 71 66 03 41 44 E3 b.$.gu Es.qf.AD. 0030: EF E1 22 73 31 49 45 AE 6F DE DB 77 A2 05 0B 4D .."s1IE.o..w...M 0040: 95 B5 18 26 62 05 CC 00 04 00 ...&b..... S -> C {public key modulus || exponent || {hash (randomcookie1 || randomcookie2 || public key modulus || exponent )} signed by Server} *** Certificate chain chain [0] = [ [ Version: V1 Subject: CN=Jane P, OU=Network Admins, O=NewCo, L=Denver, ST=CO, C=US Signature Algorithm: MD5withRSA, OID = ######4 Key: Sun RSA public key, 1024 bits modulus: 125799608853960565468693082080524019040787802862173204033354805928537584240351554241990082493719007271501637788649255493925650447292814949263542483518710211756489915623917992726468465059340034326131973495929283930754477403752766287367308326998219377123365800989254595407827915805528431637337980240073881550879 public exponent: 65537 Validity: [From: Sun Nov 26 06:33:42 EST 2006, To: Wed Apr 12 07:33:42 EDT 2034] Issuer: CN=Jane P, OU=Network Admins, O=NewCo, L=Denver, ST=CO, C=US SerialNumber: [ 45697b96] ] Algorithm: [MD5withRSA] Signature: 0000: 1A 35 AD 99 24 0A 8C 09 58 0C FC B4 B3 F8 3F DC .#.$...X.....?. 0010: 44 BF 56 A2 3A 5D E5 DF 0D CF D2 59 51 F2 6E 1C D.V.:].....YQ.n. 0020: 2A C0 03 9B 7C 3F 8B 53 C8 E9 16 A7 BC 28 23 C1 *....?.S.....(#. 0030: 67 F3 E4 05 D9 55 13 65 2E E3 80 BA A3 0A 9C F6 g....U.e........ 0040: A1 50 46 90 D7 E0 8F 50 6C E4 00 5D 3F F8 D0 62 .PF....Pl..]?..b 0050: D2 A9 47 DF 65 3B 02 E8 1C 04 8A 3C 7B 19 B3 EB ..G.e;.....<.... 0060: B6 50 23 6E C6 8A 49 95 6E 38 70 D2 2B 40 31 A5 .P#n..I.n8p.+@# 0070: FE 3F 44 EF 3A E4 12 69 46 D1 4F A0 83 40 F7 F3 .?D.:..iF.O..@.. ] *** S -> C { cert_type || good_cert_authorities} S -> C {end_round_2}
Round 3 : Client validates the Server certificate
C -> S {client_cert} C -> S {pre master secret} *** ClientKeyExchange, RSA PreMasterSecret, TLSv1 Random Secret: { 3, 1, 161, 37, 5, 17, 154, 202, 73, 33, 75, 50, 61, 242, 44, 252, 232, 80, 161, 185, 2, 61, 154, 54, 177, 192, 141, 235, 95, 174, 219, 216, 251, 150, 189, 99, 188, 180, 15, 253, 28, 168, 85, 124, 17, 124, 218, 101 } C -> S {hash(master secret || padding value || hash(messages || master secret || padding value))} where messages refers to concatenation messages exchanged from 1 through #
Round 4 : Acknowledgment between Client and the Server
The client updates the session and connection information to reflect the cipher it uses and then sends a “finished” message SESSION KEYGEN: PreMaster Secret: 0000: 03 01 A1 25 05 11 9A CA 49 21 4B 32 3D F2 2C FC ...%....I!K2=.,. 0010: E8 50 A1 B9 02 3D 9A 36 B1 C0 8D EB 5F AE DB D8 .P...=.#..._... 0020: FB 96 BD 63 BC B4 0F FD 1C A8 55 7C 11 7C DA 65 ...c......U....e CONNECTION KEYGEN: Client Nonce: 0000: 45 73 A6 71 FA 14 8E E7 8F 4E 48 34 FE 2E C7 27 Es.q.....NH#..' 0010: 92 17 EE 05 6C AB 4B C0 4E AD 1A 97 59 56 3A C5 ....l.K.N...YV:. Server Nonce: 0000: 45 73 A6 71 21 5B 4E BD 9C B7 8E FD 77 9B 16 C1 Es.q![N.....w... 0010: 2E 00 32 99 A8 AA 13 DC 44 61 62 03 24 E4 67 75 ..#....Dab.$.gu Master Secret: 0000: B5 AF 35 36 65 B8 2E A9 F0 5C C1 A7 BD 85 98 92 ..56e....\...... 0010: 64 61 B6 B9 7D 86 AB C7 72 CA 67 9A E1 C1 C4 3F da......r.g....? 0020: C5 8B 67 1A 49 C9 6E B2 FC AB 65 96 EA 7E 67 8C ..g.I.n...e...g. Client MAC write Secret: 0000: A4 C0 36 E3 9A D3 8B 67 AA 51 D6 78 59 BF 0A 5E ..#...g.Q.xY..^ Server MAC write Secret: 0000: F7 D0 65 1D 4C 0E 81 0F 1F 76 86 D7 91 68 37 50 ..e.L....v...h7P Client write key: 0000: A6 C5 F0 7D FE 1C 0E 58 85 00 A5 02 AE 08 B5 0E .......X........ Server write key: 0000: 20 D3 07 A2 02 02 34 67 2C C3 5A 50 7C 0F 87 CB .....4g,.ZP.... ... no IV for cipher [read] MD5 and SHA1 hashes: len = 134 0000: 10 00 00 82 00 80 10 D4 F8 1C 1D 96 62 B2 59 DD ............b.Y. 0010: D6 F8 F1 0F A5 5E 75 0F 4F 3D 5B 56 2C 6A 24 FD .....^u.O=[V,j$. 0020: 4A 90 D4 3A F3 3F 7E 22 D2 00 18 3B 7D 3F CD 02 J..:.?."...;.?.. 0030: 0C E1 11 7C 12 59 D8 A3 85 8D CB 23 B7 90 1C 59 .....Y.....#...Y 0040: 94 65 5F 7E 8E 46 6D A9 7D FC 54 5D 81 DC 69 82 .e_..Fm...T]..i. 0050: 1A EE 1A A5 F1 52 66 A6 43 34 EE E0 F7 12 36 CF .....Rf.C#...# 0060: 7A 38 48 5A C9 8E 11 CB AE 7A 36 2D FD 0B CD 1A z8HZ.....z6-.... 0070: 0B F1 45 1E C6 71 D9 57 39 80 75 BF D6 68 43 15 ..E..q.W#u..hC. 0080: FE 4D 67 DC 2F BD .Mg./. [Raw read]: length = 5 0000: 14 03 01 00 01 ..... [Raw read]: length = 1 0000: 01 . main, READ: TLSv1 Change Cipher Spec, length = 1 [Raw read]: length = 5 0000: 16 03 01 00 20 .... [Raw read]: length = 32 0000: C7 D8 CC 69 F7 F7 7F 00 29 F6 23 C8 DD 11 50 33 ...i....).#...P3 0010: 89 BB 91 21 BD 05 24 8C 5B 77 33 9D 78 0A B4 3C ...!..$.[w#x..< main, READ: TLSv1 Handshake, length = 32 Padded plaintext after DECRYPTION: len = 32 0000: 14 00 00 0C 01 B0 24 0D BC AD E7 E9 DC CB E4 17 ......$......... 0010: F9 FF 44 03 B2 00 37 12 9C A2 16 62 2E 9E 3C 33 ..D...#...b..<3 *** Finished verify_data: { 1, 176, 36, 13, 188, 173, 231, 233, 220, 203, 228, 23 } Server responds back with a “change cipher spec” message and updates its session and connection information accordingly and sends a finish message. SESSION KEYGEN: PreMaster Secret: 0000: 03 01 A1 25 05 11 9A CA 49 21 4B 32 3D F2 2C FC ...%....I!K2=.,. 0010: E8 50 A1 B9 02 3D 9A 36 B1 C0 8D EB 5F AE DB D8 .P...=.#..._... 0020: FB 96 BD 63 BC B4 0F FD 1C A8 55 7C 11 7C DA 65 ...c......U....e CONNECTION KEYGEN: Client Nonce: 0000: 45 73 A6 71 FA 14 8E E7 8F 4E 48 34 FE 2E C7 27 Es.q.....NH#..' 0010: 92 17 EE 05 6C AB 4B C0 4E AD 1A 97 59 56 3A C5 ....l.K.N...YV:. Server Nonce: 0000: 45 73 A6 71 21 5B 4E BD 9C B7 8E FD 77 9B 16 C1 Es.q![N.....w... 0010: 2E 00 32 99 A8 AA 13 DC 44 61 62 03 24 E4 67 75 ..#....Dab.$.gu Master Secret: 0000: B5 AF 35 36 65 B8 2E A9 F0 5C C1 A7 BD 85 98 92 ..56e....\...... 0010: 64 61 B6 B9 7D 86 AB C7 72 CA 67 9A E1 C1 C4 3F da......r.g....? 0020: C5 8B 67 1A 49 C9 6E B2 FC AB 65 96 EA 7E 67 8C ..g.I.n...e...g. Client MAC write Secret: 0000: A4 C0 36 E3 9A D3 8B 67 AA 51 D6 78 59 BF 0A 5E ..#...g.Q.xY..^ Server MAC write Secret: 0000: F7 D0 65 1D 4C 0E 81 0F 1F 76 86 D7 91 68 37 50 ..e.L....v...h7P Client write key: 0000: A6 C5 F0 7D FE 1C 0E 58 85 00 A5 02 AE 08 B5 0E .......X........ Server write key: 0000: 20 D3 07 A2 02 02 34 67 2C C3 5A 50 7C 0F 87 CB .....4g,.ZP.... ... no IV for cipher main, WRITE: TLSv1 Change Cipher Spec, length = 1 [Raw write]: length = 6 0000: 14 03 01 00 01 01 ...... *** Finished verify_data: { 1, 176, 36, 13, 188, 173, 231, 233, 220, 203, 228, 23 }
Once the handshake is complete, secure communication can commence.
The Need for Keytool
The server needs to generate a certificate and a private key associated with its certificate. This certificate would be sent to the clients who wishes to communicate with the server. These functionalities of Key generation, Key management , certificate management are taken care by a tool provided by Sun known as keytool. Keytool uses keystores to store the public / private keys as well as certificates. keystores are datastores implemented as files. Private keys are protected with passwords.
Algorithms supported by Keytool
Keytool supports any algorithm implemented by the registered cryptographic service providers. Default key pair generation algorithm is DSA with a keysize of 1024 bits. The signature algorithm is derived from the algorithm of the private keys. DSA gets coupled with SHA1 by default and so "SHA1withDSA" would be used. RSA gets coupled with MD5 and so "MD5withRSA" would be used.
Some of the frequently used functions of keytool are:
Generating keys using keytools
Key pairs can be generated using keytool with the following command and options
$bash # keytool -genkey -alias testkey -keystore testkeystore.ks Enter keystore password: testpwd What is your first and last name? [Unknown]: Tom What is the name of your organizational unit? [Unknown]: security What is the name of your organization? [Unknown]: ABC Inc What is the name of your City or Locality? [Unknown]: Fort Meade What is the name of your State or Province? [Unknown]: MA What is the two-letter country code for this unit? [Unknown]: US Is CN=Tom, OU=security, O=ABC Inc, L=Fort Meade, ST=MA, C=US correct? [no]: y Enter key password for <testkey> (RETURN if same as keystore password):
- The option -genkey is used to generate the keys.
- -alias specifies the name of the key. This can be verified by the command keytool -list -keystore testkeystore.ks
- -keystore is the name of the keystore to where the key needs to be added. If no keystore name is specified, the generated keys will be added to the default keystore. The default keystore gets autogenerated when the first key is created and is located in the users home directory with an ".keystore" extension.
The following defaults would be applied during the genkey process: * keyalg - defaults to DSA * keysize - defaults to 1024 bits * validity - defaults to 90 days
Importing certificates into keystore from .cer files
A certificate represented usually by a .cer file is imported into the keystore so that it gets added to the list of trusted certificates.
$bash # keytool -import -keystore testkeystore.ks -file ssltest.cer Enter keystore password: testpwd Owner: CN=Jane P, OU=Network Admins, O=NewCo, L=Denver, ST=CO, C=US Issuer: CN=Jane P, OU=Network Admins, O=NewCo, L=Denver, ST=CO, C=US Serial number: 45697b96 Valid from: Sun Nov 26 06:33:42 EST 2006 until: Wed Apr 12 07:33:42 EDT 2034 Certificate fingerprints: MD5: BD:AA:A5:77:AC:92:17:0E:D3:6E:E2:8F:2B:12:A5:6C SHA1: 2F:BF:88:E1:2F:26:B9:C3:64:5E:C5:7F:F4:BF:43:7F:37:3D:BE:C5 Trust this certificate? [no]: yes Certificate was added to keystore
The certificate ssltest.cer is successfully imported into the keystore. The serial number generated is unique to this certificate and is useful during certificate revocations. When a certificate is revoked, the serial number gets added to the CRL (Certificate revocation list). Warning: Before importing a certificate, validate if the certificate really belongs to the entity it claims to represent.
Use the keytool -printcert -file ssltest.cer to view the contents of the certificate
$bash # keytool -printcert -file ssltest.cer Owner: CN=Jane P, OU=Network Admins, O=NewCo, L=Denver, ST=CO, C=US Issuer: CN=Jane P, OU=Network Admins, O=NewCo, L=Denver, ST=CO, C=US Serial number: 45697b96 Valid from: Sun Nov 26 06:33:42 EST 2006 until: Wed Apr 12 07:33:42 EDT 2034 Certificate fingerprints: MD5: BD:AA:A5:77:AC:92:17:0E:D3:6E:E2:8F:2B:12:A5:6C SHA1: 2F:BF:88:E1:2F:26:B9:C3:64:5E:C5:7F:F4:BF:43:7F:37:3D:BE:C5 # Verify from the Issuer of the certificate if the Certificate fingerprint matches.
Exporting certificates from keystore to files
To export a certificate from a keystore to a file, the following command could be used
$bash # keytool -export -alias testkey -keystore testkeystore.ks -file testkey.cer Enter keystore password: testpwd Certificate stored in file <testkey.cer> Now you can verify the contents of the exported certificate using the command. $bash # keytool -printcert -file testkey.cer Owner: CN=Tom, OU=security, O=ABC Inc, L=Fort Meade, ST=MA, C=US Issuer: CN=Tom, OU=security, O=ABC Inc, L=Fort Meade, ST=MA, C=US Serial number: 45736152 Valid from: Sun Dec 03 18:44:18 EST 2006 until: Sat Mar 03 18:44:18 EST 2007 Certificate fingerprints: MD5: 8F:D3:EA:E7:B0:CF:9C:03:16:2F:3F:C9:6C:BC:5A:D4 SHA1: 03:2B:C6:BD:D9:82:31:08:F1:88:3C:35:AD:8D:F9:C3:90:5E:53:6F
Examples
SSLClient.java
package org.owasp.crypto; import java.io.*; import javax.net.ssl.*; import com.sun.net.ssl.*; import com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Provider; import java.security.Security; /** * @author Joe Prasanna Kumar * This program simulates a client socket program which communicates with the SSL Server * * Algorithm: * 1. Determine the SSL Server Name and port in which the SSL server is listening * 2. Register the JSSE provider * 3. Create an instance of SSLSocketFactory * 4. Create an instance of SSLSocket * 5. Create an OutputStream object to write to the SSL Server * 6. Create an InputStream object to receive messages back from the SSL Server * */ public class SSLClient { /** * @param args */ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception{ String strServerName = "localhost"; // SSL Server Name int intSSLport = 4443; // Port where the SSL Server is listening PrintWriter out = null; BufferedReader in = null; { // Registering the JSSE provider Security.addProvider(new Provider()); } try { // Creating Client Sockets SSLSocketFactory sslsocketfactory = (SSLSocketFactory)SSLSocketFactory.getDefault(); SSLSocket sslSocket = (SSLSocket)sslsocketfactory.createSocket(strServerName,intSSLport); // Initializing the streams for Communication with the Server out = new PrintWriter(sslSocket.getOutputStream(), true); in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(sslSocket.getInputStream())); BufferedReader stdIn = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in)); String userInput = "Hello Testing "; out.println(userInput); while ((userInput = stdIn.readLine()) != null) { out.println(userInput); System.out.println("echo: " + in.readLine()); } out.println(userInput); // Closing the Streams and the Socket out.close(); in.close(); stdIn.close(); sslSocket.close(); } catch(Exception exp) { System.out.println(" Exception occurred .... " +exp); exp.printStackTrace(); } } }
SSLServer.java
package org.owasp.crypto; import java.io.*; import java.security.Security; import java.security.PrivilegedActionException; import javax.net.ssl.*; import com.sun.net.ssl.*; import com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Provider; /** * @author Joe Prasanna Kumar * This program simulates an SSL Server listening on a specific port for client requests * * Algorithm: * 1. Regsiter the JSSE provider * 2. Set System property for keystore by specifying the keystore which contains the server certificate * 3. Set System property for the password of the keystore which contains the server certificate * 4. Create an instance of SSLServerSocketFactory * 5. Create an instance of SSLServerSocket by specifying the port to which the SSL Server socket needs to bind with * 6. Initialize an object of SSLSocket * 7. Create InputStream object to read data sent by clients * 8. Create an OutputStream object to write data back to clients. * */ public class SSLServer { /** * @param args */ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception{ int intSSLport = 4443; // Port where the SSL Server needs to listen for new requests from the client { // Registering the JSSE provider Security.addProvider(new Provider()); //Specifying the Keystore details System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.keyStore","server.ks"); System.setProperty("javax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword","JsEkey@4"); // Enable debugging to view the handshake and communication which happens between the SSLClient and the SSLServer // System.setProperty("javax.net.debug","all"); } try { // Initialize the Server Socket SSLServerSocketFactory sslServerSocketfactory = (SSLServerSocketFactory)SSLServerSocketFactory.getDefault(); SSLServerSocket sslServerSocket = (SSLServerSocket)sslServerSocketfactory.createServerSocket(intSSLport); SSLSocket sslSocket = (SSLSocket)sslServerSocket.accept(); // Create Input / Output Streams for communication with the client while(true) { PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(sslSocket.getOutputStream(), true); BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader( new InputStreamReader( sslSocket.getInputStream())); String inputLine, outputLine; while ((inputLine = in.readLine()) != null) { out.println(inputLine); System.out.println(inputLine); } // Close the streams and the socket out.close(); in.close(); sslSocket.close(); sslServerSocket.close(); } } catch(Exception exp) { PrivilegedActionException priexp = new PrivilegedActionException(exp); System.out.println(" Priv exp --- " + priexp.getMessage()); System.out.println(" Exception occurred .... " +exp); exp.printStackTrace(); } } }
References
- Computer Security – Arts and Science - Matt Bishop
- Core Security Patterns – Christopher Steele, Ray Lai and Ramesh Nagappan
- http://java.sun.com/j2se/##2/docs/tooldocs/windows/keytool.html
- http://blogs.borland.com/krish/archive/2005/07/28/#aspx