SSLCTXsettmpdhcallback(3) OpenSSL SSLCTXsettmpdhcallback(3)

NAME
       SSLCTXsettmpdhcallback, SSLCTXsettmpdh,
       SSLsettmpdhcallback, SSLsettmpdh - handle DH keys for ephemeral
       key exchange

SYNOPSIS
        #include 

        void SSLCTXsettmpdhcallback(SSLCTX *ctx,
                   DH *(*tmpdhcallback)(SSL *ssl, int isexport, int keylength));
        long SSLCTXsettmpdh(SSLCTX *ctx, DH *dh);

        void SSLsettmpdhcallback(SSLCTX *ctx,
                   DH *(*tmpdhcallback)(SSL *ssl, int isexport, int keylength));
        long SSLsettmpdh(SSL *ssl, DH *dh)

        DH *(*tmpdhcallback)(SSL *ssl, int isexport, int keylength));

DESCRIPTION
       SSLCTXsettmpdhcallback() sets the callback function for ccttxx to be
       used when a DH parameters are required to ttmmppddhhccaallllbbaacckk.  The
       callback is inherited by all ssssll objects created from ccttxx.

       SSLCTXsettmpdh() sets DH parameters to be used to be ddhh.  The key
       is inherited by all ssssll objects created from ccttxx.

       SSLsettmpdhcallback() sets the callback only for ssssll.

       SSLsettmpdh() sets the parameters only for ssssll.

       These functions apply to SSL/TLS servers only.

NNOOTTEESS
       When using a cipher with RSA authentication, an ephemeral DH key
       exchange can take place. Ciphers with DSA keys always use ephemeral DH
       keys as well.  In these cases, the session data are negotiated using
       the ephemeral/temporary DH key and the key supplied and certified by
       the certificate chain is only used for signing.  Anonymous ciphers
       (without a permanent server key) also use ephemeral DH keys.

       Using ephemeral DH key exchange yields forward secrecy, as the
       connection can only be decrypted, when the DH key is known. By
       generating a temporary DH key inside the server application that is
       lost when the application is left, it becomes impossible for an
       attacker to decrypt past sessions, even if he gets hold of the normal
       (certified) key, as this key was only used for signing.

       In order to perform a DH key exchange the server must use a DH group
       (DH parameters) and generate a DH key. The server will always generate
       a new DH key during the negotiation, when the DH parameters are
       supplied via callback and/or when the SSLOPSINGLEDHUSE option of
       SSLCTXsetoptions(3) is set. It will immediately create a DH key,
       when DH parameters are supplied via SSLCTXsettmpdh() and
       SSLOPSINGLEDHUSE is not set. In this case, it may happen that a key
       is generated on initialization without later being needed, while on the
       other hand the computer time during the negotiation is being saved.

       If "strong" primes were used to generate the DH parameters, it is not
       strictly necessary to generate a new key for each handshake but it does
       improve forward secrecy. If it is not assured, that "strong" primes
       were used (see especially the section about DSA parameters below),
       SSLOPSINGLEDHUSE must be used in order to prevent small subgroup
       attacks. Always using SSLOPSINGLEDHUSE has an impact on the
       computer time needed during negotiation, but it is not very large, so
       application authors/users should consider to always enable this option.

       As generating DH parameters is extremely time consuming, an application
       should not generate the parameters on the fly but supply the
       parameters.  DH parameters can be reused, as the actual key is newly
       generated during the negotiation. The risk in reusing DH parameters is
       that an attacker may specialize on a very often used DH group.
       Applications should therefore generate their own DH parameters during
       the installation process using the openssl dhparam(1) application. In
       order to reduce the computer time needed for this generation, it is
       possible to use DSA parameters instead (see dhparam(1)), but in this
       case SSLOPSINGLEDHUSE is mandatory.

       Application authors may compile in DH parameters. Files dh512.pem,
       dh1024.pem, dh2048.pem, and dh4096 in the 'apps' directory of current
       version of the OpenSSL distribution contain the 'SKIP' DH parameters,
       which use safe primes and were generated verifiably pseudo-randomly.
       These files can be converted into C code using the -CC option of the
       dhparam(1) application.  Authors may also generate their own set of
       parameters using dhparam(1), but a user may not be sure how the
       parameters were generated. The generation of DH parameters during
       installation is therefore recommended.

       An application may either directly specify the DH parameters or can
       supply the DH parameters via a callback function. The callback approach
       has the advantage, that the callback may supply DH parameters for
       different key lengths.

       The ttmmppddhhccaallllbbaacckk is called with the kkeeyylleennggtthh needed and the
       iisseexxppoorrtt information. The iisseexxppoorrtt flag is set, when the ephemeral DH
       key exchange is performed with an export cipher.

EEXXAAMMPPLLEESS
       Handle DH parameters for key lengths of 512 and 1024 bits. (Error
       handling partly left out.)

        ...
        /* Set up ephemeral DH stuff */
        DH *dh512 = NULL;
        DH *dh1024 = NULL;
        FILE *paramfile;

        ...
        /* "openssl dhparam -out dhparam512.pem -2 512" */
        paramfile = fopen("dhparam512.pem", "r");
        if (paramfile) {
          dh512 = PEMreadDHparams(paramfile, NULL, NULL, NULL);
          fclose(paramfile);
        }
        /* "openssl dhparam -out dhparam1024.pem -2 1024" */
        paramfile = fopen("dhparam1024.pem", "r");
        if (paramfile) {
          dh1024 = PEMreadDHparams(paramfile, NULL, NULL, NULL);
          fclose(paramfile);
        }
        ...

        /* "openssl dhparam -C -2 512" etc... */
        DH *getdh512() { ... }
        DH *getdh1024() { ... }

        DH *tmpdhcallback(SSL *s, int isexport, int keylength)
        {
           DH *dhtmp=NULL;

           switch (keylength) {
           case 512:
             if (!dh512)
               dh512 = getdh512();
             dhtmp = dh512;
             break;
           case 1024:
             if (!dh1024)
               dh1024 = getdh1024();
             dhtmp = dh1024;
             break;
           default:
             /* Generating a key on the fly is very costly, so use what is there */
             setupdhparameterslikeabove();
           }
           return(dhtmp);
        }

RETURN VALUES
       SSLCTXsettmpdhcallback() and SSLsettmpdhcallback() do not
       return diagnostic output.

       SSLCTXsettmpdh() and SSLsettmpdh() do return 1 on success and 0
       on failure. Check the error queue to find out the reason of failure.

SEE ALSO
       ssl(3), SSLCTXsetcipherlist(3), SSLCTXsettmprsacallback(3),
       SSLCTXsetoptions(3), ciphers(1), dhparam(1)



0.9.7l                            2001-09-06    SSLCTXsettmpdhcallback(3)