SSL_CTX_set_tmp_dh_callback(3) OpenSSL SSL_CTX_set_tmp_dh_callback(3) NNAAMMEE SSL_CTX_set_tmp_dh_callback, SSL_CTX_set_tmp_dh, SSL_set_tmp_dh_call- back, SSL_set_tmp_dh - handle DH keys for ephemeral key exchange SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS #include void SSL_CTX_set_tmp_dh_callback(SSL_CTX *ctx, DH *(*tmp_dh_callback)(SSL *ssl, int is_export, int keylength)); long SSL_CTX_set_tmp_dh(SSL_CTX *ctx, DH *dh); void SSL_set_tmp_dh_callback(SSL *ctx, DH *(*tmp_dh_callback)(SSL *ssl, int is_export, int keylength)); long SSL_set_tmp_dh(SSL *ssl, DH *dh) DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN _S_S_L___C_T_X___s_e_t___t_m_p___d_h___c_a_l_l_b_a_c_k_(_) sets the callback function for ccttxx to be used when a DH parameters are required to ttmmpp__ddhh__ccaallllbbaacckk. The call- back is inherited by all ssssll objects created from ccttxx. _S_S_L___C_T_X___s_e_t___t_m_p___d_h_(_) sets DH parameters to be used to be ddhh. The key is inherited by all ssssll objects created from ccttxx. _S_S_L___s_e_t___t_m_p___d_h___c_a_l_l_b_a_c_k_(_) sets the callback only for ssssll. _S_S_L___s_e_t___t_m_p___d_h_(_) sets the parameters only for ssssll. These functions apply to SSL/TLS servers only. NNOOTTEESS When using a cipher with RSA authentication, an ephemeral DH key exchange can take place. Ciphers with DSA keys always use ephemeral DH keys as well. In these cases, the session data are negotiated using the ephemeral/temporary DH key and the key supplied and certified by the certificate chain is only used for signing. Anonymous ciphers (without a permanent server key) also use ephemeral DH keys. Using ephemeral DH key exchange yields forward secrecy, as the connec- tion can only be decrypted, when the DH key is known. By generating a temporary DH key inside the server application that is lost when the application is left, it becomes impossible for an attacker to decrypt past sessions, even if he gets hold of the normal (certified) key, as this key was only used for signing. In order to perform a DH key exchange the server must use a DH group (DH parameters) and generate a DH key. The server will always generate a new DH key during the negotiation. As generating DH parameters is extremely time consuming, an application should not generate the parameters on the fly but supply the parame- ters. DH parameters can be reused, as the actual key is newly gener- ated during the negotiation. The risk in reusing DH parameters is that an attacker may specialize on a very often used DH group. Applications should therefore generate their own DH parameters during the installa- tion process using the openssl _d_h_p_a_r_a_m(1) application. This application guarantees that "strong" primes are used. Files dh2048.pem, and dh4096.pem in the 'apps' directory of the current version of the OpenSSL distribution contain the 'SKIP' DH parameters, which use safe primes and were generated verifiably pseudo-randomly. These files can be converted into C code using the --CC option of the _d_h_p_a_r_a_m(1) application. Generation of custom DH parameters during installation should still be preferred to stop an attacker from spe- cializing on a commonly used group. Files dh1024.pem and dh512.pem con- tain old parameters that must not be used by applications. An application may either directly specify the DH parameters or can supply the DH parameters via a callback function. Previous versions of the callback used iiss__eexxppoorrtt and kkeeyylleennggtthh parame- ters to control parameter generation for export and non-export cipher suites. Modern servers that do not support export ciphersuites are advised to either use _S_S_L___C_T_X___s_e_t___t_m_p___d_h_(_) or alternatively, use the callback but ignore kkeeyylleennggtthh and iiss__eexxppoorrtt and simply supply at least 2048-bit parameters in the callback. EEXXAAMMPPLLEESS Setup DH parameters with a key length of 2048 bits. (Error handling partly left out.) Command-line parameter generation: $ openssl dhparam -out dh_param_2048.pem 2048 Code for setting up parameters during server initialization: ... SSL_CTX ctx = SSL_CTX_new(); ... /* Set up ephemeral DH parameters. */ DH *dh_2048 = NULL; FILE *paramfile; paramfile = fopen("dh_param_2048.pem", "r"); if (paramfile) { dh_2048 = PEM_read_DHparams(paramfile, NULL, NULL, NULL); fclose(paramfile); } else { /* Error. */ } if (dh_2048 == NULL) { /* Error. */ } if (SSL_CTX_set_tmp_dh(ctx, dh_2048) != 1) { /* Error. */ } ... RREETTUURRNN VVAALLUUEESS _S_S_L___C_T_X___s_e_t___t_m_p___d_h___c_a_l_l_b_a_c_k_(_) and _S_S_L___s_e_t___t_m_p___d_h___c_a_l_l_b_a_c_k_(_) do not return diagnostic output. _S_S_L___C_T_X___s_e_t___t_m_p___d_h_(_) and _S_S_L___s_e_t___t_m_p___d_h_(_) do return 1 on success and 0 on failure. Check the error queue to find out the reason of failure. SSEEEE AALLSSOO _s_s_l(3), _S_S_L___C_T_X___s_e_t___c_i_p_h_e_r___l_i_s_t(3), _S_S_L___C_T_X___s_e_t___t_m_p___r_s_a___c_a_l_l_b_a_c_k(3), _S_S_L___C_T_X___s_e_t___o_p_t_i_o_n_s(3), _c_i_p_h_e_r_s(1), _d_h_p_a_r_a_m(1) 1.0.1u 2016-09-22 SSL_CTX_set_tmp_dh_callback(3)