jsse handshake_failure on public https web site

Question

I have read a related question already, but it doesn't seem to fail at the same place I am seeing a failure.

I am trying a very simple operation:

public static void main(String [] argv) {
    try {
        URL u = new URL("https://membership.usairways.com/Login.aspx");
        Object o = u.getContent();
    } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

But I get a handshake_failure when running that with Java 6, on both my Mac and Windows machines.

Others keep having a problem with the certificate not being found, but the debug log (-Djavax.net.debug=ssl:handshake) shows the certificate being found just fine:

keyStore is : 
keyStore type is : jks
keyStore provider is : 
init keystore
init keymanager of type SunX509
trustStore is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\lib\security\cacerts
trustStore type is : jks
trustStore provider is : 
init truststore
adding as trusted cert:
  Subject: CN=SwissSign Platinum CA - G2, O=SwissSign AG, C=CH
  Issuer:  CN=SwissSign Platinum CA - G2, O=SwissSign AG, C=CH
  Algorithm: RSA; Serial number: 0x4eb200670c035d4f
  Valid from Wed Oct 25 04:36:00 EDT 2006 until Sat Oct 25 04:36:00 EDT 2036

 (repeat above for a large number of certs, notably the next one here)

adding as trusted cert:
  Subject: [email protected], CN=Thawte Premium Server CA, OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting cc, L=Cape Town, ST=Western Cape, C=ZA
  Issuer:  [email protected], CN=Thawte Premium Server CA, OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting cc, L=Cape Town, ST=Western Cape, C=ZA
  Algorithm: RSA; Serial number: 0x1
  Valid from Wed Jul 31 20:00:00 EDT 1996 until Thu Dec 31 18:59:59 EST 2020



trigger seeding of SecureRandom
done seeding SecureRandom
%% No cached client session
*** ClientHello, TLSv1
RandomCookie:  GMT: 1264732935 bytes = { 200, 133, 119, 81, 212, 158, 149, 118, 153, 199, 116, 71, 201, 115, 67, 238, 141, 69, 2, 4, 158, 99, 39, 55, 242, 1, 155, 226 }
Session ID:  {}
Cipher Suites: [SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5, SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA, TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA, SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5, SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA, SSL_DHE_DSS_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA]
Compression Methods:  { 0 }
***
main, WRITE: TLSv1 Handshake, length = 73
main, WRITE: SSLv2 client hello message, length = 98
main, READ: SSLv3 Handshake, length = 74
*** ServerHello, SSLv3
RandomCookie:  GMT: -1723164650 bytes = { 122, 187, 153, 122, 194, 216, 4, 86, 68, 106, 92, 83, 166, 22, 156, 103, 30, 93, 5, 89, 138, 108, 191, 101, 41, 38, 201, 7 }
Session ID:  {64, 200, 23, 188, 201, 247, 125, 29, 43, 132, 204, 32, 58, 18, 4, 215, 3, 228, 127, 3, 0, 13, 41, 240, 200, 79, 208, 166, 79, 178, 249, 123}
Cipher Suite: SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5
Compression Method: 0
***
%% Created:  [Session-1, SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5]
** SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5
main, READ: SSLv3 Handshake, length = 1712
*** Certificate chain
chain [0] = [
[
  Version: V3
  Subject: CN=*.usairways.com, OU=csmusairwayweb, O=US Airways, L=Phoenix, ST=Arizona, C=US
  Signature Algorithm: SHA1withRSA, OID = 1.2.840.113549.1.1.5

  Key:  Sun RSA public key, 1024 bits
  modulus: 117128872477092149134303805811049298494872749082923376652184544938174228731267664522970480129390452967053230586478159419504897327346652351403474804997804422528612377227107853983665176692187458180185822497353170111743696439530149540148901069359332724759471171438095948620900093160986648342991891132153788789693
  public exponent: 65537
  Validity: [From: Wed Apr 30 08:12:47 EDT 2008,
               To: Fri Apr 30 08:12:47 EDT 2010]
  Issuer: [email protected], CN=Thawte Premium Server CA, OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting cc, L=Cape Town, ST=Western Cape, C=ZA
  SerialNumber: [    645f032d 08d4bd17 40df6c90 666e6bf3]

Certificate Extensions: 4
[1]: ObjectId: 2.5.29.31 Criticality=false
CRLDistributionPoints [
  [DistributionPoint:
     [URIName: http://crl.thawte.com/ThawtePremiumServerCA.crl]
]]

[2]: ObjectId: 2.5.29.37 Criticality=false
ExtendedKeyUsages [
  serverAuth
  clientAuth
]

[3]: ObjectId: 2.5.29.19 Criticality=true
BasicConstraints:[
  CA:false
  PathLen: undefined
]

[4]: ObjectId: 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.1.1 Criticality=false
AuthorityInfoAccess [
  [accessMethod: 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.48.1
   accessLocation: URIName: http://ocsp.thawte.com]
]

]
  Algorithm: [SHA1withRSA]
  Signature:
0000: 4A 2B 42 50 88 64 26 7E   CA 06 8C B3 CA 88 B4 8D  J+BP.d&.........
0010: 20 5A 11 F6 1F 9E 00 16   22 46 6F D9 18 8E CE 08   Z......"Fo.....
0020: 37 33 95 F9 08 2F 80 2D   26 73 C0 2A 54 2B 41 74  73.../.-&s.*T+At
0030: 2F 7F BC 17 9C 85 E3 71   E0 D7 1D CE 76 86 DD 53  /......q....v..S
0040: 2A 99 4E E7 92 27 F5 B5   2A A3 3C 9C D3 97 87 B9  *.N..'..*.%.....2q..
0070: 86 5E ED 50 27 A6 0D A6   23 F9 BB CB A6 07 14 42  .^.P'...#......B

]
***
Found trusted certificate:
[
[
  Version: V3
  Subject: [email protected], CN=Thawte Premium Server CA, OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting cc, L=Cape Town, ST=Western Cape, C=ZA
  Signature Algorithm: MD5withRSA, OID = 1.2.840.113549.1.1.4

  Key:  Sun RSA public key, 1024 bits
  modulus: 147615723393259181416635428961329342020669051439139433844527551020558419419302186744111967954084722208863267607710475139716371688682959340524636682374402009636778742019638875797953488482650734868036331360260559337468576998663423718393870107693392913633351064416793992445974512528326405756434384337574662315063
  public exponent: 65537
  Validity: [From: Wed Jul 31 20:00:00 EDT 1996,
               To: Thu Dec 31 18:59:59 EST 2020]
  Issuer: [email protected], CN=Thawte Premium Server CA, OU=Certification Services Division, O=Thawte Consulting cc, L=Cape Town, ST=Western Cape, C=ZA
  SerialNumber: [    01]

Certificate Extensions: 1
[1]: ObjectId: 2.5.29.19 Criticality=true
BasicConstraints:[
  CA:true
  PathLen:2147483647
]

]
  Algorithm: [MD5withRSA]
  Signature:
0000: 26 48 2C 16 C2 58 FA E8   16 74 0C AA AA 5F 54 3F  &H,..X...t..._T?
0010: F2 D7 C9 78 60 5E 5E 6E   37 63 22 77 36 7E B2 17  ...x`^^n7c"w6...
0020: C4 34 B9 F5 08 85 FC C9   01 38 FF 4D BE F2 16 42  .4.......8.M...B
0030: 43 E7 BB 5A 46 FB C1 C6   11 1F F1 4A B0 28 46 C9  C..ZF......J.(F.
0040: C3 C4 42 7D BC FA AB 59   6E D5 B7 51 88 11 E3 A4  ..B....Yn..Q....
0050: 85 19 6B 82 4C A4 0C 12   AD E9 A4 AE 3F F1 C3 49  ..k.L.......?..I
0060: 65 9A 8C C5 C8 3E 25 B7   94 99 BB 92 32 71 07 F0  e....>%.....2q..
0070: 86 5E ED 50 27 A6 0D A6   23 F9 BB CB A6 07 14 42  .^.P'...#......B

]
main, READ: SSLv3 Handshake, length = 4
*** ServerHelloDone
*** ClientKeyExchange, RSA PreMasterSecret, SSLv3
main, WRITE: SSLv3 Handshake, length = 132
SESSION KEYGEN:
PreMaster Secret:
0000: 03 00 90 43 CA FE 69 A1   9B C1 D2 2A B2 52 B5 F7  ...C..i....*.R..
0010: 8F D7 6E 89 CB 9D B1 8F   C0 C1 EE 54 D8 70 4A F2  ..n........T.pJ.
0020: B6 FB D2 F2 1C BC FD 7A   2C AD 75 60 C0 5F 3B 15  .......z,.u`._;.
CONNECTION KEYGEN:
Client Nonce:
0000: 4B 62 4B 07 C8 85 77 51   D4 9E 95 76 99 C7 74 47  KbK...wQ...v..tG
0010: C9 73 43 EE 8D 45 02 04   9E 63 27 37 F2 01 9B E2  .sC..E...c'7....
Server Nonce:
0000: 99 4B 98 16 7A BB 99 7A   C2 D8 04 56 44 6A 5C 53  .K..z..z...VDj\S
0010: A6 16 9C 67 1E 5D 05 59   8A 6C BF 65 29 26 C9 07  ...g.].Y.l.e)&..
Master Secret:
0000: 65 CA 12 63 80 48 D8 4A   33 63 A3 93 6F FB F8 5A  e..c.H.J3c..o..Z
0010: 87 7D 2E C4 19 3D 0E 2E   66 D4 0A 28 B8 27 76 79  .....=..f..(.'vy
0020: F9 C8 53 67 0D 87 CB 47   29 9E 3E 37 44 7D 19 11  ..Sg...G).>7D...
Client MAC write Secret:
0000: 26 03 49 9F 35 73 6B B4   2E 22 BF EC 57 84 F1 55  &.I.5sk.."..W..U
Server MAC write Secret:
0000: 3F D0 4C 7F AD 9B 16 CD   9F 1E 81 DD 0E B9 88 CF  ?.L.............
Client write key:
0000: 55 C0 0D 36 BA 82 88 26   7B CE 16 BC B0 96 5D 9F  U..6...&......].
Server write key:
0000: 73 B1 C3 EF E5 1F E7 B4   B9 90 BA B9 EC D7 13 70  s..............p
... no IV used for this cipher
main, WRITE: SSLv3 Change Cipher Spec, length = 1
*** Finished
verify_data:  { 36, 108, 19, 115, 108, 210, 76, 3, 226, 30, 160, 20, 81, 59, 1, 35, 71, 57, 221, 18, 4, 164, 97, 253, 166, 69, 253, 104, 207, 70, 44, 39, 0, 231, 237, 172 }
***
main, WRITE: SSLv3 Handshake, length = 56
main, READ: SSLv3 Alert, length = 2
main, RECV SSLv3 ALERT:  fatal, handshake_failure
main, called closeSocket()
main, handling exception: javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: Received fatal alert: handshake_failure
javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: Received fatal alert: handshake_failure
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.recvAlert(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.readRecord(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.performInitialHandshake(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(Unknown Source)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.afterConnect(Unknown Source)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.connect(Unknown Source)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.URLConnection.getContent(Unknown Source)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.getContent(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.URL.getContent(Unknown Source)
    at h.Hacks.main(Hacks.java:11)

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Edit 1/31/2010:

Looking at the packets using wireshark, the client hello messages are slightly different between Firefox 3.5 and Java 1.6.

Java 1.6 sends a SSLv2 hello message, but the version is set to TLS 1.0 (0x0301)

Firefox 3.5 sends a SSLv2 hello message, but the version is set to SSLv3.0 (0x0300)

The server appears to respond in the same way to both. First a server hello packet, then a combined packet with the server certificate and 'server hello done'

Java and Firefox respond differently: Java sends three SSL records as three packets: Client Key Exchange, then Change Cipher Spec, then Encrypted Handshake Message

Firefox sends all three of those SSL records as one packet.

At this point, for Java, the server sends a fatal alert indicating handshake failure, whereas firefox gets a response that successfully completes the handshake process.

My best guess at this point is that either the initial request of TLSv1 from java is confusing things, or the separate packets are somehow confusing the server. Any idea how I could test either of those theories?

---

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Edit 2/1/2010: Reading a related question, I saw that the 'openssl' command line tool can diagnose certain issues. Running openssl s_client -connect membership.usairways.com:443 shows that sending a TLSv1 request works fine. So it's something more subtle about the way java interacts with the server.

Answer 1

There is your setting:

System.setProperty("https.protocols", "SSLv3");

You were correct - it's the SSL version that causes the problem. Here is some sort of explanation.

Congratulations for the nice and well researched question!