On Tue, May 05, 2020 at 08:03:53PM -0400, Sam Varshavchik wrote:
So after reading the following:
# When a certificate was set using the SSL_CTX_use_certificate(3) family of
# functions, it will be sent to the server. The TLS standard requires that
# only a certificate is sent, if it matches the list of acceptable CAs sent
by
# the server. This constraint is violated by the default behavior of the
# OpenSSL library.
This appeared to me like a client that was configured with a certificate for
some other host, but sending it in error, here, and the server rejecting the
connection for that reason.
No that's not it. And actually, OpenSSL is generally correct in using
the client certificate anyway. The server may, e.g., not trust any CAs,
and verify client certs by fingerprint. A client that is an MTA, and
not some user worried about privacy leaks has nothing to hide in
sendings the only certificate it is configured with. The specification
assumes a narrow trust model that does not match reality.
Problematic TLS implementation have been quite common, historically. For a
long time I was seeing frequently TLS-related misconfigurations with SMTP
servers. I lost count how many servers I saw advertising STARTTLS but
choking when taken up on their offer:
220 poorly-configured-server.example.com ESMTP
EHLO hythere
250-poorly-configured-server.example.com Ok.
250-STARTTLS
250-PIPELINING
250-8BITMIME
250-SIZE
250 DSN
STARTTLS
450 Not now, maybe someday.
Indeed a minority are misconfigured in this manner. When TLS is
optional (opportunistic and unauthenticated), Postfix will retry
in the clear when this happens, provided the message has been in the
queue for at least one retry interval.
At one point I had to carefully implement an adaptive, transient TLS
blacklist: ignore the server's STARTTLS if you have a prior record of the
server failing to negotiate a TLS connection.
See above.
--
Viktor.
_______________________________________________
ietf-smtp mailing list
ietf-smtp(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf-smtp