I have created a Cocoa application with a client and a server, not
necessarily on the same machine, that communicate using a custom
protocol that sits on top of SSL (since the programs transmit
sensitive data back and forth). This is implemented using a socket
class I wrote that uses SecureTransport to provide SSL support. When
using SecureTransport, the server end of the connection must specify
an identity using SSLSetCertificate() and a SecIdentityRef.
Currently the server application just looks for an identity in the
keychain and uses the first one it finds, so the person who sets up
the server must manually import an identity into the keychain using
certtool. I would like to simplify this process for those who don't
need the security of a properly signed certificate or just want to
test the program by making certificate verification optional in the
client and allowing the server application to automatically generate
its own certificate if an existing one is not found. I understand
the security implications of this (specifically the vulnerability to
man in the middle attacks) but want to offer the option to those who
just want security good enough to stop a casual packet sniffer on a
wireless network from obtaining sensitive data.
Anyway, the problem is this: it seems the ONLY way to get a
SecIdentityRef is to pull an identity from the keychain using
SecIdentitySearchCreate() and SecIdentitySearchCopyNext(); there
doesn't seem to be a facility for programmatically creating a new
identity. I don't want the admin of the server to have to run
anything like certtool outside of the program; I want this to be just
a drag and drop install. Ideally the server application would
generate its own identity if needed on the first run, but I can't
figure out how to do that. The best idea I've come up with so far is
to invisibly call a command-line OpenSSL tool to create a certificate
and a key on the hard drive and then use SecKeychainItemImport() to
get them into the keychain, but that seems a bit inelegant and I
haven't tried it yet so there is most likely some problem lying down
that road.
Does anyone have any hints?
Aaron Jacobs
Attachment:
PGP.sig Description: This is a digitally signed message part
_______________________________________________
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
Apple-cdsa mailing list (email@hidden)
Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/apple-cdsa/email@hidden
This email sent to email@hidden
