OpenVPN Elliptic Curves (SHA512, ECDSA, ECDH, Linux, Debian)

gaglia

EDIT: added more verbose logs

Hi, I'm trying to make an OpenVPN setup with Elliptic Curves cryptography and SHA-512 on Linux Debian. This seems to be very hard! 🙁 if and when I will manage to get the whole thing up and running I will write a detailed howto, so any help is appreciated!

First of all: yes, I've recompiled OpenVPN using the latest OpenSSL version (see below). My suspect is that I made some mistake in the certificate generation process but I can't find it.

Summary:
Configuration files
What I did
What I get
What I get (more verbose)

Configuration files:

My server.conf file (note that, as a beginning, I'm using the "dh" directive, also because I don't know an equivalent directive for using ECDH... maybe "ecdh"? But ok, that's a secondary issue):

local xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
port 1194
proto udp
dev tun
ca /etc/openvpn/cacert.pem
cert /etc/openvpn/servercert.pem
key /etc/openvpn/private/serverkey.pem
dh /etc/openvpn/dh.pem
server 10.83.50.0 255.255.255.0
client-to-client
keepalive 10 120
cipher AES-256-CBC
comp-lzo yes
max-clients 10
user nobody
group nogroup
persist-key
persist-tun
status openvpn-status.log
log         openvpn.log
verb 3
mute 20

My client conf file:

client
remote xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 1194
mute-replay-warnings
ca /home/user/.ssl/cacert.pem
cert /home/user/.ssl/clientcert.pem
key /home/user/.ssl/private/clientkey.pem
cipher AES-256-CBC
comp-lzo yes
dev tun
proto udp
nobind
auth-nocache
script-security 2
persist-key
persist-tun
mute 5

What I did:

1) downloaded OpenSSL 1.0.0, configured and installed in /usr/local/openssl (to avoid removing the already installed openssl 0.9.8 which looks like it's a crucial packet for everything on my system). I am calling the new openssl version with the "openssl-new" alias

2) downloaded and installed the latest version of liblzo

3) downloaded latest OpenVPN version, configured with:

./configure --enable-pthread --with-ssl-headers=/usr/local/openssl/include --with-ssl-lib=/usr/local/openssl/lib --enable-iproute2

4) verified that OpenVPN does actually support EC crypto and SHA-512 with:

openvpn --show-tls
openvpn --show-ciphers
openvpn --show-digests

5) created a CA:

openssl-new ecparam -out private/cakey_temp.pem -name sect571k1 -text -genkey
openssl-new ec -in private/cakey_temp.pem -out private/cakey.pem -aes256
wipe -f private/cakey_temp.pem
openssl-new req -new -x509 -out cacert.pem -key private/cakey.pem -days 36500 -sha512 -extensions v3_ca
openssl-new x509 -text -in cacert.pem

with the last command I read: Signature Algorithm: ecdsa-with-SHA512

6) created a server key and certification request:

openssl-new req -nodes -sha512 -newkey ec:cacert.pem -new -days 36500 -out req.pem
chmod 600 privkey.pem
mv privkey.pem private/serverkey.pem
openssl-new req -in req.pem -text -verify -noout

again, I read: Signature Algorithm: ecdsa-with-SHA512

7) modified openssl.cnf accordingly and signed the request with the CA:

openssl-new ca -config openssl.cnf -policy policy_anything -out servercert.pem -md sha512 -cert cacert.pem -keyfile private/cakey.pem -infiles req.pem
rm req.pem

8) created a client key and certification request:

openssl-new req -nodes -sha512 -newkey ec:cacert.pem -new -days 36500 -out req.pem
chmod 600 privkey.pem
mv privkey.pem private/clientkey.pem

9) signed the request with the CA:

openssl-new ca -config openssl.cnf -policy policy_anything -out clientcert.pem -md sha512 -cert cacert.pem -keyfile private/cakey.pem -infiles req.pem

(I later moved client files in ~/.ssl )

10) created both ECDH and DH (for testing) parameters:

openssl-new ecparam -out ecdh.pem -name sect571k1
openssl-new dhparam -out dh.pem 4096

11) started server:

openvpn /etc/openvpn/server.conf

12) started client:

openvpn /etc/openvpn/server.conf

What I get:

server:

Tue Jul  5 08:54:20 2011 OpenVPN 2.2.0 i686-pc-linux-gnu [SSL] [LZO2] [EPOLL] [eurephia] built on Jul  4 2011
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 Diffie-Hellman initialized with 4096 bit key
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 TLS-Auth MTU parms [ L:1558 D:138 EF:38 EB:0 ET:0 EL:0 ]
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 Socket Buffers: R=[112640->131072] S=[112640->131072]
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 ROUTE default_gateway=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 TUN/TAP device tun0 opened
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 TUN/TAP TX queue length set to 100
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 /bin/ip link set dev tun0 up mtu 1500
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 /bin/ip addr add dev tun0 local 10.83.50.1 peer 10.83.50.2
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 /bin/ip route add 10.83.50.0/24 via 10.83.50.2
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 Data Channel MTU parms [ L:1558 D:1450 EF:58 EB:135 ET:0 EL:0 AF:3/1 ]
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 GID set to nogroup
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 UID set to nobody
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 UDPv4 link local (bound): xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 UDPv4 link remote: [undef]
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 MULTI: multi_init called, r=256 v=256
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 IFCONFIG POOL: base=10.83.50.4 size=62
Tue Jul  5 08:54:21 2011 Initialization Sequence Completed
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 MULTI: multi_create_instance called
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 Re-using SSL/TLS context
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 LZO compression initialized
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 Control Channel MTU parms [ L:1558 D:138 EF:38 EB:0 ET:0 EL:0 ]
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 Data Channel MTU parms [ L:1558 D:1450 EF:58 EB:135 ET:0 EL:0 AF:3/1 ]
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 Local Options hash (VER=V4): 'a8f55717'
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 Expected Remote Options hash (VER=V4): '22188c5b'
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 TLS: Initial packet from 82.55.186.28:49451, sid=682d8b97 4974a96b
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 TLS_ERROR: BIO read tls_read_plaintext error: error:1408A0C1:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_CLIENT_HELLO:no shared cipher
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 TLS Error: TLS object -> incoming plaintext read error
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 TLS Error: TLS handshake failed
Tue Jul  5 08:54:51 2011 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:49451 SIGUSR1[soft,tls-error] received, client-instance restarting

client:

Tue Jul  5 10:54:51 2011 OpenVPN 2.2.0 i686-pc-linux-gnu [SSL] [LZO2] [EPOLL] [eurephia] built on Jul  4 2011
Tue Jul  5 10:54:51 2011 WARNING: No server certificate verification method has been enabled.  See http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm for more info.
Tue Jul  5 10:54:51 2011 LZO compression initialized
Tue Jul  5 10:54:51 2011 UDPv4 link local: [undef]
Tue Jul  5 10:54:51 2011 UDPv4 link remote: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194

and then it hangs.

What I get (more verbose):

server:

Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69174 Current Parameter Settings:
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69226   config = '/etc/openvpn/server.conf'
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69243   mode = 1
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69257   persist_config = DISABLED
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69271   persist_mode = 1
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69285   show_ciphers = DISABLED
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69293   show_digests = DISABLED
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69301   show_engines = DISABLED
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69309   genkey = DISABLED
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69319   key_pass_file = '[UNDEF]'
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69334   show_tls_ciphers = DISABLED
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69348 Connection profiles [default]:
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69358   proto = udp
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69367   local = 'xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx'
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69376   local_port = 1194
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69384   remote = '[UNDEF]'
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69392   remote_port = 1194
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69400   remote_float = DISABLED
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69408   bind_defined = DISABLED
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69416   bind_local = ENABLED
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69423 NOTE: --mute triggered...
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69442 196 variation(s) on previous 20 message(s) suppressed by --mute
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69453 OpenVPN 2.2.0 i686-pc-linux-gnu [SSL] [LZO2] [EPOLL] [eurephia] built on Jul  4 2011
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69549 GDG: route[1] rrr.rrr.rrr.rrr/255.255.255.128/0.0.0.0 m=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69571 GDG: route[2] 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0/sss.sss.sss.sss m=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69596 GDG: best=sss.sss.sss.sss[2] lm=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=69616 NOTE: OpenVPN 2.1 requires '--script-security 2' or higher to call user-defined scripts or executables
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=288192 Diffie-Hellman initialized with 4096 bit key
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=288906 PRNG init md=SHA1 size=36
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=288943 MTU DYNAMIC mtu=0, flags=1, 0 -> 138
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=288955 TLS-Auth MTU parms [ L:1558 D:138 EF:38 EB:0 ET:0 EL:0 ]
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=288964 MTU DYNAMIC mtu=1450, flags=2, 1558 -> 1450
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=288997 Socket Buffers: R=[112640->131072] S=[112640->131072]
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=289078 GDG: route[1] rrr.rrr.rrr.rrr/255.255.255.128/0.0.0.0 m=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=289094 GDG: route[2] 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0/sss.sss.sss.sss m=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=289113 GDG: best=sss.sss.sss.sss[2] lm=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=289157 GDG: route[1] rrr.rrr.rrr.rrr/255.255.255.128/0.0.0.0 m=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=289171 GDG: route[2] 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0/sss.sss.sss.sss m=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=289189 GDG: best=sss.sss.sss.sss[2] lm=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=289203 ROUTE default_gateway=sss.sss.sss.sss
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=289993 TUN/TAP device tun0 opened
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=290022 TUN/TAP TX queue length set to 100
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=290109 /bin/ip link set dev tun0 up mtu 1500
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=291088 /bin/ip addr add dev tun0 local 10.83.50.1 peer 10.83.50.2
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=291917 GDG: route[1] 10.83.50.2/255.255.255.255/0.0.0.0 m=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=291943 GDG: route[2] rrr.rrr.rrr.rrr/255.255.255.128/0.0.0.0 m=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=291957 GDG: route[3] 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0/sss.sss.sss.sss m=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=291976 GDG: best=sss.sss.sss.sss[3] lm=0
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=291998 /bin/ip route add 10.83.50.0/24 via 10.83.50.2
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=292594 Data Channel MTU parms [ L:1558 D:1450 EF:58 EB:135 ET:0 EL:0 AF:3/1 ]
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=292908 GID set to nogroup
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=292929 UID set to nobody
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=292945 UDPv4 link local (bound): xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=292954 UDPv4 link remote: [undef]
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=292969 MULTI: multi_init called, r=256 v=256
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=292992 IFCONFIG POOL: base=10.83.50.4 size=62
Tue Jul  5 10:13:57 2011 us=293012 Initialization Sequence Completed
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=326521 MULTI: REAP range 0 -> 16
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=326713 MULTI: multi_create_instance called
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=326755 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 Re-using SSL/TLS context
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=326790 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 LZO compression initialized
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=326805 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 MTU DYNAMIC mtu=0, flags=1, 0 -> 138
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=326839 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=326920 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=326937 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=326988 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327010 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 Control Channel MTU parms [ L:1558 D:138 EF:38 EB:0 ET:0 EL:0 ]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327020 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 MTU DYNAMIC mtu=1450, flags=2, 1558 -> 1450
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327037 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 Data Channel MTU parms [ L:1558 D:1450 EF:58 EB:135 ET:0 EL:0 AF:3/1 ]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327078 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 Local Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1558,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,comp-lzo,cipher AES-256-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 256,key-method 2,tls-server'
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327089 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 Expected Remote Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1558,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,comp-lzo,cipher AES-256-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 256,key-method 2,tls-client'
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327107 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 Local Options hash (VER=V4): 'a8f55717'
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327120 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 Expected Remote Options hash (VER=V4): '22188c5b'
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327139 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 SENT PING
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327177 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 GET INST BY REAL: yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 [created]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327207 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 UDPv4 READ [14] from yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686: P_CONTROL_HARD_RESET_CLIENT_V2 kid=0 [ ] pid=0 DATA len=0
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327231 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 TLS: Initial packet from yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686, sid=ed695907 8263a92e
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=327265 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 UDPv4 WRITE [26] to yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686: P_CONTROL_HARD_RESET_SERVER_V2 kid=0 [ 0 ] pid=0 DATA len=0
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=422946 GET INST BY REAL: yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 [succeeded]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=422990 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 UDPv4 READ [22] from yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686: P_ACK_V1 kid=0 [ 0 ]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=424466 GET INST BY REAL: yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 [succeeded]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=424501 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 UDPv4 READ [114] from yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686: P_CONTROL_V1 kid=0 [ ] pid=1 DATA len=100
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=424559 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 UDPv4 WRITE [22] to yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686: P_ACK_V1 kid=0 [ 1 ]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=426226 GET INST BY REAL: yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 [succeeded]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=426277 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 UDPv4 READ [114] from yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686: P_CONTROL_V1 kid=0 [ ] pid=2 DATA len=100
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=426330 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 UDPv4 WRITE [22] to yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686: P_ACK_V1 kid=0 [ 2 ]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427473 GET INST BY REAL: yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 [succeeded]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427500 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 UDPv4 READ [24] from yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686: P_CONTROL_V1 kid=0 [ ] pid=3 DATA len=10
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427709 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 TLS_ERROR: BIO read tls_read_plaintext error: error:1408A0C1:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_CLIENT_HELLO:no shared cipher
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427735 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 TLS Error: TLS object -> incoming plaintext read error
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427748 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 TLS Error: TLS handshake failed
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427757 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427785 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427795 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427806 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427833 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427858 yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 SIGUSR1[soft,tls-error] received, client-instance restarting
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427877 MULTI: multi_close_instance called
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427915 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427942 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427958 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427972 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=427995 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=428012 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=428027 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=428040 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:06 2011 us=428049 PID packet_id_free
Tue Jul  5 10:14:11 2011 us=65540 MULTI: REAP range 16 -> 32
Tue Jul  5 10:14:11 2011 us=65625 TLS State Error: No TLS state for client yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686, opcode=4
Tue Jul  5 10:14:11 2011 us=65659 GET INST BY REAL: yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 [failed]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:15 2011 us=609472 MULTI: REAP range 32 -> 48
Tue Jul  5 10:14:15 2011 us=609548 TLS State Error: No TLS state for client yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686, opcode=4
Tue Jul  5 10:14:15 2011 us=609619 GET INST BY REAL: yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 [failed]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:23 2011 us=257248 MULTI: REAP range 48 -> 64
Tue Jul  5 10:14:23 2011 us=257327 TLS State Error: No TLS state for client yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686, opcode=4
Tue Jul  5 10:14:23 2011 us=257345 GET INST BY REAL: yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy:43686 [failed]
Tue Jul  5 10:14:33 2011 us=267364 MULTI: REAP range 64 -> 80
Tue Jul  5 10:14:39 2011 us=838883 NOTE: --mute triggered...

client:

Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=275560 Current Parameter Settings:
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=275710   config = 'client.conf'
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=275746   mode = 0
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=275776   persist_config = DISABLED
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=275806   persist_mode = 1
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=275834 NOTE: --mute triggered...
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=275888 206 variation(s) on previous 5 message(s) suppressed by --mute
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=275927 OpenVPN 2.2.0 i686-pc-linux-gnu [SSL] [LZO2] [EPOLL] [eurephia] built on Jul  4 2011
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=276067 WARNING: No server certificate verification method has been enabled.  See http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm for more info.
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=276102 NOTE: OpenVPN 2.1 requires '--script-security 2' or higher to call user-defined scripts or executables
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=278956 PRNG init md=SHA1 size=36
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=279041 LZO compression initialized
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=279088 MTU DYNAMIC mtu=0, flags=1, 0 -> 138
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=279129 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=279231 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=279270 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280395 PID packet_id_init seq_backtrack=64 time_backtrack=15
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280448 Control Channel MTU parms [ L:1558 D:138 EF:38 EB:0 ET:0 EL:0 ]
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280498 MTU DYNAMIC mtu=1450, flags=2, 1558 -> 1450
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280576 Socket Buffers: R=[112640->131072] S=[112640->131072]
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280636 RESOLVE_REMOTE flags=0x0101 phase=1 rrs=0 sig=-1 status=1
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280675 Data Channel MTU parms [ L:1558 D:1450 EF:58 EB:135 ET:0 EL:0 AF:3/1 ]
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280732 Local Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1558,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,comp-lzo,cipher AES-256-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 256,key-method 2,tls-client'
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280764 Expected Remote Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1558,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,comp-lzo,cipher AES-256-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 256,key-method 2,tls-server'
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280825 Local Options hash (VER=V4): '22188c5b'
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280873 Expected Remote Options hash (VER=V4): 'a8f55717'
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280923 UDPv4 link local: [undef]
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=280971 UDPv4 link remote: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=281086 UDPv4 WRITE [14] to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194: P_CONTROL_HARD_RESET_CLIENT_V2 kid=0 [ ] pid=0 DATA len=0
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=377574 UDPv4 READ [26] from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194: P_CONTROL_HARD_RESET_SERVER_V2 kid=0 [ 0 ] pid=0 DATA len=0
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=377672 TLS: Initial packet from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194, sid=b9a10ff8 81c84327
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=377792 UDPv4 WRITE [22] to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194: P_ACK_V1 kid=0 [ 0 ]
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=377945 UDPv4 WRITE [114] to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194: P_CONTROL_V1 kid=0 [ ] pid=1 DATA len=100
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=378048 UDPv4 WRITE [114] to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194: P_CONTROL_V1 kid=0 [ ] pid=2 DATA len=100
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=378176 UDPv4 WRITE [24] to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194: P_CONTROL_V1 kid=0 [ ] pid=3 DATA len=10
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=474822 UDPv4 READ [22] from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1194: P_ACK_V1 kid=0 [ 1 ]
Tue Jul  5 12:14:06 2011 us=475936 NOTE: --mute triggered...

Any idea? Please help, I'm really in need of this ._. I will write a complete and detailed howto as a small compensation for the community!

gaglia

I can't believe nobody ever tried OpenVPN with elliptic curves crypto °_°

maikcat

as it seems some members of the forum are in vacation (maybe).

i personally havent tried elliptic curves...

wait for other members to come back (krzee,janjust) maybe they help you.

Michael.

gaglia

OK thanks, I'll wait 🙂 (I'll just up this thread every now and then). I think this would be a really interesting issue to address, since there is a lot of interest in EC crypto for critical applications.

gaglia

up! 😃

gaglia

up <.<

gaglia

still interested in a solution

gaglia

anybody?

gaglia

UP, still needing an EC setup with openvpn...

janjust

interesting setup - let me try to reproduce and I will get back to you once I know more.

there's a good chance that OpenVPN simply does not support this - the support for "untested" ciphers is pretty bad.

gaglia

Thank you for trying! 🙂

yyy

I was able to get openvpn working with ecdsa certificates. Certificates were sha1, not sha512, though. Setting verb to 11, shows a lot of data. Negotiated ciphersuite for control channel were ECDHE-ECRSA-AES256-SHA. CA certificate were based no secp521r1 and client and server certificates both were based on secp256k1. For data channel encryption used blowfish (bf), used TAP devices.
Used latest openvpn version 2.2.1 on windows xp (on both ends). (At one end, previously were version 2.1.something (from november 2008), with it, it did not work, also, in that version, there were no ECC ciphersuites in --show-tls output). Certificates were generated using XCA (it is a frontend for openssl CA)(and for ECC certificates it can use only sha1). So, ECC by itself works.

It looks like, it was using ordinary DH for data channel (using specified DH parameters). I can post my config files, certificates and logs, if necessary.

That sha512 was intended only for certificates, or for data channel HMACs too? (In your configuration, there were no auth option specified, so it defaulted to sha1). (Tue Jul 5 12:14:06 2011 us=280732 Local Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1558,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,comp-lzo,cipher AES-256-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 256,key-method 2,tls-client' and
Tue Jul 5 12:14:06 2011 us=280764 Expected Remote Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1558,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,comp-lzo,cipher AES-256-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 256,key-method 2,tls-server' )

In server log, server also complained about no shared cipher, but that could not be the case with specified --show-tls output.

gaglia

yyy wroteThat sha512 was intended only for certificates, or for data channel HMACs too? (In your configuration, there were no auth option specified, so it defaulted to sha1).

Uhm, I'm not sure I've got what you mean... If you are referring to the TLS server/client authentication to avoid man-in-the-middle, I've chosen to ignore this issue for the moment (I want to fix the setup gradually, I'll consider it later).

Anyway, yes, if you could kindly post conf files and certs they would probably be very useful 🙂 SHA-1 is not an option for me, but it shouldn't be so difficult to switch it to another hash type. Another annoying problem I've met: the gnome-network-manager-openvpn seems only able to support MD5 and SHA-1, but again, I'll try to fix one thing at a time...

yyy

I was referring to

--auth al

g option as specified in http://www.openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/documentation/manuals/427-openvpn-22.html I have never used it, though. If not specified, it defaults to sha1.

Both nodes were connected to same wifi network. I usually used similar configuration, only with RSA keys. IP addresses, ports and TAP device configurations were the same.

I am posting private keys too, and am aware that, these will not be private anymore.

server config file

mode server
tls-server
port 757
mssfix 1440
dev tap
dev-node tap2

ca "C:\\games\\z\\ecca.crt"
cert "C:\\games\\z\\ecsr.crt"
key "C:\\games\\z\\ecsr.key"
dh "C:\\games\\z\\dh6144.pem"
keepalive 10 120
max-clients 100
client-to-client
persist-key
cipher BF-CBC
status openvpn-status-s.log
mute-replay-warnings
verb 11

client config file

tls-client
dev tap
proto udp
remote 10.1.0.4 757

nobind
persist-key
persist-tun
ca "C:\\games\\ecca.crt"
cert "C:\\games\\eccl.crt"
key "C:\\games\\eccl.key"
ns-cert-type server
cipher BF-CBC
keepalive 15 120

verb 1

server certificate

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----

client certificate

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----

server key

-----BEGIN EC PRIVATE KEY-----
MHcCAQEEIGgsiBEucZ6wxezf4wFcHl/KXnCDpL/qDMcOOs+lB7PooAoGCCqGSM49
AwEHoUQDQgAEziLyuppnPDQemLQEAeOALxtomZldhjTI0sBfy6yivs9DAY79az3L
fEY9IjONxK3gAYs458tQUscpPcdMU23yVQ==
-----END EC PRIVATE KEY-----

client key

-----BEGIN EC PRIVATE KEY-----
MHcCAQEEINfMwSnVXI/R5uECI2S5DnOSrZgGQCm+95Yrow4VNul8oAoGCCqGSM49
AwEHoUQDQgAEuiVzxn2xDoW5lR4Ze27YGKC/vbO+YqtjSSLWymzfhSTqmz2R3ymI
17t2MAwXfTBQ8DogkN3RNOEbZaoMHAu8Qw==
-----END EC PRIVATE KEY-----

ca certificate

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----

gaglia

Thank you very much, it looks useful! I will try it in the following days and will keep this thread updated! 🙂

gaglia

@yyy:

Now, that's strange...

My setup is almost similar to yours, nonetheless doesnt' work.

BUT: if I use YOURS certificates instead of mines, then it works "out of the box" (i.e.: without modifying client and server .conf files)...

So it seems that the problem lies either in the use of SHA-512, the choice of the curve, or the certificate generation process...

I will make some other test, if it doesn't work I will post here the certificates and keys I'm using, this thing is driving me mad...

I'm SO close to the solution, I won't stop here -.-

gaglia

The worst scenario 🙁 SHA512 is the issue. If I repeat all my configuration using SHA1 instead of other digests, it works. I've tried different curves and it's the same for all. SHA256 gives the same issue as SHA512, too.

Now, this is very unpleasant. It shouldn't be the case to underline that there are no benefits in having an elliptic curve setup with SHA1... At this point I think I will stick to 4096 bit RSA keys (SHA512 works with RSA).

I find this somehow disturbing, though I see that it's not just an OpenVPN issue... in general, it seems that people all around the internet have huge difficulties understanding that SHA1 MUST NOT BE USED ANYMORE.

Is there any hope this problem will be fixed in the near future?

gaglia

BTW, is anybody aware of a server.conf file directive to use ECDH instead of DH for key exchange? (i.e.: not using "dh" but something else)

Is this a planned feature?

janjust

this directive does not exist and and AFAIK it is not being planned either; if the 'ecdh' option enables parts of Elliptic Curve signing that are otherwise not usable then I'm sure the developers are happy to incorporate a patch...

gaglia

OK guys, maybe this is interesting. At the end, the result of all this paranoy is that this patch has been submitted in the openSSL mailing list:

http://cvs.openssl.org/chngview?cn=21247

If I got it correctly, this should enable the use of EC crypto certificates together with SHA256 and SHA512. A rebuild of both openssl and openvpn is needed. I'll try it out as soon as possible, and if it works I will write the details.