SSL Client Certificate Auth - Works in Firefox but not Chrome or IE

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ajobbins

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#193464 11-Mar-2016 22:05

I have a site on my Apache server that I have secured with certificate authentication. The client certificates are signed by the CA I created with OpenSSL and the HTTPS SSL certificate is from StartSSL.

If I open the site in Firefox, confirm the client certificate at the prompt it works beautifully! But if I do the same in IE or Chrome, I get a generic unhelpful message in IE, and Chrome reports "ERR_SSL_CLIENT_AUTH_SIGNATURE_FAILED".

I've done some googling to no avail. All the responses seem to be limited to old browsers/OS that do not support TLS1.2. I can see from Firefox that the connection is working nicely with TLS1.2 so I am stumped as to why it's not working in the other browsers. If I turn the auth off in Apache the site loads on all browsers fine and passes with an A rating on SSLLabs.com

There is nothing in my apache error log, so it seems to be a client side error.

Anyone come across this before or have any ideas?

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#1511629 11-Mar-2016 22:19

Did you install StartSSL CA certificate (and the intermediate ones if they provide them) on Apache?

gzt

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#1511640 11-Mar-2016 22:43

Where is the client certificate installed? From memory (on Windows) Firefox has its own thing, but IE and Chrome use the machine Windows/Microsoft Certificate store.

geocom

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#1511642 11-Mar-2016 22:46

What version of windows, chrome and IE? As above firefox keeps its own CA store so it may be an issue with the windows CA store. Have you tried another windows PC?

Geoff E

ajobbins

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#1511644 11-Mar-2016 22:46

marpada:

Did you install StartSSL CA certificate (and the intermediate ones if they provide them) on Apache?

Yes, and it's not a StartSSL issue - that part all works fine. It's the client certificate auth with is self signed with the CA I created with OpenSSL. And Firefox is happy and it all works fine. I've even added my CA to the windows trust store so it trusts the self signed cert, but it still doesn't help.

I've just done a wireshark trace too. It's client (browser) side without a doubt. IE and Chrome just stop right after SSL connection (The StartSSL bit) and just before the client certificate auth is done - nothing over the wire from that point.

Have tried with 3 different machines on two networks. Two Win 10 and one Win 7

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ajobbins

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#1511651 11-Mar-2016 22:51

gzt: Where is the client certificate installed? From memory (on Windows) Firefox has its own thing, but IE and Chrome use the machine Windows/Microsoft Certificate store.

Yes, IE and Chrome appear to share the windows cert store. But it's there - just no idea why it doesn't like it! The browser error messages are not at all helpful.

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bigalow

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#1511675 12-Mar-2016 00:22

did you add this to your apache2.conf ?

SSLEngine on SSLProtocol +TLSv1 +TLSv1.1 +TLSv1.2

SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache2/ssl/site/domain.key

SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache2/ssl/site/domain.crt

SSLCACertificateFile /etc/apache2/ssl/site/bundle.crt

SSLHonorCipherOrder on

SSLCipherSuite "ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:EDH-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES256-SHA256:AES128-SHA256:AES256-SHA:AES128-SHA:DES-CBC3-SHA:HIGH:!aNULL:!eNULL:!EXPORT:!CAMELLIA:!DES:!MD5:!PSK:!RC4"

BrowserMatch "MSIE [2-6]" \ nokeepalive ssl-unclean-shutdown \ downgrade-1.0 force-response-1.0 # MSIE 7 and newer should be able to use keepalive BrowserMatch "MSIE [17-9]" ssl-unclean-shutdown

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gzt

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#1511709 12-Mar-2016 02:02

Btw what do the Apache logs currently say for this event/sequence?

ajobbins

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#1512079 12-Mar-2016 17:09

gzt: Btw what do the Apache logs currently say for this event/sequence?

There is nothing in the Apache logs at all as it appears to be the browser not Apache. It serves to Firefox perfectly and I can see that in the logs.

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ajobbins

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#1512083 12-Mar-2016 17:24

biggal:

did you add this to your apache2.conf ?

SSLEngine on SSLProtocol +TLSv1 +TLSv1.1 +TLSv1.2

SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache2/ssl/site/domain.key

SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache2/ssl/site/domain.crt

SSLCACertificateFile /etc/apache2/ssl/site/bundle.crt

SSLHonorCipherOrder on

SSLCipherSuite "ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:EDH-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES256-SHA256:AES128-SHA256:AES256-SHA:AES128-SHA:DES-CBC3-SHA:HIGH:!aNULL:!eNULL:!EXPORT:!CAMELLIA:!DES:!MD5:!PSK:!RC4"

BrowserMatch "MSIE [2-6]" \ nokeepalive ssl-unclean-shutdown \ downgrade-1.0 force-response-1.0 # MSIE 7 and newer should be able to use keepalive BrowserMatch "MSIE [17-9]" ssl-unclean-shutdown

My Apache conf largely matches, except I a stricter set of ciphers and protocols:

SSLCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:!SSLv3:!kRSA
SSLProxyCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:!SSLv3:!kRSA

SSLProtocol -all +TLSv1.2
SSLProxyProtocol -all +TLSv1.2

But even if I swap in your config, or if I set the ciphers and config to all, same result. Works in FF but not in IE or Chrome

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mentalinc

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#1512102 12-Mar-2016 18:19

ajobbins:

My Apache conf largely matches, except I a stricter set of ciphers and protocols:

SSLCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:!SSLv3:!kRSA
SSLProxyCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:!SSLv3:!kRSA

SSLProtocol -all +TLSv1.2
SSLProxyProtocol -all +TLSv1.2

But even if I swap in your config, or if I set the ciphers and config to all, same result. Works in FF but not in IE or Chrome

thats some really poor config

Have a read of

https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Server_Side_TLS

try using

https://mozilla.github.io/server-side-tls/ssl-config-generator/

and then testing with

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/index.html

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ajobbins

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#1512110 12-Mar-2016 18:33

mentalinc:
ajobbins:

My Apache conf largely matches, except I a stricter set of ciphers and protocols:

SSLCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:!SSLv3:!kRSA
SSLProxyCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:!SSLv3:!kRSA

SSLProtocol -all +TLSv1.2
SSLProxyProtocol -all +TLSv1.2

But even if I swap in your config, or if I set the ciphers and config to all, same result. Works in FF but not in IE or Chrome

thats some really poor config Have a read of https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Server_Side_TLS try using https://mozilla.github.io/server-side-tls/ssl-config-generator/ and then testing with https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/index.html

How so? That's that config Apache recommends by 2016 for strong encryption. With these settings I am getting an A rating from SSL labs.

I installed the client auth cert on my phone and all works in Chrome on Android fine. There is something Windows doesn't like about the cert but I don't know where to look for more info.

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bigalow

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#1512171 13-Mar-2016 01:32

ajobbins:

My Apache conf largely matches, except I a stricter set of ciphers and protocols:

SSLCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:!SSLv3:!kRSA
SSLProxyCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:!SSLv3:!kRSA

SSLProtocol -all +TLSv1.2
SSLProxyProtocol -all +TLSv1.2

But even if I swap in your config, or if I set the ciphers and config to all, same result. Works in FF but not in IE or Chrome

pm me you site url and ill have a look

timmmay

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#1512173 13-Mar-2016 07:15

Only offering TLS1.2 restricts the clients that will work. Add at least TLS1.1, at least as a test, and add TLS1.0 temporarily to see if it starts workign.

mentalinc

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#1512179 13-Mar-2016 08:18

timmmay:
Only offering TLS1.2 restricts the clients that will work. Add at least TLS1.1, at least as a test, and add TLS1.0 temporarily to see if it starts workign.

Chrome isn't going to be impacted by only having TLS1.2.. unless they have a super old version!

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#1512180 13-Mar-2016 08:21

Probably not, but it will give more information. I know my servers were generally more compatible and worked with more browsers when I added TLS 1.1 and 1.0 than when I was 1.2 only.

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