How to disable SSLv3 in android for HttpsUrlConnection?

Question

We wrote client application in android which connects with https servers using HttpsUrlConnection apis. Due to Poodle vulnerability, we need to disable SSLv3 from the list of enabled protocols while invoking any request.

We followed the guidelines captured by oracle

and added following line before invoking url connection

java.lang.System.setProperty("https.protocols", "TLSv1");

This solution works fine with normal java program.
We got SSLHandShakeException when tried to connect with a server which only works on SSLv3 protocol.

But concern is : same fix does not work for android. Am I missing something or should I try another approach for android? Please suggest.

Answer 1

I found the solution for it by analyzing the data packets using wireshark. What I found is that while making a secure connection, android was falling back to SSLv3 from TLSv1 . It is a bug in android versions < 4.4 , and it can be solved by removing the SSLv3 protocol from Enabled Protocols list. I made a custom socketFactory class called NoSSLv3SocketFactory.java. Use this to make a socketfactory.

/*Copyright 2015 Bhavit Singh Sengar
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.*/

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.net.InetAddress;
import java.net.Socket;
import java.net.SocketAddress;
import java.net.SocketException;
import java.nio.channels.SocketChannel;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
import javax.net.ssl.HandshakeCompletedListener;
import javax.net.ssl.HttpsURLConnection;
import javax.net.ssl.SSLSession;
import javax.net.ssl.SSLSocket;
import javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory;


public class NoSSLv3SocketFactory extends SSLSocketFactory{
    private final SSLSocketFactory delegate;

public NoSSLv3SocketFactory() {
    this.delegate = HttpsURLConnection.getDefaultSSLSocketFactory();
}

public NoSSLv3SocketFactory(SSLSocketFactory delegate) {
    this.delegate = delegate;
}

@Override
public String[] getDefaultCipherSuites() {
    return delegate.getDefaultCipherSuites();
}

@Override
public String[] getSupportedCipherSuites() {
    return delegate.getSupportedCipherSuites();
}

private Socket makeSocketSafe(Socket socket) {
    if (socket instanceof SSLSocket) {
        socket = new NoSSLv3SSLSocket((SSLSocket) socket);
    }
    return socket;
}

@Override
public Socket createSocket(Socket s, String host, int port, boolean autoClose) throws IOException {
    return makeSocketSafe(delegate.createSocket(s, host, port, autoClose));
}

@Override
public Socket createSocket(String host, int port) throws IOException {
    return makeSocketSafe(delegate.createSocket(host, port));
}

@Override
public Socket createSocket(String host, int port, InetAddress localHost, int localPort) throws IOException {
    return makeSocketSafe(delegate.createSocket(host, port, localHost, localPort));
}

@Override
public Socket createSocket(InetAddress host, int port) throws IOException {
    return makeSocketSafe(delegate.createSocket(host, port));
}

@Override
public Socket createSocket(InetAddress address, int port, InetAddress localAddress, int localPort) throws IOException {
    return makeSocketSafe(delegate.createSocket(address, port, localAddress, localPort));
}

private class NoSSLv3SSLSocket extends DelegateSSLSocket {

    private NoSSLv3SSLSocket(SSLSocket delegate) {
        super(delegate);

    }

    @Override
    public void setEnabledProtocols(String[] protocols) {
        if (protocols != null && protocols.length == 1 && "SSLv3".equals(protocols[0])) {

            List<String> enabledProtocols = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList(delegate.getEnabledProtocols()));
            if (enabledProtocols.size() > 1) {
                enabledProtocols.remove("SSLv3");
                System.out.println("Removed SSLv3 from enabled protocols");
            } else {
                System.out.println("SSL stuck with protocol available for " + String.valueOf(enabledProtocols));
            }
            protocols = enabledProtocols.toArray(new String[enabledProtocols.size()]);
        }

        super.setEnabledProtocols(protocols);
    }
}

public class DelegateSSLSocket extends SSLSocket {

    protected final SSLSocket delegate;

    DelegateSSLSocket(SSLSocket delegate) {
        this.delegate = delegate;
    }

    @Override
    public String[] getSupportedCipherSuites() {
        return delegate.getSupportedCipherSuites();
    }

    @Override
    public String[] getEnabledCipherSuites() {
        return delegate.getEnabledCipherSuites();
    }

    @Override
    public void setEnabledCipherSuites(String[] suites) {
        delegate.setEnabledCipherSuites(suites);
    }

    @Override
    public String[] getSupportedProtocols() {
        return delegate.getSupportedProtocols();
    }

    @Override
    public String[] getEnabledProtocols() {
        return delegate.getEnabledProtocols();
    }

    @Override
    public void setEnabledProtocols(String[] protocols) {
        delegate.setEnabledProtocols(protocols);
    }

    @Override
    public SSLSession getSession() {
        return delegate.getSession();
    }

    @Override
    public void addHandshakeCompletedListener(HandshakeCompletedListener listener) {
        delegate.addHandshakeCompletedListener(listener);
    }

    @Override
    public void removeHandshakeCompletedListener(HandshakeCompletedListener listener) {
        delegate.removeHandshakeCompletedListener(listener);
    }

    @Override
    public void startHandshake() throws IOException {
        delegate.startHandshake();
    }

    @Override
    public void setUseClientMode(boolean mode) {
        delegate.setUseClientMode(mode);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean getUseClientMode() {
        return delegate.getUseClientMode();
    }

    @Override
    public void setNeedClientAuth(boolean need) {
        delegate.setNeedClientAuth(need);
    }

    @Override
    public void setWantClientAuth(boolean want) {
        delegate.setWantClientAuth(want);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean getNeedClientAuth() {
        return delegate.getNeedClientAuth();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean getWantClientAuth() {
        return delegate.getWantClientAuth();
    }

    @Override
    public void setEnableSessionCreation(boolean flag) {
        delegate.setEnableSessionCreation(flag);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean getEnableSessionCreation() {
        return delegate.getEnableSessionCreation();
    }

    @Override
    public void bind(SocketAddress localAddr) throws IOException {
        delegate.bind(localAddr);
    }

    @Override
    public synchronized void close() throws IOException {
        delegate.close();
    }

    @Override
    public void connect(SocketAddress remoteAddr) throws IOException {
        delegate.connect(remoteAddr);
    }

    @Override
    public void connect(SocketAddress remoteAddr, int timeout) throws IOException {
        delegate.connect(remoteAddr, timeout);
    }

    @Override
    public SocketChannel getChannel() {
        return delegate.getChannel();
    }

    @Override
    public InetAddress getInetAddress() {
        return delegate.getInetAddress();
    }

    @Override
    public InputStream getInputStream() throws IOException {
        return delegate.getInputStream();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean getKeepAlive() throws SocketException {
        return delegate.getKeepAlive();
    }

    @Override
    public InetAddress getLocalAddress() {
        return delegate.getLocalAddress();
    }

    @Override
    public int getLocalPort() {
        return delegate.getLocalPort();
    }

    @Override
    public SocketAddress getLocalSocketAddress() {
        return delegate.getLocalSocketAddress();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean getOOBInline() throws SocketException {
        return delegate.getOOBInline();
    }

    @Override
    public OutputStream getOutputStream() throws IOException {
        return delegate.getOutputStream();
    }

    @Override
    public int getPort() {
        return delegate.getPort();
    }

    @Override
    public synchronized int getReceiveBufferSize() throws SocketException {
        return delegate.getReceiveBufferSize();
    }

    @Override
    public SocketAddress getRemoteSocketAddress() {
        return delegate.getRemoteSocketAddress();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean getReuseAddress() throws SocketException {
        return delegate.getReuseAddress();
    }

    @Override
    public synchronized int getSendBufferSize() throws SocketException {
        return delegate.getSendBufferSize();
    }

    @Override
    public int getSoLinger() throws SocketException {
        return delegate.getSoLinger();
    }

    @Override
    public synchronized int getSoTimeout() throws SocketException {
        return delegate.getSoTimeout();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean getTcpNoDelay() throws SocketException {
        return delegate.getTcpNoDelay();
    }

    @Override
    public int getTrafficClass() throws SocketException {
        return delegate.getTrafficClass();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isBound() {
        return delegate.isBound();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isClosed() {
        return delegate.isClosed();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isConnected() {
        return delegate.isConnected();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isInputShutdown() {
        return delegate.isInputShutdown();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isOutputShutdown() {
        return delegate.isOutputShutdown();
    }

    @Override
    public void sendUrgentData(int value) throws IOException {
        delegate.sendUrgentData(value);
    }

    @Override
    public void setKeepAlive(boolean keepAlive) throws SocketException {
        delegate.setKeepAlive(keepAlive);
    }

    @Override
    public void setOOBInline(boolean oobinline) throws SocketException {
        delegate.setOOBInline(oobinline);
    }

    @Override
    public void setPerformancePreferences(int connectionTime, int latency, int bandwidth) {
        delegate.setPerformancePreferences(connectionTime, latency, bandwidth);
    }

    @Override
    public synchronized void setReceiveBufferSize(int size) throws SocketException {
        delegate.setReceiveBufferSize(size);
    }

    @Override
    public void setReuseAddress(boolean reuse) throws SocketException {
        delegate.setReuseAddress(reuse);
    }

    @Override
    public synchronized void setSendBufferSize(int size) throws SocketException {
        delegate.setSendBufferSize(size);
    }

    @Override
    public void setSoLinger(boolean on, int timeout) throws SocketException {
        delegate.setSoLinger(on, timeout);
    }

    @Override
    public synchronized void setSoTimeout(int timeout) throws SocketException {
        delegate.setSoTimeout(timeout);
    }

    @Override
    public void setTcpNoDelay(boolean on) throws SocketException {
        delegate.setTcpNoDelay(on);
    }

    @Override
    public void setTrafficClass(int value) throws SocketException {
        delegate.setTrafficClass(value);
    }

    @Override
    public void shutdownInput() throws IOException {
        delegate.shutdownInput();
    }

    @Override
    public void shutdownOutput() throws IOException {
        delegate.shutdownOutput();
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return delegate.toString();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean equals(Object o) {
        return delegate.equals(o);
    }
}
}

Use this class like this while connecting :

SSLContext sslcontext = SSLContext.getInstance("TLSv1");

            sslcontext.init(null,
                    null,
                    null);
            SSLSocketFactory NoSSLv3Factory = new NoSSLv3SocketFactory(sslcontext.getSocketFactory());

            HttpsURLConnection.setDefaultSSLSocketFactory(NoSSLv3Factory);
            l_connection = (HttpsURLConnection) l_url.openConnection();
            l_connection.connect();

UPDATE :

Now, correct solution would be to install a newer security provider using Google Play Services:

    ProviderInstaller.installIfNeeded(getApplicationContext());

This effectively gives your app access to a newer version of OpenSSL and Java Security Provider, which includes support for TLSv1.2 in SSLEngine. Once the new provider is installed, you can create an SSLEngine which supports SSLv3, TLSv1, TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 the usual way:

    SSLContext sslContext = SSLContext.getInstance("TLSv1.2");
    sslContext.init(null, null, null);
    SSLEngine engine = sslContext.createSSLEngine();

Or you can restrict the enabled protocols using engine.setEnabledProtocols.

Don't forget to add the following dependency (latest version found here):

compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-auth:11.8.0'

For more info, checkout this link.

Answer 2

Inspired by Bhavit S. Sengar's answer, it bundled that technique into a dead simple method call. You can use the NetCipher library to get a modern TLS config when using Android's HttpsURLConnection. NetCipher configures the HttpsURLConnection instance to use the best supported TLS version, removes SSLv3 support, and configures the best suite of ciphers for that TLS version. First, add it to your build.gradle:

compile 'info.guardianproject.netcipher:netcipher:1.2'

Or you can download the netcipher-1.2.jar and include it directly in your app. Then instead of calling:

HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) sourceUrl.openConnection();

Call this:

HttpsURLConnection connection = NetCipher.getHttpsURLConnection(sourceUrl);