+=head1 SECURE RENEGOTIATION
+
+OpenSSL 0.9.8m and later always attempts to use secure renegotiation as
+described in RFC5746. This counters the prefix attack described in
+CVE-2009-3555 and elsewhere.
+
+The deprecated and highly broken SSLv2 protocol does not support
+renegotiation at all: its use is B<strongly> discouraged.
+
+This attack has far reaching consequences which application writers should be
+aware of. In the description below an implementation supporting secure
+renegotiation is referred to as I<patched>. A server not supporting secure
+renegotiation is referred to as I<unpatched>.
+
+The following sections describe the operations permitted by OpenSSL's secure
+renegotiation implementation.
+
+=head2 Patched client and server
+
+Connections and renegotiation are always permitted by OpenSSL implementations.
+
+=head2 Unpatched client and patched OpenSSL server
+
+The initial connection succeeds but client renegotiation is denied by the
+server with a B<no_renegotiation> warning alert if TLS v1.0 is used or a fatal
+B<handshake_failure> alert in SSL v3.0.
+
+If the patched OpenSSL server attempts to renegotiate a fatal
+B<handshake_failure> alert is sent. This is because the server code may be
+unaware of the unpatched nature of the client.
+
+If the option B<SSL_OP_ALLOW_UNSAFE_LEGACY_RENEGOTIATION> is set then
+renegotiation B<always> succeeds.
+
+B<NB:> a bug in OpenSSL clients earlier than 0.9.8m (all of which are
+unpatched) will result in the connection hanging if it receives a
+B<no_renegotiation> alert. OpenSSL versions 0.9.8m and later will regard
+a B<no_renegotiation> alert as fatal and respond with a fatal
+B<handshake_failure> alert. This is because the OpenSSL API currently has
+no provision to indicate to an application that a renegotiation attempt
+was refused.
+
+=head2 Patched OpenSSL client and unpatched server.
+
+If the option B<SSL_OP_LEGACY_SERVER_CONNECT> or
+B<SSL_OP_ALLOW_UNSAFE_LEGACY_RENEGOTIATION> is set then initial connections
+and renegotiation between patched OpenSSL clients and unpatched servers
+succeeds. If neither option is set then initial connections to unpatched
+servers will fail.
+
+The option B<SSL_OP_LEGACY_SERVER_CONNECT> is currently set by default even
+though it has security implications: otherwise it would be impossible to
+connect to unpatched servers (i.e. all of them initially) and this is clearly
+not acceptable. Renegotiation is permitted because this does not add any
+additional security issues: during an attack clients do not see any
+renegotiations anyway.
+
+As more servers become patched the option B<SSL_OP_LEGACY_SERVER_CONNECT> will
+B<not> be set by default in a future version of OpenSSL.
+
+OpenSSL client applications wishing to ensure they can connect to unpatched
+servers should always B<set> B<SSL_OP_LEGACY_SERVER_CONNECT>
+
+OpenSSL client applications that want to ensure they can B<not> connect to
+unpatched servers (and thus avoid any security issues) should always B<clear>
+B<SSL_OP_LEGACY_SERVER_CONNECT> using SSL_CTX_clear_options() or
+SSL_clear_options().
+
+The difference between the B<SSL_OP_LEGACY_SERVER_CONNECT> and
+B<SSL_OP_ALLOW_UNSAFE_LEGACY_RENEGOTIATION> options is that
+B<SSL_OP_LEGACY_SERVER_CONNECT> enables initial connections and secure
+renegotiation between OpenSSL clients and unpatched servers B<only>, while
+B<SSL_OP_ALLOW_UNSAFE_LEGACY_RENEGOTIATION> allows initial connections
+and renegotiation between OpenSSL and unpatched clients or servers.
+
projects / openssl.git / blobdiff