Accept server's self-signed ssl certificate in Java client

Question

It looks like a standard question, but I couldn\'t find clear directions anywhere.

I have java code trying to connect to a server with probably self-signed (or expir

Answer 1

I chased down this problem to a certificate provider that is not part of the default JVM trusted hosts as of JDK 8u74. The provider is www.identrust.com, but that was not the domain I was trying to connect to. That domain had gotten its certificate from this provider. See Will the cross root cover trust by the default list in the JDK/JRE? -- read down a couple entries. Also see Which browsers and operating systems support Let’s Encrypt.

So, in order to connect to the domain I was interested in, which had a certificate issued from identrust.com I did the following steps. Basically, I had to get the identrust.com (DST Root CA X3) certificate to be trusted by the JVM. I was able to do that using Apache HttpComponents 4.5 like so:

1: Obtain the certificate from indettrust at Certificate Chain Download Instructions. Click on the DST Root CA X3 link.

2: Save the string to a file named "DST Root CA X3.pem". Be sure to add the lines "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----" and "-----END CERTIFICATE-----" in the file at the beginning and the end.

3: Create a java keystore file, cacerts.jks with the following command:

keytool -import -v -trustcacerts -alias IdenTrust -keypass yourpassword -file dst_root_ca_x3.pem -keystore cacerts.jks -storepass yourpassword

4: Copy the resulting cacerts.jks keystore into the resources directory of your java/(maven) application.

5: Use the following code to load this file and attach it to the Apache 4.5 HttpClient. This will solve the problem for all domains that have certificates issued from indetrust.com util oracle includes the certificate into the JRE default keystore.

SSLContext sslcontext = SSLContexts.custom()
        .loadTrustMaterial(new File(CalRestClient.class.getResource("/cacerts.jks").getFile()), "yourpasword".toCharArray(),
                new TrustSelfSignedStrategy())
        .build();
// Allow TLSv1 protocol only
SSLConnectionSocketFactory sslsf = new SSLConnectionSocketFactory(
        sslcontext,
        new String[] { "TLSv1" },
        null,
        SSLConnectionSocketFactory.getDefaultHostnameVerifier());
CloseableHttpClient httpclient = HttpClients.custom()
        .setSSLSocketFactory(sslsf)
        .build();

When the project builds then the cacerts.jks will be copied into the classpath and loaded from there. I didn't, at this point in time, test against other ssl sites, but if the above code "chains" in this certificate then they will work too, but again, I don't know.

Reference: Custom SSL context and How do I accept a self-signed certificate with a Java HttpsURLConnection?