Chapter 4. Configuring HTTPS Cipher Suites
Abstract
This chapter explains how to specify the list of cipher suites that are made available to clients and servers for the purpose of establishing HTTPS connections. During a security handshake, the client chooses a cipher suite that matches one of the cipher suites available to the server.
4.1. Supported Cipher Suites
Overview
A cipher suite is a collection of security algorithms that determine precisely how an SSL/TLS connection is implemented.
For example, the SSL/TLS protocol mandates that messages be signed using a message digest algorithm. The choice of digest algorithm, however, is determined by the particular cipher suite being used for the connection. Typically, an application can choose either the MD5 or the SHA digest algorithm.
The cipher suites available for SSL/TLS security in Apache CXF depend on the particular JSSE provider that is specified on the endpoint.
JCE/JSSE and security providers
The Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) and the Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) constitute a pluggable framework that allows you to replace the Java security implementation with arbitrary third-party toolkits, known as security providers.
SunJSSE provider
In practice, the security features of Apache CXF have been tested only with SUN’s JSSE provider, which is named
SunJSSE.
Hence, the SSL/TLS implementation and the list of available cipher suites in Apache CXF are effectively determined by what is available from SUN’s JSSE provider.
Cipher suites supported by SunJSSE
The following cipher suites are supported by SUN’s JSSE provider in the J2SE 1.5.0 Java development kit (see also Appendix A of SUN’s JSSE Reference Guide):
- Standard ciphers:
SSL_DHE_DSS_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA SSL_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5 SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_DES_CBC_40_MD5 TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_DES_CBC_40_SHA TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5 TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_SHA TLS_KRB5_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_MD5 TLS_KRB5_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA TLS_KRB5_WITH_DES_CBC_MD5 TLS_KRB5_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA TLS_KRB5_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 TLS_KRB5_WITH_RC4_128_SHA TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
- Null encryption, integrity-only ciphers:
SSL_RSA_WITH_NULL_MD5 SSL_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA
- Anonymous Diffie-Hellman ciphers (no authentication):
SSL_DH_anon_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA SSL_DH_anon_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5 SSL_DH_anon_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA SSL_DH_anon_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA SSL_DH_anon_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 TLS_DH_anon_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA TLS_DH_anon_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
JSSE reference guide
For more information about SUN’s JSSE framework, please consult the JSSE Reference Guide at the following location:
