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NAME
ssl - Interface Functions for Secure Socket Layer
DESCRIPTION
This module contains interface functions to the Secure Socket Layer.
SSL
* ssl requires the crypto and public_key applications.
* Supported SSL/TLS-versions are SSL-3.0, TLS-1.0, TLS-1.1 and TLS-1.2.
* For security reasons sslv2 is not supported.
* Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman cipher suites are supported but not Diffie Hellman Certificates cipher
suites.
* Elliptic Curve cipher suites are supported if crypto supports it and named curves are used.
* Export cipher suites are not supported as the U.S. lifted its export restrictions in early 2000.
* IDEA cipher suites are not supported as they have become deprecated by the latest TLS spec so there
is not any real motivation to implement them.
* CRL and policy certificate extensions are not supported yet. However CRL verification is supported by
public_key, only not integrated in ssl yet.
* Support for 'Server Name Indication' extension client side (RFC 6066 section 3).
COMMON DATA TYPES
The following data types are used in the functions below:
boolean() = true | false
option() = socketoption() | ssloption() | transportoption()
socketoption() = proplists:property() - The default socket options are [{mode,list},{packet, 0},{header,
0},{active, true}].
For valid options see inet(3erl) and gen_tcp(3erl).
ssloption() = {verify, verify_type()} | {verify_fun, {fun(), term()}} | {fail_if_no_peer_cert, boolean()}
{depth, integer()} | {cert, der_encoded()}| {certfile, path()} | {key, {'RSAPrivateKey'| 'DSAPrivateKey'
| 'ECPrivateKey' |'PrivateKeyInfo', der_encoded()}} | {keyfile, path()} | {password, string()} |
{cacerts, [der_encoded()]} | {cacertfile, path()} | |{dh, der_encoded()} | {dhfile, path()} | {ciphers,
ciphers()} | {user_lookup_fun, {fun(), term()}}, {psk_identity, string()}, {srp_identity, {string(),
string()}} | {ssl_imp, ssl_imp()} | {reuse_sessions, boolean()} | {reuse_session, fun()}
{next_protocols_advertised, [binary()]} | {client_preferred_next_protocols, {client | server, [binary()]}
| {client | server, [binary()], binary()}} | {log_alert, boolean()} | {server_name_indication, hostname()
| disable}
transportoption() = {cb_info, {CallbackModule::atom(), DataTag::atom(), ClosedTag::atom(),
ErrTag:atom()}} - defaults to {gen_tcp, tcp, tcp_closed, tcp_error}. Can be used to customize the
transport layer. The callback module must implement a reliable transport protocol and behave as gen_tcp
and in addition have functions corresponding to inet:setopts/2, inet:getopts/2, inet:peername/1,
inet:sockname/1 and inet:port/1. The callback gen_tcp is treated specially and will call inet directly.
CallbackModule = atom()
DataTag = atom() - tag used in socket data message.
ClosedTag = atom() - tag used in socket close message.
verify_type() = verify_none | verify_peer
path() = string() - representing a file path.
der_encoded() = binary() -Asn1 DER encoded entity as an erlang binary.
host() = hostname() | ipaddress()
hostname() = string()
ip_address() = {N1,N2,N3,N4} % IPv4 | {K1,K2,K3,K4,K5,K6,K7,K8} % IPv6
sslsocket() - opaque to the user.
protocol() = sslv3 | tlsv1 | 'tlsv1.1' | 'tlsv1.2'
ciphers() = [ciphersuite()] | string() (according to old API)
ciphersuite() = {key_exchange(), cipher(), hash()}
key_exchange() = rsa | dhe_dss | dhe_rsa | dh_anon | psk | dhe_psk | rsa_psk | srp_anon | srp_dss |
srp_rsa | ecdh_anon | ecdh_ecdsa | ecdhe_ecdsa | ecdh_rsa | ecdhe_rsa
cipher() = rc4_128 | des_cbc | '3des_ede_cbc' | aes_128_cbc | aes_256_cbc
hash() = md5 | sha
prf_random() = client_random | server_random
srp_param_type() = srp_1024 | srp_1536 | srp_2048 | srp_3072 | srp_4096 | srp_6144 | srp_8192
SSL OPTION DESCRIPTIONS - COMMON FOR SERVER AND CLIENT
Options described here are options that are have the same meaning in the client and the server.
{cert, der_encoded()}:
The DER encoded users certificate. If this option is supplied it will override the certfile option.
{certfile, path()}:
Path to a file containing the user's certificate.
{key, {'RSAPrivateKey'| 'DSAPrivateKey' | 'ECPrivateKey' |'PrivateKeyInfo', der_encoded()}}:
The DER encoded users private key. If this option is supplied it will override the keyfile option.
{keyfile, path()}:
Path to file containing user's private PEM encoded key. As PEM-files may contain several entries this
option defaults to the same file as given by certfile option.
{password, string()}:
String containing the user's password. Only used if the private keyfile is password protected.
{cacerts, [der_encoded()]}:
The DER encoded trusted certificates. If this option is supplied it will override the cacertfile
option.
{cacertfile, path()}:
Path to file containing PEM encoded CA certificates (trusted certificates used for verifying a peer
certificate). May be omitted if you do not want to verify the peer.
{ciphers, ciphers()}:
The cipher suites that should be supported. The function cipher_suites/0 can be used to find all
ciphers that are supported by default. cipher_suites(all) may be called to find all available cipher
suites. Pre-Shared Key (RFC 4279 and RFC 5487), Secure Remote Password (RFC 5054) and anonymous
cipher suites only work if explicitly enabled by this option and they are supported/enabled by the
peer also. Note that anonymous cipher suites are supported for testing purposes only and should not
be used when security matters.
{ssl_imp, new | old}:
No longer has any meaning as the old implementation has been removed, it will be ignored.
{secure_renegotiate, boolean()}:
Specifies if to reject renegotiation attempt that does not live up to RFC 5746. By default
secure_renegotiate is set to false i.e. secure renegotiation will be used if possible but it will
fallback to unsecure renegotiation if the peer does not support RFC 5746.
{depth, integer()}:
The depth is the maximum number of non-self-issued intermediate certificates that may follow the
peer certificate in a valid certification path. So if depth is 0 the PEER must be signed by the
trusted ROOT-CA directly, if 1 the path can be PEER, CA, ROOT-CA, if it is 2 PEER, CA, CA, ROOT-CA
and so on. The default value is 1.
{verify_fun, {Verifyfun :: fun(), InitialUserState :: term()}}:
The verification fun should be defined as:
fun(OtpCert :: #'OTPCertificate'{}, Event :: {bad_cert, Reason :: atom()} |
{extension, #'Extension'{}}, InitialUserState :: term()) ->
{valid, UserState :: term()} | {valid_peer, UserState :: term()} |
{fail, Reason :: term()} | {unknown, UserState :: term()}.
The verify fun will be called during the X509-path validation when an error or an extension unknown
to the ssl application is encountered. Additionally it will be called when a certificate is
considered valid by the path validation to allow access to each certificate in the path to the user
application. Note that it will differentiate between the peer certificate and CA certificates by
using valid_peer or valid as the second argument to the verify fun. See the public_key User's Guide
for definition of #'OTPCertificate'{} and #'Extension'{}.
If the verify callback fun returns {fail, Reason}, the verification process is immediately stopped
and an alert is sent to the peer and the TLS/SSL handshake is terminated. If the verify callback fun
returns {valid, UserState}, the verification process is continued. If the verify callback fun always
returns {valid, UserState}, the TLS/SSL handshake will not be terminated with respect to verification
failures and the connection will be established. If called with an extension unknown to the user
application the return value {unknown, UserState} should be used.
The default verify_fun option in verify_peer mode:
{fun(_,{bad_cert, _} = Reason, _) ->
{fail, Reason};
(_,{extension, _}, UserState) ->
{unknown, UserState};
(_, valid, UserState) ->
{valid, UserState};
(_, valid_peer, UserState) ->
{valid, UserState}
end, []}
The default verify_fun option in verify_none mode:
{fun(_,{bad_cert, _}, UserState) ->
{valid, UserState};
(_,{extension, _}, UserState) ->
{unknown, UserState};
(_, valid, UserState) ->
{valid, UserState};
(_, valid_peer, UserState) ->
{valid, UserState}
end, []}
Possible path validation errors:
{bad_cert, cert_expired}, {bad_cert, invalid_issuer}, {bad_cert, invalid_signature}, {bad_cert,
unknown_ca},{bad_cert, selfsigned_peer}, {bad_cert, name_not_permitted}, {bad_cert,
missing_basic_constraint}, {bad_cert, invalid_key_usage}
{versions, [protocol()]}:
TLS protocol versions that will be supported by started clients and servers. This option overrides
the application environment option protocol_version. If the environment option is not set it defaults
to all versions supported by the SSL application. See also ssl(7)
{hibernate_after, integer()|undefined}:
When an integer-value is specified, the ssl_connection will go into hibernation after the specified
number of milliseconds of inactivity, thus reducing its memory footprint. When undefined is specified
(this is the default), the process will never go into hibernation.
{user_lookup_fun, {Lookupfun :: fun(), UserState :: term()}}:
The lookup fun should be defined as:
fun(psk, PSKIdentity ::string(), UserState :: term()) ->
{ok, SharedSecret :: binary()} | error;
fun(srp, Username :: string(), UserState :: term()) ->
{ok, {SRPParams :: srp_param_type(), Salt :: binary(), DerivedKey :: binary()}} | error.
For Pre-Shared Key (PSK) cipher suites, the lookup fun will be called by the client and server to
determine the shared secret. When called by the client, PSKIdentity will be set to the hint presented
by the server or undefined. When called by the server, PSKIdentity is the identity presented by the
client.
For Secure Remote Password (SRP), the fun will only be used by the server to obtain parameters that
it will use to generate its session keys. DerivedKey should be derived according to RFC 2945 and
RFC 5054: crypto:sha([Salt, crypto:sha([Username, <<$:>>, Password])])
{padding_check, boolean()}:
This option only affects TLS-1.0 connections. If set to false it disables the block cipher padding
check to be able to interoperate with legacy software.
Warning:
Using this option makes TLS vulnerable to the Poodle attack
SSL OPTION DESCRIPTIONS - CLIENT SIDE
Options described here are client specific or has a slightly different meaning in the client than in the
server.
{verify, verify_type()}:
In verify_none mode the default behavior will be to allow all x509-path validation errors. See also
the verify_fun option.
{reuse_sessions, boolean()}:
Specifies if client should try to reuse sessions when possible.
{client_preferred_next_protocols, {Precedence :: server | client, ClientPrefs :: [binary()]}}:
{client_preferred_next_protocols, {Precedence :: server | client, ClientPrefs :: [binary()], Default ::
binary()}}:
Indicates the client will try to perform Next Protocol Negotiation.
If precedence is server the negotiated protocol will be the first protocol that appears on the server
advertised list that is also on the client preference list.
If precedence is client the negotiated protocol will be the first protocol that appears on the client
preference list that is also on the server advertised list.
If the client does not support any of the server advertised protocols or the server does not
advertise any protocols the client will fallback to the first protocol in its list or if a default is
supplied it will fallback to that instead. If the server does not support Next Protocol Negotiation
the connection will be aborted if no default protocol is supplied.
{psk_identity, string()}:
Specifies the identity the client presents to the server. The matching secret is found by calling the
user_look_fun.
{srp_identity, {Username :: string(), Password :: string()}:
Specifies the Username and Password to use to authenticate to the server.
{server_name_indication, hostname()}:
{server_name_indication, disable}:
This option can be specified when upgrading a TCP socket to a TLS socket to use the TLS Server Name
Indication extension.
When starting a TLS connection without upgrade the Server Name Indication extension will be sent if
possible, this option may also be used to disable that behavior.
SSL OPTION DESCRIPTIONS - SERVER SIDE
Options described here are server specific or has a slightly different meaning in the server than in the
client.
{dh, der_encoded()}:
The DER encoded Diffie Hellman parameters. If this option is supplied it will override the dhfile
option.
{dhfile, path()}:
Path to file containing PEM encoded Diffie Hellman parameters, for the server to use if a cipher
suite using Diffie Hellman key exchange is negotiated. If not specified default parameters will be
used.
{verify, verify_type()}:
Servers only do the x509-path validation in verify_peer mode, as it then will send a certificate
request to the client (this message is not sent if the verify option is verify_none) and you may then
also want to specify the option fail_if_no_peer_cert.
{fail_if_no_peer_cert, boolean()}:
Used together with {verify, verify_peer} by an ssl server. If set to true, the server will fail if
the client does not have a certificate to send, i.e. sends a empty certificate, if set to false it
will only fail if the client sends an invalid certificate (an empty certificate is considered valid).
{reuse_sessions, boolean()}:
Specifies if the server should agree to reuse sessions when the clients request to do so. See also
the reuse_session option.
{reuse_session, fun(SuggestedSessionId, PeerCert, Compression, CipherSuite) -> boolean()}:
Enables the ssl server to have a local policy for deciding if a session should be reused or not, only
meaningful if reuse_sessions is set to true. SuggestedSessionId is a binary(), PeerCert is a DER
encoded certificate, Compression is an enumeration integer and CipherSuite is of type ciphersuite().
{next_protocols_advertised, Protocols :: [binary()]}:
The list of protocols to send to the client if the client indicates it supports the Next Protocol
extension. The client may select a protocol that is not on this list. The list of protocols must not
contain an empty binary. If the server negotiates a Next Protocol it can be accessed using
negotiated_next_protocol/1 method.
{psk_identity, string()}:
Specifies the server identity hint the server presents to the client.
{log_alert, boolean()}:
If false, error reports will not be displayed.
GENERAL
When an ssl socket is in active mode (the default), data from the socket is delivered to the owner of the
socket in the form of messages:
* {ssl, Socket, Data}
* {ssl_closed, Socket}
*
{ssl_error, Socket, Reason}
A Timeout argument specifies a timeout in milliseconds. The default value for a Timeout argument is
infinity.
EXPORTS
cipher_suites() ->
cipher_suites(Type) -> ciphers()
Types:
Type = erlang | openssl | all
Returns a list of supported cipher suites. cipher_suites() is equivalent to cipher_suites(erlang).
Type openssl is provided for backwards compatibility with old ssl that used openssl.
cipher_suites(all) returns all available cipher suites. The cipher suites not present in
cipher_suites(erlang) but in included in cipher_suites(all) will not be used unless explicitly
configured by the user.
connect(Socket, SslOptions) ->
connect(Socket, SslOptions, Timeout) -> {ok, SslSocket} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = socket()
SslOptions = [ssloption()]
Timeout = integer() | infinity
SslSocket = sslsocket()
Reason = term()
Upgrades a gen_tcp, or equivalent, connected socket to an ssl socket i.e. performs the client-side
ssl handshake.
connect(Host, Port, Options) ->
connect(Host, Port, Options, Timeout) -> {ok, SslSocket} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Host = host()
Port = integer()
Options = [option()]
Timeout = integer() | infinity
SslSocket = sslsocket()
Reason = term()
Opens an ssl connection to Host, Port.
close(SslSocket) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
SslSocket = sslsocket()
Reason = term()
Close an ssl connection.
controlling_process(SslSocket, NewOwner) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
SslSocket = sslsocket()
NewOwner = pid()
Reason = term()
Assigns a new controlling process to the ssl-socket. A controlling process is the owner of an ssl-
socket, and receives all messages from the socket.
connection_info(SslSocket) -> {ok, {ProtocolVersion, CipherSuite}} | {error, Reason}
Types:
CipherSuite = ciphersuite()
ProtocolVersion = protocol()
Returns the negotiated protocol version and cipher suite.
format_error(Reason) -> string()
Types:
Reason = term()
Presents the error returned by an ssl function as a printable string.
getopts(Socket, OptionNames) -> {ok, [socketoption()]} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
OptionNames = [atom()]
Get the value of the specified socket options.
listen(Port, Options) -> {ok, ListenSocket} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Port = integer()
Options = options()
ListenSocket = sslsocket()
Creates an ssl listen socket.
peercert(Socket) -> {ok, Cert} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
Cert = binary()
The peer certificate is returned as a DER encoded binary. The certificate can be decoded with
public_key:pkix_decode_cert/2.
peername(Socket) -> {ok, {Address, Port}} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
Address = ipaddress()
Port = integer()
Returns the address and port number of the peer.
recv(Socket, Length) ->
recv(Socket, Length, Timeout) -> {ok, Data} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
Length = integer()
Timeout = integer()
Data = [char()] | binary()
This function receives a packet from a socket in passive mode. A closed socket is indicated by a
return value {error, closed}.
The Length argument is only meaningful when the socket is in raw mode and denotes the number of
bytes to read. If Length = 0, all available bytes are returned. If Length > 0, exactly Length
bytes are returned, or an error; possibly discarding less than Length bytes of data when the
socket gets closed from the other side.
The optional Timeout parameter specifies a timeout in milliseconds. The default value is infinity.
prf(Socket, Secret, Label, Seed, WantedLength) -> {ok, binary()} | {error, reason()}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
Secret = binary() | master_secret
Label = binary()
Seed = [binary() | prf_random()]
WantedLength = non_neg_integer()
Use the pseudo random function (PRF) of a TLS session to generate additional key material. It
either takes user generated values for Secret and Seed or atoms directing it use a specific value
from the session security parameters.
This function can only be used with TLS connections, {error, undefined} is returned for SSLv3
connections.
renegotiate(Socket) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
Initiates a new handshake. A notable return value is {error, renegotiation_rejected} indicating
that the peer refused to go through with the renegotiation but the connection is still active
using the previously negotiated session.
send(Socket, Data) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
Data = iodata()
Writes Data to Socket.
A notable return value is {error, closed} indicating that the socket is closed.
setopts(Socket, Options) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
Options = [socketoption]()
Sets options according to Options for the socket Socket.
shutdown(Socket, How) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
How = read | write | read_write
Reason = reason()
Immediately close a socket in one or two directions.
How == write means closing the socket for writing, reading from it is still possible.
To be able to handle that the peer has done a shutdown on the write side, the {exit_on_close,
false} option is useful.
ssl_accept(ListenSocket) ->
ssl_accept(ListenSocket, Timeout) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
ListenSocket = sslsocket()
Timeout = integer()
Reason = term()
The ssl_accept function establish the SSL connection on the server side. It should be called
directly after transport_accept, in the spawned server-loop.
ssl_accept(ListenSocket, SslOptions) ->
ssl_accept(ListenSocket, SslOptions, Timeout) -> {ok, Socket} | {error, Reason}
Types:
ListenSocket = socket()
SslOptions = ssloptions()
Timeout = integer()
Reason = term()
Upgrades a gen_tcp, or equivalent, socket to an ssl socket i.e. performs the ssl server-side
handshake.
Warning:
Note that the listen socket should be in {active, false} mode before telling the client that the
server is ready to upgrade and calling this function, otherwise the upgrade may or may not succeed
depending on timing.
sockname(Socket) -> {ok, {Address, Port}} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
Address = ipaddress()
Port = integer()
Returns the local address and port number of the socket Socket.
start() ->
start(Type) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
Type = permanent | transient | temporary
Starts the Ssl application. Default type is temporary. application(3erl)
stop() -> ok
Stops the Ssl application. application(3erl)
transport_accept(Socket) ->
transport_accept(Socket, Timeout) -> {ok, NewSocket} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Socket = NewSocket = sslsocket()
Timeout = integer()
Reason = reason()
Accepts an incoming connection request on a listen socket. ListenSocket must be a socket returned
from listen/2. The socket returned should be passed to ssl_accept to complete ssl handshaking and
establishing the connection.
Warning:
The socket returned can only be used with ssl_accept, no traffic can be sent or received before
that call.
The accepted socket inherits the options set for ListenSocket in listen/2.
The default value for Timeout is infinity. If Timeout is specified, and no connection is accepted
within the given time, {error, timeout} is returned.
versions() -> [{SslAppVer, SupportedSslVer, AvailableSslVsn}]
Types:
SslAppVer = string()
SupportedSslVer = [protocol()]
AvailableSslVsn = [protocol()]
Returns version information relevant for the ssl application.
negotiated_next_protocol(Socket) -> {ok, Protocol} | {error, next_protocol_not_negotiated}
Types:
Socket = sslsocket()
Protocol = binary()
Returns the Next Protocol negotiated.
SEE ALSO
inet(3erl) and gen_tcp(3erl)