[stunnel-users] Stunnel with TPM engine !!!

Wed Apr 19 14:43:46 CEST 2006

Hello 

I am new to Stunnel and would like to know how to integrate the engine with Stunnel 4.15.

I am trying to integrate a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) engine which is compatible with OpenSSL to use with Stunnel so that the private key for SSL connection can be retrieved and stored in the hardware. I was able to configure the Stunnel config file to use the engine and it is loading the engine fine. The problem I am facing now is the key which stunnel tries to load can be loaded only by the engine, I mean it has to be loaded into the TPM to use it and stunnel tried to load it in the normal way.  Please find the debug output bellow,

# ./stunnel stunnel-engine.conf
2006.04.19 13:39:22 LOG7[1261:3086812864]: Enabling support for engine 'tpm'
DEBUG e_tpm_err.c:295 ERR_load_TPM_strings
DEBUG e_tpm_err.c:298 TPM_lib_error_code is 136
2006.04.19 13:39:22 LOG7[1261:3086812864]: Initializing engine
DEBUG e_tpm.c:336 tpm_engine_init
LOG_DEBUG TSPI ../tcsd_api/clntside.c:58 Sending TSP packet to host localhost.
LOG_DEBUG TSPI ../tcsd_api/clntside.c:74 Connecting to 127.0.0.1
LOG_DEBUG TSPI ../tcsd_api/tcstp.c:390 TCS_OpenContext_RPC_TP: Received TCS Context: 0xa0ef791d
2006.04.19 13:39:22 LOG7[1261:3086812864]: Engine initialized
2006.04.19 13:39:22 LOG7[1261:3086812864]: Engine closed
2006.04.19 13:39:22 LOG7[1261:3086812864]: Snagged 64 random bytes from /root/.rnd
DEBUG e_tpm.c:1151 tpm_rand_bytes getting 1024 bytes
LOG_DEBUG TSPI ../tcsd_api/tcstp.c:2488 TCSP_GetRandom_TP: TCS Context: 0xa0ef791d
2006.04.19 13:39:23 LOG7[1261:3086812864]: Wrote 1024 new random bytes to /root/.rnd
DEBUG e_tpm.c:1171 tpm_rand_status
2006.04.19 13:39:23 LOG7[1261:3086812864]: RAND_status claims sufficient entropy for the PRNG
2006.04.19 13:39:23 LOG6[1261:3086812864]: PRNG seeded successfully
DEBUG e_tpm.c:736 tpm_rsa_init
2006.04.19 13:39:23 LOG7[1261:3086812864]: Certificate: /root/dk/CVS/070406/applications/openssl_tpm_engine/TpmKey.crt
2006.04.19 13:39:23 LOG7[1261:3086812864]: Key file: /root/dk/CVS/070406/applications/openssl_tpm_engine/TpmKey.key
2006.04.19 13:39:23 LOG3[1261:3086812864]: error stack: 140B3009 : error:140B3009:SSL routines:SSL_CTX_use_RSAPrivateKey_file:PEM lib
2006.04.19 13:39:23 LOG3[1261:3086812864]: SSL_CTX_use_RSAPrivateKey_file: 906D06C: error:0906D06C:PEM routines:PEM_read_bio:no start line

It is obvious from the debug that the Stunnel expect a private key file in PEM format but the whole issue is that the private key I have (created using TPM) is not in a PEM format, it is an encrypted file with root key used to encrypt stays inside the TPM hardware. I suppose we need to provide a key load function which loads the key into the TPM rather than using Stunnel.

It will be a great help if someone could provide me with some pointers on how to solve this, or please let me know if I am missing out something. Also do ask me if you need any further clarifications.

Many thanks,

Dinesh Kallath, CISSP
Research Professional, 
Security Research Centre
BT Group Chief Technology Office
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