path: root/docs/manual/mod/mod_tls.xml

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<modulesynopsis metafile="mod_tls.xml.meta">

    <name>mod_tls</name>
    <description>TLS v1.2 and v1.3 implemented in memory-safe Rust via
        the rustls library
    </description>
    <status>Experimental</status>
    <sourcefile>mod_tls.c</sourcefile>
    <identifier>tls_module</identifier>
    <compatibility>Available in version 2.4.52 and later</compatibility>
    <summary>
        <p>
            mod_tls is an alternative to <module>mod_ssl</module> for providing https to a server.
            It's feature set is a subset, described in more detail below. It can
            be used as a companion to <module>mod_ssl</module>, e.g. both modules can be loaded at
            the same time.
        </p><p>
            mod_tls, being written in C, used the Rust implementation of TLS named
            <a href="https://github.com/rustls/rustls">rustls</a> via its C interface
            <a href="https://github.com/rustls/rustls-ffi">rustls-ffi</a>. This gives
            <em>memory safe</em> cryptography and protocol handling at comparable
            performance.
        </p><p>
            It can be configured for frontend and backend connections. The configuration
            directive have been kept mostly similar to <module>mod_ssl</module> ones.
        </p>
    </summary>
    <section id="vhost_context">
        <title>TLS in a VirtualHost context</title>
        <highlight language="config">
Listen 443
TLSEngine 443

&lt;VirtualHost *:443>
  ServerName example.net
  TLSCertificate file_with_certificate.pem file_with_key.pem
  ...
&lt;/VirtualHost>
        </highlight>
        <p>
            The above is a minimal configuration. Instead of enabling mod_tls
            in every virtual host, the port for incoming TLS connections is
            specified.
        </p><p>
            You cannot mix virtual hosts with <module>mod_ssl</module> and mod_tls on the same
            port. It's either or. SNI and ALPN are supported. You may use several
            virtual hosts on the same port and a mix of protocols like http/1.1
            and h2.
        </p>
    </section>

        <section id="comparison"><title>Feature Comparison with mod_ssl</title>
        <p>
            The table below gives a comparison of feature between
            <module>mod_ssl</module> and mod_tls. If a feature of <module>mod_ssl</module> is no listed here,
            it is not supported by mod_tls. The one difference, probably most relevant
            is the lack for client certificate support in the current version of
            mod_tls.
        </p>
            <table>
                <tr><th>Feature</th><th>mod_ssl</th><th>mod_tls</th><th>Comment</th></tr>
<tr><td>Frontend TLS</td><td>yes</td><td>yes</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Backend TLS</td><td>yes</td><td>yes</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>TLS v1.3</td><td>yes*</td><td>yes</td><td>*)with recent OpenSSL</td></tr>
<tr><td>TLS v1.2</td><td>yes</td><td>yes</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>TLS v1.0</td><td>yes*</td><td>no</td><td>*)if enabled in OpenSSL</td></tr>
<tr><td>SNI Virtual Hosts</td><td>yes</td><td>yes</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Client Certificates</td><td>yes</td><td>no</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Machine Certificates for Backend</td><td>yes</td><td>yes</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>OCSP Stapling</td><td>yes</td><td>yes*</td><td>*)via <module>mod_md</module></td></tr>
<tr><td>Backend OCSP check</td><td>yes</td><td>no*</td><td>*)stapling will be verified</td></tr>
<tr><td>TLS version to allow</td><td>min-max</td><td>min</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>TLS ciphers</td><td>exclusive list</td><td>preferred/suppressed</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>TLS cipher ordering</td><td>client/server</td><td>client/server</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>TLS sessions</td><td>yes</td><td>yes</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>SNI strictness</td><td>default no</td><td>default yes</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Option EnvVars</td><td>exhaustive</td><td>limited*</td><td>*)see var list</td></tr>
<tr><td>Option ExportCertData</td><td>client+server</td><td>server</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Backend CA</td><td>file/dir</td><td>file</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Revocation CRLs</td><td>yes</td><td>no</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>TLS Renegotiation</td><td>yes*</td><td>no</td><td>*)in TLS v1.2</td></tr>
<tr><td>Encrypted Cert Keys</td><td>yes</td><td>no</td><td></td></tr>
            </table>
        <p>
    	</p>
        </section>

        <section id="protocols"><title>TLS Protocols</title>
        <p>
            mod_tls supports TLS protocol version 1.2 and 1.3. Should there ever be
            a version 1.4 and <code>rustls</code> supports it, it will be available as well.
        </p>
        <p>
            In mod_tls, you configure the <em>minimum</em> version to use, never the maximum:
        </p>
        <highlight language="config">
TLSProtocol TLSv1.3+
        </highlight>
        <p>
            This allows only version 1.3 and whatever may be its successor one day when talking
            to your server or to a particular virtual host.
    	</p>
        </section>

        <section id="ciphers"><title>TLS Ciphers</title>
        <p>
            The list of TLS ciphers supported in the <code>rustls</code> library,
            can be found <a href="https://docs.rs/rustls/">here</a>. All TLS v1.3
            ciphers are supported. For TLS v1.2, only ciphers that rustls considers
            secure are available.
        </p><p>
            mod_tls supports the following names for TLS ciphers:
        </p>
        <ol>
            <li>
                The <a href="https://www.iana.org/assignments/tls-parameters/tls-parameters.xhtml#tls-parameters-4">IANA assigned name</a>
                which uses `_` to separate parts. Example: <code>TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384</code>
            </li>
            <li>
                The OpenSSL name, using `-` as separator (for 1.2). Example: <code>ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384</code>.
                Such names often appear in documentation. `mod_tls` defines them for all TLS v1.2 ciphers.
                For TLS v1.3 ciphers, names starting with <code>TLS13_</code> are also supported.
            </li>
            <li>
                The <a href="https://www.iana.org/assignments/tls-parameters/tls-parameters.xhtml#tls-parameters-4">IANA assigned identifier</a>,
                which is a 16-bit numeric value. Example: <code>0xc024</code>.
                You can use this in configurations as <code>TLS_CIPHER_0xc024</code>.
            </li>
        </ol>
        <p>
            You can configure a preference for ciphers, which means they will be used
            for clients that support them. If you do not configure a preference, <code>rustls</code>
            will use the one that it considers best. This is recommended.
        </p>
        <p>
            Should you nevertheless have the need to prefer one cipher over another, you
            may configure it like this:
        </p>
        <highlight language="config">
TLSCiphersPrefer ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384
# or several
TLSCiphersPrefer ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305
        </highlight>
        <p>
            If you name a cipher that is unknown, the configuration will fail.
            If you name a cipher is not supported by <code>rustls</code> (or no
            longer supported in an updated version of <code>rustls</code> for security
            reasons), mod_tls will log a <code>WARNING</code>, but continue to work.
    	</p>
        <p>
            A similar mechanism exists, if you want to disable a particular cipher:
        </p>
        <highlight language="config">
TLSCipherSuppress ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384
        </highlight>
        <p>
            A suppressed cipher will not longer be used.
            If you name a cipher that is unknown, the configuration will fail.
            If you name a cipher is not supported by <code>rustls</code> (or no
            longer supported in an updated version of <code>rustls</code> for security
            reasons), mod_tls will log a <code>WARNING</code>, but continue to work.
        </p>
        </section>

        <section id="vhosts"><title>Virtual Hosts</title>
        <p>
            mod_tls uses the SNI (Server Name Indicator) to select one of the
            configured virtual hosts that match the port being served. Should
            the client not provide an SNI, the <em>first</em> configured
            virtual host will be selected. If the client <em>does</em> provide
            an SNI (as all today's clients do), it <em>must</em> match one
            virtual host (<directive module="core">ServerName</directive> or
            <directive module="core">ServerAlias</directive>)
            or the connection will fail.
        </p>
        <p>
            As with <module>mod_ssl</module>, you may specify ciphers and protocol
            versions for the base server (global) and/or individual virtual hosts
            that are selected via SNI by the client.
        </p>
        <highlight language="config">
Listen 443
TLSEngine 443

&lt;VirtualHost *:443>
  ServerName example1.net
  TLSCertificate example1-cert.pem
  ...
&lt;/VirtualHost>

&lt;VirtualHost *:443>
  ServerName example2.net
  TLSCertificate example2-cert.pem
  ...
  TLSProtocol v1.3+
&lt;/VirtualHost>
        </highlight>
        <p>
            The example above show different TLS settings for virtual hosts on the
            same port. This is supported. <code>example1</code> can be contacted via
            all TLS versions and <code>example2</code> only allows v1.3 or later.
    	</p>
        </section>

        <section id="ACME"><title>ACME Certificates</title>
        <p>
            ACME certificates via <module>mod_md</module> are supported, just as
            for <module>mod_ssl</module>. A minimal configuration:
        </p>
        <highlight language="config">
Listen 443
TLSEngine 443
MDomain example.net

&lt;VirtualHost *:443>
  ServerName example.net
  ...
&lt;/VirtualHost>
        </highlight>
        </section>

        <section id="OCSP"><title>OCSP Stapling</title>
        <p>
            mod_tls has no own implementation to retrieve OCSP information for
            a certificate. However, it will use such for Stapling if it is provided
            by <module>mod_md</module>. See <module>mod_md</module>'s documentation
            on how to enable this.
        </p>
        </section>

        <section id="variables"><title>TLS Variables</title>
        <p>
            Via the directive <directive module="mod_tls">TLSOptions</directive>, several variables
            are placed into the environment of requests and can be inspected, for
            example in a CGI script.
        </p>
        <p>
            The variable names are given by <module>mod_ssl</module>. Note that these
            are only a subset of the many variables that <module>mod_ssl</module> exposes.
    	</p>
        <table>
            <tr><th>Variable</th><th>TLSOption</th><th>Description</th></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_TLS_SNI</td><td>*</td><td>the server name indicator (SNI) send by the client</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_PROTOCOL</td><td>*</td><td>the TLS protocol negotiated</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_CIPHER</td><td>*</td><td>the name of the TLS cipher negotiated</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_VERSION_INTERFACE</td><td>StdEnvVars</td><td>the module version</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_VERSION_LIBRARY</td><td>StdEnvVars</td><td>the rustls-ffi version</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_SECURE_RENEG</td><td>StdEnvVars</td><td>always `false`</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_COMPRESS_METHOD</td><td>StdEnvVars</td><td>always `false`</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_CIPHER_EXPORT</td><td>StdEnvVars</td><td>always `false`</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_CLIENT_VERIFY</td><td>StdEnvVars</td><td>always `false`</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_SESSION_RESUMED</td><td>StdEnvVars</td><td>either `Resumed` if a known TLS session id was presented by the client or `Initial` otherwise</td></tr>
            <tr><td>SSL_SERVER_CERT</td><td>ExportCertData</td><td>the selected server certificate in PEM format</td></tr>
        </table>
        <p>
           The variable <code>SSL_SESSION_ID</code> is intentionally not supported as
            it contains sensitive information.
        </p>
        </section>

        <section id="certificates"><title>Client Certificates</title>
        <p>
            While <code>rustls</code> supports client certificates in principle, parts
            of the infrastructure to make <em>use</em> of these in a server are not
            offered.
        </p>
        <p>
            Among these features are: revocation lists, inspection of certificate
            extensions and the matched issuer chain for OCSP validation. Without these,
            revocation of client certificates is not possible. Offering authentication
            without revocation is not considered an option.
        </p>
        <p>
            Work will continue on this and client certificate support may become
            available in a future release.
        </p>
        </section>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSEngine</name>
        <description>defines on which address+port the module shall handle incoming connections.</description>
        <syntax>TLSEngine [<em>address</em>:]<em>port</em></syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                This is set on a global level, not in individual <directive module="core"
                type="section">VirtualHost</directive>s.
                It will affect all <directive module="core" type="section">VirtualHost</directive>
                that match the specified address/port.
                You can use <directive>TLSEngine</directive> several times to use more than one address/port.
            </p><p>
            </p>
            <example><title>Example</title>
                <highlight language="config">
                    TLSEngine 443
                </highlight>
            </example>
            <p>
                The example tells mod_tls to handle incoming connection on port 443 for
                all listeners.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSCertificate</name>
        <description>adds a certificate and key (PEM encoded) to a server/virtual host.</description>
        <syntax>TLSCertificate <em>cert_file</em> [<em>key_file</em>]</syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                If you do not specify a separate key file, the key is assumed to also be
                found in the first file. You may add more than one certificate to a
                server/virtual host. The first certificate suitable for a client is then chosen.
            </p><p>
                The path can be specified relative to the server root.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSProtocol</name>
        <description>specifies the minimum version of the TLS protocol to use.</description>
        <syntax>TLSProtocol <em>version</em>+</syntax>
        <default>TLSProtocol v1.2+</default>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                The default is `v1.2+`. Settings this to `v1.3+` would disable TLSv1.2.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSCiphersPrefer</name>
        <description>defines ciphers that are preferred.</description>
        <syntax>TLSCiphersPrefer <em>cipher(-list)</em></syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                This will not disable any ciphers supported by `rustls`. If you
                specify a cipher that is completely unknown, the configuration will
                fail. If you specify a cipher that is known but not supported by `rustls`,
                a warning will be logged but the server will continue.
            </p><p>
            </p>
            <example><title>Example</title>
                <highlight language="config">
TLSCiphersPrefer ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305
                </highlight>
            </example>
            <p>
                The example gives 2 ciphers preference over others, in the
                order they are mentioned.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSCiphersSuppress</name>
        <description>defines ciphers that are not to be used.</description>
        <syntax>TLSCiphersSuppress <em>cipher(-list)</em></syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                This will not disable any unmentioned ciphers supported by `rustls`.
                If you specify a cipher that is completely unknown, the configuration will fail.
                If you specify a cipher that is known but not supported by `rustls`,
                a warning will be logged but the server will continue.
            </p><p>
            </p>
            <example><title>Example</title>
                <highlight language="config">
TLSCiphersSuppress ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305
                </highlight>
            </example>
            <p>
                The example removes a cipher for use in connections.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSHonorClientOrder</name>
        <description>determines if the order of ciphers supported by the client is honored</description>
        <syntax>TLSHonorClientOrder on|off</syntax>
        <default>TLSHonorClientOrder on</default>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                <directive>TLSHonorClientOrder</directive> determines if the order of ciphers
                supported by the client is honored.
            </p><p>
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSOptions</name>
        <description>enables SSL variables for requests.</description>
        <syntax>TLSOptions [+|-]<em>option</em></syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
            <context>directory</context>
            <context>.htaccess</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                <directive>TLSOptions</directive> is analog to <directive
                module="mod_ssl">SSLOptions</directive> in <module>mod_ssl</module>.
                It can be set per directory/location and `option` can be:
            </p>
            <ul>
                <li>`StdEnvVars`: adds more variables to the requests environment,
                    as forwarded for example to CGI processing and other applications.
                </li>
                <li>`ExportCertData`: adds certificate related variables to the request environment.
                </li>
                <li>`Defaults`: resets all options to their default values.</li>
            </ul>
            <p>
                Adding variables to a request environment adds overhead, especially
                when certificates need to be inspected and fields extracted.
                Therefore most variables are not set by default.
            </p>
            <p>
                You can configure <directive>TLSOptions</directive> per location or generally on a
                server/virtual host. Prefixing an option with `-` disables this
                option while leaving others unchanged.
                A `+` prefix is the same as writing the option without one.
            </p>
            <p>
                The `Defaults` value can be used to reset any options that are
                inherited from other locations or the virtual host/server.
            </p>
            <example><title>Example</title>
                <highlight language="config">
&lt;Location /myplace/app>
  TLSOptions Defaults StdEnvVars
  ...
&lt;/Location>
                </highlight>
            </example>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSProxyEngine</name>
        <description>enables TLS for backend connections.</description>
        <syntax>TLSProxyEngine on|off</syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
            <context>proxy section</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                <directive>TLSProxyEngine</directive> is analog to <directive
                module="mod_ssl">SSLProxyEngine</directive> in <module>mod_ssl</module>.
            </p><p>
                This can be used in a server/virtual host or <directive module="mod_proxy"
                type="section">Proxy</directive> section to
                enable the module for outgoing connections using <module>mod_proxy</module>.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSProxyCA</name>
        <description>sets the root certificates to validate the backend server with.</description>
        <syntax>TLSProxyCA <em>file.pem</em></syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
            <context>proxy section</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>

            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSProxyProtocol</name>
        <description>specifies the minimum version of the TLS protocol to use in proxy connections.</description>
        <syntax>TLSProxyProtocol <em>version</em>+</syntax>
        <default>TLSProxyProtocol v1.2+</default>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
            <context>proxy section</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                The default is `v1.2+`. Settings this to `v1.3+` would disable TLSv1.2.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSProxyCiphersPrefer</name>
        <description>defines ciphers that are preferred for a proxy connection.</description>
        <syntax>TLSProxyCiphersPrefer <em>cipher(-list)</em></syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
            <context>proxy section</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                This will not disable any ciphers supported by `rustls`.
                If you specify a cipher that is completely unknown, the configuration will fail.
                If you specify a cipher that is known but not supported by `rustls`,
                a warning will be logged but the server will continue.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSProxyCiphersSuppress</name>
        <description>defines ciphers that are not to be used for a proxy connection.</description>
        <syntax>TLSProxyCiphersSuppress <em>cipher(-list)</em></syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
            <context>proxy section</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                This will not disable any unmentioned ciphers supported by `rustls`.
                If you specify a cipher that is completely unknown, the configuration will fail.
                If you specify a cipher that is known but not supported by `rustls`,
                a warning will be logged but the server will continue.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSProxyMachineCertificate</name>
        <description>adds a certificate and key file (PEM encoded) to a proxy setup.</description>
        <syntax>TLSProxyMachineCertificate <em>cert_file</em> [<em>key_file</em>]</syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
            <context>virtual host</context>
            <context>proxy section</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                The certificate is used to authenticate against a proxied backend server.
            </p><p>
                If you do not specify a separate key file, the key is assumed to also be
                found in the first file. You may add more than one certificate to a proxy
                setup. The first certificate suitable for a proxy connection to a backend
                is then chosen by <code>rustls</code>.
            </p>
            <p>
                The path can be specified relative to the server root.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSStrictSNI</name>
        <description>enforces exact matches of client server indicators (SNI) against host names.</description>
        <syntax>TLSStrictSNI on|off</syntax>
        <default>TLSStrictSNI on</default>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                Client connections using SNI will be unsuccessful if no match is found.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

    <directivesynopsis>
        <name>TLSSessionCache</name>
        <description>specifies the cache for TLS session resumption.</description>
        <syntax>TLSSessionCache <em>cache-spec</em></syntax>
        <contextlist>
            <context>server config</context>
        </contextlist>
        <usage>
            <p>
                This uses a cache on the server side to allow clients to resume connections.
            </p><p>
            You can set this to `none` or define a cache as in the <directive
            module="mod_ssl">SSLSessionCache</directive>
            directive of <module>mod_ssl</module>.
            </p><p>
            If not configured, `mod_tls` will try to create a shared memory cache on its own,
            using `shmcb:tls/session-cache` as specification.
            Should that fail, a warning is logged, but the server continues.
            </p>
        </usage>
    </directivesynopsis>

</modulesynopsis>