Question

Syntax/how to use SSLPassPhraseDialog help

Asked by: pbenningfield

Hello,

I am a complete Linux newbie and need some help.  I have Fedora 7 and have generated and installed a cert for my webserver with encryption.  I would like to automate the pass phrase using the SSLPassPhraseDialog, and although I've read the directive on this, I'm unclear how to use it. It refers to an external program that is configured which is called at startup for each encrypted Private Key file.  Is this something I have to install?  If so, can someone suggest what to use?  Is there a file out there I'm supposed to be looking for that I simply need to add the passphrase to?

I recognize I am out of my element here, and I need this explained in english so I can understand and implement.

THANK YOU!

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Asked On
2009-10-10 at 10:15:46ID24801799
Tags

fedora apache SSL

Topics

Apache Web Server

,

Fedora Linux

,

Linux

,

Linux Administration

,

Internet Security

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
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Answers

 

by: ahoffmannPosted on 2009-10-11 at 01:05:03ID: 25545197

are you talking about the cert installed in and used by your we server, or are you talking about generating client certificates to be delivered and installed in a browser?

 

by: pbenningfieldPosted on 2009-10-14 at 13:54:37ID: 25575133

Hello, I'm sorry I've been AFK.  Its a cert used and installed on the web server side.  Whenever the webserver restarts it prompts for the passphrase; need to automate this.

 

by: ahoffmannPosted on 2009-11-05 at 04:59:24ID: 25748920

> .. need to automate this.
you need to remove (set empty) the passphrase for your cert
i.g. you can use openssl for that

 

by: pbenningfieldPosted on 2009-11-05 at 06:35:03ID: 25749824

Thanks, but I don't want to remove it, I want to automate the answer an answer file.

 

by: ahoffmannPosted on 2009-11-05 at 07:23:56ID: 25750410

to automate it, you need to write the pass phrase in clear text somewhere
ask your self: what is the purpose of a pass phrase which is written down in clear text?

 

by: routinetPosted on 2009-11-08 at 08:27:02ID: 25770901

First thing's first: I totally agree with ahoffmann.  The proper way to secure your certificates is to remove the pass-phrase, mark the unencrypted private key as root:400, and put it somewhere safe.  Any other solution necessarily means that your pass-phrase is available, probably in clear-text, SOMEWHERE on the system.

If you are still determined to use the pass-phrase anyways, see here:

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_ssl.html#sslpassphrasedialog

The 'builtin' option is simply the built-in Apache dialog.  You start Apache, and it asks for the pass-phrase for each certificate it has to load.

The '|/path/to/program [args]' option pipes the internal Apache dialog to an external program.  That means you need to create an external, executable file (either a compiled image, or even a shell script).  It should expect the Apache prompt dialog as input, and must write the pass-phrase to stdout.

The final option, 'exec:/path/to/program', is very much like the previous one.  The main difference here is that Apache does not pipe the internal dialog to the app, but rather calls it as an external process with arguments.  The first argument takes the form of "servername:portnumber", and the second indicates the key type (RSA/DSA).  As before, the external application must write the pass-phrase to stdout.

The easiest ***and most insecure*** method of doing this is a simple shell script.  Assuming all of your certificates are using the same pass-phrase, see the code below.  With multiple pass-phrases, you will need some logic to determine the appropriate pass-phrase given the servername and portnumber.  Ideally, this should be an external, compiled application, with the pass-phrase catalog saved in the image as encrypted text.

> cat /usr/sbin/my-external-app.sh
#!/bin/bash
echo "This is my pass-phrase" 
> cat my-sample-apache.conf
SSLPassPhraseDialog exec:/usr/sbin/my-external-app.sh

                                              
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