Using a self-signed certificate with .NET's HttpWebRequest/Response
C#SslHttpwebrequestSsl CertificateC# Problem Overview
I'm trying to connect to an API that uses a self-signed SSL certificate. I'm doing so using .NET's HttpWebRequest and HttpWebResponse objects. And I'm getting an exception that: > The underlying connection was closed: Could not establish trust relationship for the SSL/TLS secure channel.
I understand what this means. And I understand why .NET feels it should warn me and close the connection. But in this case, I'd like to just connect to the API anyway, man-in-the-middle attacks be damned.
So, how do I go about adding an exception for this self-signed certificate? Or is the approach to tell HttpWebRequest/Response not to validate the certificate at all? How would I do that?
C# Solutions
Solution 1 - C#
Turns out, if you just want to disable certificate validation altogether, you can change the ServerCertificateValidationCallback on the ServicePointManager, like so:
ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback = delegate { return true; };
This will validate all certificates (including invalid, expired or self-signed ones).
Solution 2 - C#
@Domster: that works, but you might want to enforce a bit of security by checking if the certificate hash matches what you expect. So an expanded version looks a bit like this (based on some live code we're using):
static readonly byte[] apiCertHash = { 0xZZ, 0xYY, ....};
/// <summary>
/// Somewhere in your application's startup/init sequence...
/// </summary>
void InitPhase()
{
// Override automatic validation of SSL server certificates.
ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback =
ValidateServerCertficate;
}
/// <summary>
/// Validates the SSL server certificate.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sender">An object that contains state information for this
/// validation.</param>
/// <param name="cert">The certificate used to authenticate the remote party.</param>
/// <param name="chain">The chain of certificate authorities associated with the
/// remote certificate.</param>
/// <param name="sslPolicyErrors">One or more errors associated with the remote
/// certificate.</param>
/// <returns>Returns a boolean value that determines whether the specified
/// certificate is accepted for authentication; true to accept or false to
/// reject.</returns>
private static bool ValidateServerCertficate(
object sender,
X509Certificate cert,
X509Chain chain,
SslPolicyErrors sslPolicyErrors)
{
if (sslPolicyErrors == SslPolicyErrors.None)
{
// Good certificate.
return true;
}
log.DebugFormat("SSL certificate error: {0}", sslPolicyErrors);
bool certMatch = false; // Assume failure
byte[] certHash = cert.GetCertHash();
if (certHash.Length == apiCertHash.Length)
{
certMatch = true; // Now assume success.
for (int idx = 0; idx < certHash.Length; idx++)
{
if (certHash[idx] != apiCertHash[idx])
{
certMatch = false; // No match
break;
}
}
}
// Return true => allow unauthenticated server,
// false => disallow unauthenticated server.
return certMatch;
}
Solution 3 - C#
Note, that in .NET 4.5 you can override SSL validation per HttpWebRequest itself (and not via global delegate which affects all requests):
HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.Create(uri);
request.ServerCertificateValidationCallback = delegate { return true; };
Solution 4 - C#
Add the self signed cert to the Local Computer Trusted Root Certification Authorities
You can import the cert by running the MMC as Administrator.
Solution 5 - C#
The scope of the validation callback used in Domster's answer can be limited to a specific request using the sender parameter on the ServerCertificateValidationCallback
delegate. The following simple scope class uses this technique to temporarily wire up a validation callback that only executes for a given request object.
public class ServerCertificateValidationScope : IDisposable
{
private readonly RemoteCertificateValidationCallback _callback;
public ServerCertificateValidationScope(object request,
RemoteCertificateValidationCallback callback)
{
var previous = ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback;
_callback = (sender, certificate, chain, errors) =>
{
if (sender == request)
{
return callback(sender, certificate, chain, errors);
}
if (previous != null)
{
return previous(sender, certificate, chain, errors);
}
return errors == SslPolicyErrors.None;
};
ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback += _callback;
}
public void Dispose()
{
ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback -= _callback;
}
}
The above class can be used to ignore all certificate errors for a specific request as follows:
var request = WebRequest.Create(uri);
using (new ServerCertificateValidationScope(request, delegate { return true; }))
{
request.GetResponse();
}
Solution 6 - C#
Just building on answer from devstuff to include subject and issuer...comments welcome...
public class SelfSignedCertificateValidator
{
private class CertificateAttributes
{
public string Subject { get; private set; }
public string Issuer { get; private set; }
public string Thumbprint { get; private set; }
public CertificateAttributes(string subject, string issuer, string thumbprint)
{
Subject = subject;
Issuer = issuer;
Thumbprint = thumbprint.Trim(
new char[] { '\u200e', '\u200f' } // strip any lrt and rlt markers from copy/paste
);
}
public bool IsMatch(X509Certificate cert)
{
bool subjectMatches = Subject.Replace(" ", "").Equals(cert.Subject.Replace(" ", ""), StringComparison.InvariantCulture);
bool issuerMatches = Issuer.Replace(" ", "").Equals(cert.Issuer.Replace(" ", ""), StringComparison.InvariantCulture);
bool thumbprintMatches = Thumbprint == String.Join(" ", cert.GetCertHash().Select(h => h.ToString("x2")));
return subjectMatches && issuerMatches && thumbprintMatches;
}
}
private readonly List<CertificateAttributes> __knownSelfSignedCertificates = new List<CertificateAttributes> {
new CertificateAttributes( // can paste values from "view cert" dialog
"CN = subject.company.int",
"CN = issuer.company.int",
"f6 23 16 3d 5a d8 e5 1e 13 58 85 0a 34 9f d6 d3 c8 23 a8 f4")
};
private static bool __createdSingleton = false;
public SelfSignedCertificateValidator()
{
lock (this)
{
if (__createdSingleton)
throw new Exception("Only a single instance can be instanciated.");
// Hook in validation of SSL server certificates.
ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback += ValidateServerCertficate;
__createdSingleton = true;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Validates the SSL server certificate.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sender">An object that contains state information for this
/// validation.</param>
/// <param name="cert">The certificate used to authenticate the remote party.</param>
/// <param name="chain">The chain of certificate authorities associated with the
/// remote certificate.</param>
/// <param name="sslPolicyErrors">One or more errors associated with the remote
/// certificate.</param>
/// <returns>Returns a boolean value that determines whether the specified
/// certificate is accepted for authentication; true to accept or false to
/// reject.</returns>
private bool ValidateServerCertficate(
object sender,
X509Certificate cert,
X509Chain chain,
SslPolicyErrors sslPolicyErrors)
{
if (sslPolicyErrors == SslPolicyErrors.None)
return true; // Good certificate.
Dbg.WriteLine("SSL certificate error: {0}", sslPolicyErrors);
return __knownSelfSignedCertificates.Any(c => c.IsMatch(cert));
}
}
Solution 7 - C#
To add as a possible help to someone else... If you want it to prompt the user to install the self-signed cert, you can use this code (modified from above).
Does not require admin rights, installs to the local users trusted profiles:
private static bool ValidateServerCertficate(
object sender,
X509Certificate cert,
X509Chain chain,
SslPolicyErrors sslPolicyErrors)
{
if (sslPolicyErrors == SslPolicyErrors.None)
{
// Good certificate.
return true;
}
Common.Helpers.Logger.Log.Error(string.Format("SSL certificate error: {0}", sslPolicyErrors));
try
{
using (X509Store store = new X509Store(StoreName.My, StoreLocation.CurrentUser))
{
store.Open(OpenFlags.ReadWrite);
store.Add(new X509Certificate2(cert));
store.Close();
}
return true;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Common.Helpers.Logger.Log.Error(string.Format("SSL certificate add Error: {0}", ex.Message));
}
return false;
}
This seems to work well for our application, and if the user presses no, the communication will not work.
Update: 2015-12-11 - Changed StoreName.Root to StoreName.My - My will install into the local users store, instead of Root. Root on some systems will not work, even if you "run as administrator"
Solution 8 - C#
First of all - I apologize, because I have used the solution that was described by @devstuff. However, I have found some ways to improve it.
- adding self-signed certificates handling
- comparison by the Raw data of certificates
- actual certificate authority validation
- some additional comments and improvements
Here is my modification:
private static X509Certificate2 caCertificate2 = null;
/// <summary>
/// Validates the SSL server certificate.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sender">An object that contains state information for this validation.</param>
/// <param name="cert">The certificate used to authenticate the remote party.</param>
/// <param name="chain">The chain of certificate authorities associated with the remote certificate.</param>
/// <param name="sslPolicyErrors">One or more errors associated with the remote certificate.</param>
/// <returns>Returns a boolean value that determines whether the specified certificate is accepted for authentication; true to accept or false to reject.</returns>
private static bool ValidateServerCertficate(
object sender,
X509Certificate cert,
X509Chain chain,
SslPolicyErrors sslPolicyErrors)
{
if (sslPolicyErrors == SslPolicyErrors.None)
{
// Good certificate.
return true;
}
// If the following line is not added, then for the self-signed cert an error will be (not tested with let's encrypt!):
// "A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider. (UntrustedRoot)"
chain.ChainPolicy.VerificationFlags = X509VerificationFlags.AllowUnknownCertificateAuthority;
// convert old-style cert to new-style cert
var returnedServerCert2 = new X509Certificate2(cert);
// This part is very important. Adding known root here. It doesn't have to be in the computer store at all. Neither do certificates.
chain.ChainPolicy.ExtraStore.Add(caCertificate2);
// 1. Checks if ff the certs are OK (not expired/revoked/etc)
// 2. X509VerificationFlags.AllowUnknownCertificateAuthority will make sure that untrusted certs are OK
// 3. IMPORTANT: here, if the chain contains the wrong CA - the validation will fail, as the chain is wrong!
bool isChainValid = chain.Build(returnedServerCert2);
if (!isChainValid)
{
string[] errors = chain.ChainStatus
.Select(x => String.Format("{0} ({1})", x.StatusInformation.Trim(), x.Status))
.ToArray();
string certificateErrorsString = "Unknown errors.";
if (errors != null && errors.Length > 0)
{
certificateErrorsString = String.Join(", ", errors);
}
Log.Error("Trust chain did not complete to the known authority anchor. Errors: " + certificateErrorsString);
return false;
}
// This piece makes sure it actually matches your known root
bool isValid = chain.ChainElements
.Cast<X509ChainElement>()
.Any(x => x.Certificate.RawData.SequenceEqual(caCertificate2.GetRawCertData()));
if (!isValid)
{
Log.Error("Trust chain did not complete to the known authority anchor. Thumbprints did not match.");
}
return isValid;
}
setting certificates:
caCertificate2 = new X509Certificate2("auth/ca.crt", "");
var clientCertificate2 = new X509Certificate2("auth/client.pfx", "");
passing delegate method
ServerCertificateValidationCallback(ValidateServerCertficate)
client.pfx
is generated with KEY and CERT as such:
openssl pkcs12 -export -in client.crt -inkey client.key -out client.pfx
Solution 9 - C#
One thing to keep in mind is that having the ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback does not seem to mean that the CRL check and servername validation are not done, it only provides a means to override their result. So your service might still take a while to get a CRL, you'll only know afterwards that it failed some checks.
Solution 10 - C#
I was running into the same problem as the OP where the web request would throw that exact exception. I had everything setup correctly I thought, the certificate was installed, I could locate it in the machine store just fine and attach it to the web request, and I had disabled the verification of certificates on the request context.
It turned out that I was running under my user account, and that the certificate was installed to the machine store. This caused the web request to throw this exception. To solve the problem I had to either be running as administrator or install the certificate to the user store and read it from there.
It would seem that C# is able to find the certificate in the machine store even though it can't be used with a web request, and that this results in the OP's exception being thrown once the web request is issued.