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author | Linnnus <[email protected]> | 2024-04-24 20:50:26 +0200 |
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committer | Linnnus <[email protected]> | 2024-04-24 20:53:56 +0200 |
commit | 45a7c91fbef2e9c2c0c6821edb06bae75077b50c (patch) | |
tree | 7dba08d3bd2711d83f9ff4442e30755c44b84e50 /notes/certificates.md | |
parent | 86c1c0cd8f12f95a480b7ec76c12bc91d73bd89b (diff) |
Add self-signed certificates
Diffstat (limited to 'notes/certificates.md')
-rw-r--r-- | notes/certificates.md | 191 |
1 files changed, 191 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/notes/certificates.md b/notes/certificates.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c495534 --- /dev/null +++ b/notes/certificates.md @@ -0,0 +1,191 @@ +# Certificates + +It is necessary to generate self-signed certificates for development. +If that didn't make sense, read on! + +## What are certificates and certificate authorities? + +[Public key certificates][certificate] are used in cryptography to prove the authenticity of a public key. +More specifically, +they are used in TLS/HTTPS communication to prevent [man in the middle attacks][mitm]. +When the browser wants to send an encrypted request to `blind-guild.org`, +it receives the server's public key as part of the opening handshake. +Here, certificates come into play! + +The certificate is basically a file that says +"the public key of `blind-guild.org` is BLAHBLAHBLAH." +It is signed by a certificate authority. +That authority is in turn certified by another certificate authority, +which is *also* certified by another CA... +all the way up the CA chain! +At the end of the chain, there are a few "root certificate authorities". +They are managed usually managed by a component of the operating system. + +[certificate]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_certificate +[ca]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_authority +[mitm]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack + +## Why do we care about HTTPS + +Normally, we only care about HTTPS for production builds +– we let the reverse proxy handle yucky stuff like that! +We can do that because we don't care about (our own) security when developing +and because `localhost` is considered a [secure context][sec-ctx], +meaning we still have access to all the sweet features +that are normally limited to pages served over HTTPS. + +Unfortunately for us, +battle.net's API requires a HTTPS callback URI and does *not* make any exceptions for `localhost`. +See [the documentation][ssl-req] for more details. +**So we must generate SSL certificates anyways.** + +[sec-ctx]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Security/Secure_Contexts +[ssl-req]: https://develop.battle.net/documentation/guides/using-oauth#:~:text=to%20begin%20working.-,Redirect%20URL,-Developers%20registering%20an + +## Creating self-signed certificates + +For development can get by with self-signed certificates. +Normally, +you have to pay a certificate authority for the privilege of +them signing your certificate signing request. +For development (and a school project), +this is a bit too much work. +Instead, +we'll set up our own local certificate authority and use *that* to sign our development server's certificate. + +To generate the stuff in `pki/`, +I largely followed the procedure layed out in [this SO answer][self-pki]. +I did, however, change days of validity from 365 to 328500 (900 years). +That way, +I can just check this stuff in to version control, +and hopefully no-one else will have to bother with generating them. +For reference, +here is a transcript of my terminal session: + +```sh +$ openssl req -x509 -nodes \ + -newkey RSA:2048 \ + -keyout root-ca.key \ + -days 328500 \ + -out root-ca.crt \ + -subj '/CN=root_CA_for_firefox' +Generating a 2048 bit RSA private key +.....................................+++++ +....................................................................................................................................................................+++++ +writing new private key to 'root-ca.key' +----- +$ ls +root-ca.crt root-ca.key +$ cat root-ca.* +-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- +MIICujCCAaICCQCgquJyWnHovTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADAeMRwwGgYDVQQDDBNy +b290X0NBX2Zvcl9maXJlZm94MCAXDTI0MDQyNDE4MTEyNVoYDzI5MjMwOTE5MTgx +MTI1WjAeMRwwGgYDVQQDDBNyb290X0NBX2Zvcl9maXJlZm94MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG +9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEA0VJEJ+DTEUe85ulf92HjDT6Xr4cDyS+uMJq3 +fNJkLOaMhptVtwGxtL4lh1vO8j9IZVLJ611VjXjAF06cjHgDsCMJ5Rf+05tUtxLW +Z+QWFwNOS1VCDPpqEq0J+KrD9cuxLKK7nD5bPLxoXXmL3GN4v5kWqkMYDn0R66Nd +IWCF8Wkgw2MLASIiB5tbYb7xJkpfioTfH3xQBlNtAaU1mtWAHZ2W+oyawcylSKFQ +IymkjJvCjqRubLf+6q4MXpQC57wS7T+qxW1GRwpF6c5Vkx3bF9d9kXpaWDims6rs +eevsA2mLhtfJ0RN5AU7spyaIGlHvK2NhSXVnBU8nLedX2qHgCQIDAQABMA0GCSqG +SIb3DQEBCwUAA4IBAQAZzYQ9B9Lj2oxFMPQ3Eb1fI7zfFxUH1+YCX3J3oAGFd3em +LTrIZG0IjSdqvSLrkp3/IxVKCx5uEc40UjLSsN9HNqDmF0vVNNfKS4UiuFVEY7wE +22y9LkCNxYvdKz7iA1Q3m9dyWUUTSrve7zmnnDdnNBXY1lvjBr6EAgDbY8/xVyIE +4f5+3icYTjFLsdjlkjc7F3RJAKDfeO4CHl6I82QD21UO/hv4b1t7r7ZUfr1RYWb/ +Tv75ISwfBfuge33H0rOIpORY5g7yZSDE58YiRFGgG8kPsOdY3N9y2T5wVDXRHs01 +eJlWXed7w4P7O9NGpwuwrZmrz3RptyqAIlrAaK0u +-----END CERTIFICATE----- +-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- +MIIEwAIBADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAASCBKowggSmAgEAAoIBAQDRUkQn4NMRR7zm +6V/3YeMNPpevhwPJL64wmrd80mQs5oyGm1W3AbG0viWHW87yP0hlUsnrXVWNeMAX +TpyMeAOwIwnlF/7Tm1S3EtZn5BYXA05LVUIM+moSrQn4qsP1y7EsorucPls8vGhd +eYvcY3i/mRaqQxgOfRHro10hYIXxaSDDYwsBIiIHm1thvvEmSl+KhN8ffFAGU20B +pTWa1YAdnZb6jJrBzKVIoVAjKaSMm8KOpG5st/7qrgxelALnvBLtP6rFbUZHCkXp +zlWTHdsX132RelpYOKazqux56+wDaYuG18nRE3kBTuynJogaUe8rY2FJdWcFTyct +51faoeAJAgMBAAECggEBAKSyEthBqDDHfhU9eHmftlNcdWLxW4Q3lNm/UjHPJGzD +tbvPiqCkn5rzpXmcPfcS3baDbkZXOJJIePOdscVARL6YwxdTSvhaFky5cKNrrgnL +WxYg7ghiG4W4SskyK19BNpVFMVJdKdJe98rccLQmPAKcxF2QzuPPeoMqFYPGe30W +aw4i8ZunXxriQ6kdXHG+QhP0JZVIpHwBlxwJ0R3jM2kZgcJk888HGt2AQZ6fHfoC +HM0cE6fCKebR+NbujNOFc7UXSMUyEXkkvOlk+r/kxGeE4INP1o27utItYNuNpFqD +iB+uupH/Q2xxSJ4Cke43sMzlrImjFibMvp/WcfBoxdECgYEA6+7RQCC4CQXg9tYY +N6lkU5qjKfxiXlCj1ZCpX5lW34MbWgDTc2OpCkE5dbc1wSzwblpBdUe3NHVVMTu7 +7yVvvytfH8dEasb5BWgkFdqNyPzoaP9wN6TC1cyuKsbYmbq7NTM9D1Q5dTtsjGfO +3PBVUlj3RxHTKj6roAO+D2P3J20CgYEA4yAC/eUZ5ANk9YZrIGsoFjPqYMlKXDUO +uQnnaSnKcL5E68ehvVvKj5epY/EicsGEKgEeIphJgley9x9AsU40UnlI3/bzqIhV +GRjHPxiV7W9pB+PR4JWhppgohkIz3/QD4RONQNYYot7Jx+/QP9IAO1Br8kP80BEE +4HrlNuT/LY0CgYEAz/Qm4hQ0wlc5K7gXjnAy6vHhIS/A8Iq5bZNdhtLcXJPt9s3F +ku5j35MP927t5YAbx9ir25jDpWxKE+QnySlBLsomxRbZehg5BAf/zndeA6rPm0SS +/6isxs/rL+8mmZGaUtD/39QH9QnUqokRL3JycevSwQS4EIM+uQKzclNVVJ0CgYEA +zSSKzzxxCCuwsrs4Y02mJXe6yLTG/0XFCIjThX8DpJWWtsfXZKtV6CB6FRUlojT7 +5NyhlWmra5k+wkpuKjeStrNpiTEKnzyUcFibDnhsYsrwOPojBRDhsxFX+Pwu0qca +Id+BBADcu68y3e3TUPGi1/Apr+aMoHnex8r44X4wpbkCgYEA33ozRucqlq6IaXVJ +khESj6rv0CIa0dNUYVR+IuXQTj6MuQhY31BgsQOonSS6I5UsdD2z3Bj0MFz0wN1J +V/rWseLJbFEgZiFyClhZKSe3oom7ehZvbPBYmWAg+kiUBav/823IJ3JQZQ8t1jU/ +Mk0B0PEYP3KTTMwiO7uEnC73l7c= +-----END PRIVATE KEY----- +$ openssl req -nodes \ + -newkey rsa:2048 \ + -keyout server.key \ + -out server.csr \ + -subj '/CN=localhost' +Generating a 2048 bit RSA private key +...............+++++ +...........................................+++++ +writing new private key to 'server.key' +----- +$ openssl x509 -req + -CA root-ca.crt \ + -CAkey root-ca.key \ + -in server.csr \ + -out server.crt \ + -days 328500 \ + -CAcreateserial \ + -extfile <(printf "subjectAltName = DNS:localhost\nauthorityKeyIdentifier = keyid,issuer\nbasicConstraints = CA:FALSE\nkeyUsage = digitalSignature, keyEncipherment\nextendedKeyUsage=serverAuth") +Signature ok +subject=/CN=localhost +Getting CA Private Key +$ ls +root-ca.crt root-ca.key root-ca.srl server.crt server.csr server.key +``` + +[self-pki]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/77009337 + +## Trusting self-signed certificates + +Now, the browser obviously doesn't trust this certificate +– nor should it! +It doesn't know anything about our local CA, +so this certificate may as come from a malicious actor. +If you attempt to load https://localhost:8080 +without performing the steps in this section, +the browser will give you an error like `NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID`. + +For development purposes +we would like to inform the browser +that this CA is indeed to be trusted. +The process varies a bit between different combinations of browsers and operating systems. +Firefox, for example, maintains its own list of CAs. +[Here][ff-trust] is a guide on how to install our custom CA into Firefox's trust store. +Chrome, on the other hand, seems to be using the operating system's certificate store, +so you'll need to modify this instead. +[Here][guide-win] is a guide on how to do it on Windows +and [here][guide-osx] is a guide for MacOS. + +N.B. Always keep in mind that we are looking to install our CA, that is the file `pki/root-ca.crt`, NOT the servers certificate, found in `pki/server.crt`. + +[ff-trust]: https://javorszky.co.uk/2019/11/06/get-firefox-to-trust-your-self-signed-certificates/ +[guide-win]: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-server-essentials-and/installing-a-self-signed-certificate-as-a-trusted-root-ca-in/ba-p/396105 +[guide-osx]: https://tosbourn.com/getting-os-x-to-trust-self-signed-ssl-certificates/ + +## Chrome is annoying + +For Firefox, the above is enough. +It nags you a bit but you can force it to pipe down. +When presented with the warning, +just click "Advanced" and then "continue". + +Not so much for Chrome. +It still complains about an invalid CN (common name). +Luckily, there's one final escape hatch: +type "[thisisunsafe]" anywhere on the error page. + +[thisisunsafe]: https://cybercafe.dev/thisisunsafe-bypassing-chrome-security-warnings/ |