Re: Can't view SSL-enabled pages using Firefox

Sander Temme <sctemme@xxxxxxxxxx> · Thu, 14 Jun 2007 07:37:49 -0700

On Jun 14, 2007, at 7:21 AM, Salcedo, Simon wrote:

Yes, I understand what I am requested to do.

You also haven't volunteered your configuration, so we're kind of  

shooting in the dark.  The cipher mismatch error message suggests  

that you have customized that setting (SSLCipherSuite) so that no  

overlap exists between the list of ciphersuites the client offers and  

the list the server is prepared to accept, which means they can't  

find common ground for communication.

In your Firefox browser, type about:config in the Location bar and  

filter for security.ssl. By default, only the  

security.ssl3.rsa_null_md5 and security.ssl.rsa_null_sha entries are  

turned off (false) for obvious reasons.  Make sure that Firefox and  

your server share at least one common ciphersuite.

If you take a sniff of your connections with Wireshark (Ethereal),  

you can see the SSL negotiation happen in even more detail than the  

Apache log.  It'll show you the list of ciphersuites offered in the  

ClientHello message, and which one the server ends up picking in the  

subsequent ServerHello.

S.

Regards,

Simon

-----Original Message-----
From: Boyle Owen [mailto:Owen.Boyle@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 8:27 AM
To: users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE:  Can't view SSL-enabled pages using Firefox

-----Original Message-----
From: Salcedo, Simon [mailto:Simon.Salcedo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 3:12 PM
To: users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE:  Can't view SSL-enabled pages using Firefox

OK.  I will do what Graeme and Sander suggest, but I am not sure why
this will help solve the problem.  As many of you have pointed out,
SSL-enabling a site usually does not cause any browsing problems when
using Firefox.

Do you understand what you are being asked to do? At the start of  

an SSL

session, the browser and server negotiate to decide what type of  

cipher

to use (the cipher is the set of algorithms to use when encrypting the

data). Normally, both sides have a wide range of ciphers installed  

(the

cipher suite) and so can reach agreement pretty quickly. It looks like
your server and browser have particularly restricted cipher suites so
cannot find a match and so can't communicate.

Commenting out the directive will allow the default setting to  

apply and

since this allows a wide range of ciphers, there's a good chance the
browser will be able to match it.

Rgds,
Owen Boyle
Disclaimer: Any disclaimer attached to this message may be ignored.

Another reason is that I searched the Internet (google search on the
error message I am seeing) and some sites suggest that my new
server may
not have all the crypto libraries installed.  I am running Apache on
Solaris.

Regards,

Simon

-----Original Message-----
From: Graeme Fowler [mailto:graeme@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 7:47 AM
To: users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE:  Can't view SSL-enabled pages using Firefox

On Thu, 2007-06-14 at 07:09 -0500, Salcedo, Simon wrote:

I disagree that the problem lies on the Client side because I have

been

to sites that have identical certificates as I was using and still
browse those sites.  I tend to believe that the problem is on the

server

side.

Which is why Sander offered you a server-side solution:

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_ssl.html#sslciphersuite

Make Apache offer its' standard CipherSuites, and then work
towards the

config you have now. You may find the underlying problem this way,  

ie.

that the client only supports a limited subset of ciphers.

Graeme

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--
Sander Temme
sctemme@xxxxxxxxxx
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