Support boringssl SSLCredential API by jmcrawford45 · Pull Request #935 · netty/netty-tcnative

jmcrawford45 · 2025-06-25T17:33:52Z

Motivation:

Historically, BoringSSL lacked a built-in method to select between RSA and ECDSA certificates. The selection process, especially at TLS 1.2, is quite complex, as detailed in this link. TLS 1.3 simplifies this process significantly. Additionally, within ECDSA, there are different curves to consider, and future developments will introduce post-quantum key types. Recently, the SSL Credential API was introduced to BoringSSL to address this and a variety of other certificate negotiation decisions, such as:

Different kinds of credentials (delegate credentials, raw public keys, external PSKs, and more future innovations.
Negotiation for trust anchors to aid in PQ transitions and PKI agility.

Modifications:

Add JNI bindings for all the existing SSL_Credential related functionality in BoringSSL.

Result:

The SSL_CREDENTIAL consolidates everything related to a single "credential" into an object. Credentials can vary in type, such as X.509 certificates or others. Each credential has criteria, based on TLS protocol rules, to determine its applicability to a connection. Users configure an ordered preference list of credentials, and BoringSSL selects the first matching one.

This approach can be used alongside application-specific selection logic, like SNI dispatch. End users would use their criteria to select a list of candidates, such as an ECDSA and RSA certificate for a host, configure them in preference order with BoringSSL, and BoringSSL will evaluate them according to protocol rules.

Implements #918

argha-c · 2025-06-26T00:56:10Z

@normanmaurer: If you could PTAL. Curious if you have a different design suggestion? This should pave the path for PQC support in netty-tcnative.

normanmaurer

First round of review...

openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/ssl.c

openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/ssl.h

openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcontext.c

openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.h

openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

…turn for non-getters

openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

# Conflicts: # openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcontext.c

openssl-classes/src/main/java/io/netty/internal/tcnative/SSLCredential.java

openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/ssl.c

openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

…edential.java Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

jmcrawford45 · 2025-07-07T16:31:28Z

@normanmaurer @chrisvest the first rounds of feedback should be addressed; I'm not sure if the centos6 build failure is related to my change.

chrisvest · 2025-07-18T20:37:55Z

I think this looks good. Sorry it took a while to get back to reviewing it again.

jmcrawford45 · 2025-07-18T20:46:43Z

@chrisvest thank you for the review, I can look into integrating this once it merges. @normanmaurer the requested changes is still showing from the first round review, I'm not sure if that's blocking or not for this repo

jmcrawford45 · 2025-07-28T16:38:17Z

@normanmaurer would you be able to take another look this week?

normanmaurer · 2025-07-28T18:16:36Z

@jmcrawford45 I am currently on PTO... will check once back

normanmaurer

LGTM... Thanks a lot!

Motivation: Historically, BoringSSL lacked a built-in method to select between RSA and ECDSA certificates. The selection process, especially at TLS 1.2, is quite complex, as detailed in [this link](https://boringssl.googlesource.com/boringssl/+/5a3faaa2d50b2540c6973531841723f633f388cd/ssl/test/runner/runner.go#19669). TLS 1.3 simplifies this process significantly. Additionally, within ECDSA, there are different curves to consider, and future developments will introduce post-quantum key types. The SSL Credential API was introduced to BoringSSL to address this and a variety of other certificate negotiation decisions, such as: Different kinds of credentials ([delegate credentials](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9345.html), [raw public keys](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7250.html), [external PSKs](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9258.html), and more [future innovations](https://davidben.github.io/merkle-tree-certs/draft-davidben-tls-merkle-tree-certs.html). [Negotiation for trust anchors](https://github.com/davidben/tls-trust-expressions/blob/main/explainer.md) to aid in PQ transitions and PKI agility. Modification: Introduce high level APIs leveraging the most useful bindings introduced in netty/netty-tcnative#935 ```java OpenSslCredential credential = OpenSslCredentialBuilder.newX509(privateKey, chain) .trustAnchorId(anchorId) .mustMatchIssuer(true) .build(); ``` Result: There are two main immediate use cases to this API First, it is now possible to delegate all the complexity of EC/RSA serving to BoringSSL. ```java OpenSslCredential ecdsaCred = buildEcdsaCredential(); SslContext ctx = SslContextBuilder.forServer(rsaKey, rsaCert) .sslProvider(SslProvider.OPENSSL_REFCNT) .credential(ecdsaCred) .build(); ``` This mechanism will also be useful to allow clients to negotiate trust anchors via https://github.com/tlswg/tls-trust-anchor-ids. For example, a modern client may request for a more efficient or more secure chain while legacy clients can still receive the less secure / less efficient fallback cert. depends on netty/netty-tcnative#949 --------- Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com> Co-authored-by: Chris Vest <christianvest_hansen@apple.com>

Motivation: Historically, BoringSSL lacked a built-in method to select between RSA and ECDSA certificates. The selection process, especially at TLS 1.2, is quite complex, as detailed in [this link](https://boringssl.googlesource.com/boringssl/+/5a3faaa2d50b2540c6973531841723f633f388cd/ssl/test/runner/runner.go#19669). TLS 1.3 simplifies this process significantly. Additionally, within ECDSA, there are different curves to consider, and future developments will introduce post-quantum key types. The SSL Credential API was introduced to BoringSSL to address this and a variety of other certificate negotiation decisions, such as: Different kinds of credentials ([delegate credentials](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9345.html), [raw public keys](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7250.html), [external PSKs](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9258.html), and more [future innovations](https://davidben.github.io/merkle-tree-certs/draft-davidben-tls-merkle-tree-certs.html). [Negotiation for trust anchors](https://github.com/davidben/tls-trust-expressions/blob/main/explainer.md) to aid in PQ transitions and PKI agility. Modification: Introduce high level APIs leveraging the most useful bindings introduced in netty/netty-tcnative#935 ```java OpenSslCredential credential = OpenSslCredentialBuilder.newX509(privateKey, chain) .trustAnchorId(anchorId) .mustMatchIssuer(true) .build(); ``` Result: There are two main immediate use cases to this API First, it is now possible to delegate all the complexity of EC/RSA serving to BoringSSL. ```java OpenSslCredential ecdsaCred = buildEcdsaCredential(); SslContext ctx = SslContextBuilder.forServer(rsaKey, rsaCert) .sslProvider(SslProvider.OPENSSL_REFCNT) .credential(ecdsaCred) .build(); ``` This mechanism will also be useful to allow clients to negotiate trust anchors via https://github.com/tlswg/tls-trust-anchor-ids. For example, a modern client may request for a more efficient or more secure chain while legacy clients can still receive the less secure / less efficient fallback cert. depends on netty/netty-tcnative#949 --------- Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com> Co-authored-by: Chris Vest <christianvest_hansen@apple.com> (cherry picked from commit a40fb71)

Forward port of #15919 to 5.0 Cherry-picked commit: a40fb71 --- Motivation: Historically, BoringSSL lacked a built-in method to select between RSA and ECDSA certificates. The selection process, especially at TLS 1.2, is quite complex, as detailed in [this link](https://boringssl.googlesource.com/boringssl/+/5a3faaa2d50b2540c6973531841723f633f388cd/ssl/test/runner/runner.go#19669). TLS 1.3 simplifies this process significantly. Additionally, within ECDSA, there are different curves to consider, and future developments will introduce post-quantum key types. The SSL Credential API was introduced to BoringSSL to address this and a variety of other certificate negotiation decisions, such as: Different kinds of credentials ([delegate credentials](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9345.html), [raw public keys](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7250.html), [external PSKs](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9258.html), and more [future innovations](https://davidben.github.io/merkle-tree-certs/draft-davidben-tls-merkle-tree-certs.html). [Negotiation for trust anchors](https://github.com/davidben/tls-trust-expressions/blob/main/explainer.md) to aid in PQ transitions and PKI agility. Modification: Introduce high level APIs leveraging the most useful bindings introduced in netty/netty-tcnative#935 ```java OpenSslCredential credential = OpenSslCredentialBuilder.newX509(privateKey, chain) .trustAnchorId(anchorId) .mustMatchIssuer(true) .build(); ``` Result: There are two main immediate use cases to this API First, it is now possible to delegate all the complexity of EC/RSA serving to BoringSSL. ```java OpenSslCredential ecdsaCred = buildEcdsaCredential(); SslContext ctx = SslContextBuilder.forServer(rsaKey, rsaCert) .sslProvider(SslProvider.OPENSSL_REFCNT) .credential(ecdsaCred) .build(); ``` This mechanism will also be useful to allow clients to negotiate trust anchors via https://github.com/tlswg/tls-trust-anchor-ids. For example, a modern client may request for a more efficient or more secure chain while legacy clients can still receive the less secure / less efficient fallback cert. depends on netty/netty-tcnative#949 Co-authored-by: Jared Crawford <jmcrawford45@gmail.com> Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com> Co-authored-by: Chris Vest <christianvest_hansen@apple.com>

Support boringssl SSLCredential API

3ade3dd

jmcrawford45 marked this pull request as ready for review June 25, 2025 19:24

jmcrawford45 mentioned this pull request Jun 25, 2025

feature: Support boringssl SSLCredential API #918

Closed

normanmaurer requested a review from chrisvest June 27, 2025 14:34

normanmaurer requested changes Jun 27, 2025

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jmcrawford45 and others added 9 commits June 27, 2025 12:11

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/ssl.c

b7fe5cb

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcontext.c

174813c

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.h

5c8a820

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Use TCN_CHECK_NULL

f9ece1b

Remove redundant table, restore ssl.h and sslcontext.h

457b0bb

Internal ifdefs for consistency

d53632c

Standardize macro usage

c8a643a

Drop spake/exdata for now, impl delegated credentials, prefer void re…

e2d09fd

…turn for non-getters

Merge branch 'main' into sslcredential

a6b8178

chrisvest requested changes Jun 27, 2025

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jmcrawford45 added 4 commits June 27, 2025 18:30

ERR_LEN for zero initialized buffers

a5c02e5

rm bad import

2a6269f

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into sslcredential

2063f98

# Conflicts: # openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcontext.c

rm bad import

f468a99

normanmaurer requested changes Jun 28, 2025

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jmcrawford45 and others added 9 commits June 27, 2025 20:32

Update openssl-classes/src/main/java/io/netty/internal/tcnative/SSLCr…

4b82f4c

…edential.java Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-classes/src/main/java/io/netty/internal/tcnative/SSLCr…

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…edential.java Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-classes/src/main/java/io/netty/internal/tcnative/SSLCr…

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…edential.java Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/ssl.c

c1aba34

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/ssl.c

b7284ed

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

4d1b18f

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

efe3dd5

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

9291505

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

3d7275d

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

jmcrawford45 and others added 11 commits June 27, 2025 20:38

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcontext.c

590b67f

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

5e72663

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

384794e

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

7188de7

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

b5da39c

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

0fab0fc

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcredential.c

10f1e35

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcontext.c

71de3db

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Update openssl-dynamic/src/main/c/sslcontext.c

3442b17

Co-authored-by: Norman Maurer <norman_maurer@apple.com>

Move exception helper to error file

30f3873

validate all arrays have positive length

63285f3

chrisvest approved these changes Jul 18, 2025

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normanmaurer approved these changes Aug 15, 2025

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normanmaurer merged commit 2a47a58 into netty:main Aug 15, 2025
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normanmaurer added this to the 2.0.73.Final milestone Aug 15, 2025

This was referenced Nov 20, 2025

Support boringssl SSLCredential API netty/netty#15906

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Support boringssl SSLCredential API #15906 jmcrawford45/netty#1

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Support boringssl SSLCredential API netty/netty#15919

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netty-project-bot mentioned this pull request Feb 18, 2026

Forward port 5.0: Support boringssl SSLCredential API netty/netty#16302

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