Difference between 2-way SSL and single authentication in Artemis - ssl

Question

I have Artemis setup with 3 brokers (1-master and 2-slaves) and would like to use SSL between them and client. RIght now I'm using self signed certificates which were generated like this
# Create a broker key and cert - import the keypair and cert into the broker keystore
openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout broker_keypair.pem -x509 -days 65000 -out broker_cert.pem
openssl pkcs12 -inkey broker_keypair.pem -in broker_cert.pem -export -out broker_ks.p12
# Create a client key and cert - import the keypair and cert into the client keystore
openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout client_keypair.pem -x509 -days 65000 -out client_cert.pem
openssl pkcs12 -inkey client_keypair.pem -in client_cert.pem -export -out client_ks.p12
# Create a truststore for the broker, and import the client's certificate. This establishes that the broker "trusts" the client:
keytool -import -alias client -keystore broker_ts.p12 -file client_cert.pem -deststoretype pkcs12
# Create a truststore for the client, and import the broker's certificate. This establishes that the client "trusts" the broker:
keytool -import -alias broker -keystore client_ts.p12 -file broker_cert.pem -deststoretype pkcs12
my broker.xml for master:
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<configuration xmlns="urn:activemq"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
xsi:schemaLocation="urn:activemq /schema/artemis-configuration.xsd">
<core xmlns="urn:activemq:core" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="urn:activemq:core ">
<name>0.0.0.0</name>
<persistence-enabled>true</persistence-enabled>
<journal-type>ASYNCIO</journal-type>
<paging-directory>data/paging</paging-directory>
<bindings-directory>data/bindings</bindings-directory>
<journal-directory>data/journal</journal-directory>
<large-messages-directory>data/large-messages</large-messages-directory>
<journal-datasync>true</journal-datasync>
<journal-min-files>2</journal-min-files>
<journal-pool-files>10</journal-pool-files>
<journal-device-block-size>4096</journal-device-block-size>
<journal-file-size>10M</journal-file-size>
<journal-buffer-timeout>28000</journal-buffer-timeout>
<journal-max-io>4096</journal-max-io>
<disk-scan-period>5000</disk-scan-period>
<max-disk-usage>100</max-disk-usage>
<critical-analyzer>true</critical-analyzer>
<critical-analyzer-timeout>120000</critical-analyzer-timeout>
<critical-analyzer-check-period>60000</critical-analyzer-check-period>
<critical-analyzer-policy>HALT</critical-analyzer-policy>
<page-sync-timeout>1628000</page-sync-timeout>
<global-max-size>204Mb</global-max-size>
<connectors>
<connector name="netty-connector">tcp://amq1:61616?sslEnabled=true;keyStorePath=client_ks.p12;keyStorePassword=artemis;trustStorePath=client_ts.p12;trustStorePassword=artemis</connector>
</connectors>
<acceptors>
<acceptor name="netty-acceptor">tcp://amq1:61616?sslEnabled=true;keyStorePath=broker_ks.p12;keyStorePassword=artemis;trustStorePath=broker_ts.p12;trustStorePassword=artemis;needClientAuth=true</acceptor>
</acceptors>
<cluster-connections>
<cluster-connection name="my-cluster">
<address>amq</address>
<connector-ref>netty-connector</connector-ref>
<retry-interval>1000</retry-interval>
<retry-interval-multiplier>3</retry-interval-multiplier>
<use-duplicate-detection>true</use-duplicate-detection>
<message-load-balancing>STRICT</message-load-balancing>
<discovery-group-ref discovery-group-name="my-discovery-group"/>
</cluster-connection>
</cluster-connections>
<broadcast-groups>
<broadcast-group name="my-broadcast-group">
<local-bind-address>amq1</local-bind-address>
<local-bind-port>9876</local-bind-port>
<group-address>231.7.7.7</group-address>
<group-port>9876</group-port>
<broadcast-period>2000</broadcast-period>
<connector-ref>netty-connector</connector-ref>
</broadcast-group>
</broadcast-groups>
<discovery-groups>
<discovery-group name="my-discovery-group">
<local-bind-address>amq1</local-bind-address>
<local-bind-port>9876</local-bind-port>
<group-address>231.7.7.7</group-address>
<group-port>9876</group-port>
<refresh-timeout>10000</refresh-timeout>
</discovery-group>
</discovery-groups>
<network-check-list>amq1,amq2,amq3</network-check-list>
<network-check-period>5000</network-check-period>
<network-check-timeout>1000</network-check-timeout>
<network-check-ping-command>ping -c 1 -t %d %s</network-check-ping-command>
<network-check-ping6-command>ping6 -c 1 %2$s</network-check-ping6-command>
<!-- Other config -->
<ha-policy>
<replication>
<master>
<check-for-live-server>true</check-for-live-server>
</master>
</replication>
</ha-policy>
<security-settings>
<security-setting match="#">
<permission type="createNonDurableQueue" roles="amq"/>
<permission type="deleteNonDurableQueue" roles="amq"/>
<permission type="createDurableQueue" roles="amq"/>
<permission type="deleteDurableQueue" roles="amq"/>
<permission type="createAddress" roles="amq"/>
<permission type="deleteAddress" roles="amq"/>
<permission type="consume" roles="amq"/>
<permission type="browse" roles="amq"/>
<permission type="send" roles="amq"/>
<!-- we need this otherwise ./artemis data imp wouldn't work -->
<permission type="manage" roles="amq"/>
</security-setting>
</security-settings>
<addresses>
<address name="exampleQueue">
<anycast>
<queue name="exampleQueue"/>
</anycast>
</address>
<address name="DLQ">
<anycast>
<queue name="DLQ" />
</anycast>
</address>
<address name="ExpiryQueue">
<anycast>
<queue name="ExpiryQueue" />
</anycast>
</address>
</addresses>
<address-settings>
<!-- if you define auto-create on certain queues, management has to be auto-create -->
<address-setting match="activemq.management#">
<dead-letter-address>DLQ</dead-letter-address>
<expiry-address>ExpiryQueue</expiry-address>
<redelivery-delay>0</redelivery-delay>
<!-- with -1 only the global-max-size is in use for limiting -->
<max-size-bytes>-1</max-size-bytes>
<message-counter-history-day-limit>10</message-counter-history-day-limit>
<address-full-policy>PAGE</address-full-policy>
<auto-create-queues>true</auto-create-queues>
<auto-create-addresses>true</auto-create-addresses>
<auto-create-jms-queues>true</auto-create-jms-queues>
<auto-create-jms-topics>true</auto-create-jms-topics>
</address-setting>
<!--default for catch all-->
<address-setting match="#">
<dead-letter-address>DLQ</dead-letter-address>
<expiry-address>ExpiryQueue</expiry-address>
<redelivery-delay>0</redelivery-delay>
<!-- with -1 only the global-max-size is in use for limiting -->
<max-size-bytes>-1</max-size-bytes>
<message-counter-history-day-limit>10</message-counter-history-day-limit>
<address-full-policy>PAGE</address-full-policy>
<auto-create-queues>true</auto-create-queues>
<auto-create-addresses>true</auto-create-addresses>
<auto-create-jms-queues>true</auto-create-jms-queues>
<auto-create-jms-topics>true</auto-create-jms-topics>
</address-setting>
<address-setting match="exampleQueue">
<dead-letter-address>DLQ</dead-letter-address>
<redelivery-delay>1000</redelivery-delay>
<max-delivery-attempts>3</max-delivery-attempts>
<max-size-bytes>-1</max-size-bytes>
<page-size-bytes>1048576</page-size-bytes>
<message-counter-history-day-limit>10</message-counter-history-day-limit>
<address-full-policy>PAGE</address-full-policy>
</address-setting>
</address-settings>
</core>
</configuration>
for slave it's almost the same structure. I won't post it.
Is it right configuration or is it over engineered and can be used just single authentification ? if yes how it would look like.
Thanks

Answer 1

Most SSL use-cases use 1-way SSL. In those cases the server (whether that's a web server, file server, message broker, etc.) hosts an SSL certificate and the client must "trust" that certificate in order to successfully complete the SSL handshake. Usually a server's SSL certificate is signed by a trusted authority (e.g. VeriSign, Digicert, Thawte, etc.) and clients implicitly trust them. This is how the vast majority of SSL is done on the web.
However, when using "self-signed" certificates, as you're doing, the server's certificate isn't signed by a trusted authority so the client has to manually import the certificate into its "trust store."
With 2-way (or "mutual") SSL both the server and the client have SSL certificates and both the server and the client have to trust the other's certificate in order to successfully complete the SSL handshake. This kind of configuration is relatively rare and usually only required in highly secured environments where explicit trust must be established by all parties. It may also be useful for ActiveMQ Artemis clients because certificate details can be used in lieu of username & password for authentication. The configuration details for this are discussed in the ActiveMQ Artemis security documentation.
Since you've specified needClientAuth=true on your acceptor in broker.xml you are requiring 2-way SSL. The ActiveMQ Artemis transport documentation states:
needClientAuth
This property is only for an acceptor. It tells a client connecting to this acceptor that 2-way SSL is required. Valid values are true or false. Default is false.
Using 2-way SSL can be a significant configuration burden because it requires work for every client on both the client and the server (i.e. to generate and import/trust the proper certificates).
Configuration for 1-way SSL is much simpler. For example, you would only need to run these commands:
# Create a broker key and cert - import the keypair and cert into the broker keystore
openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout broker_keypair.pem -x509 -days 65000 -out broker_cert.pem
openssl pkcs12 -inkey broker_keypair.pem -in broker_cert.pem -export -out broker_ks.p12
# Create a truststore for the client, and import the broker's certificate. This establishes that the client "trusts" the broker:
keytool -import -alias broker -keystore client_ts.p12 -file broker_cert.pem -deststoretype pkcs12
And your connectors and acceptors would be configured like so:
<connectors>
<connector name="netty-connector">tcp://amq1:61616?sslEnabled=true;trustStorePath=client_ts.p12;trustStorePassword=artemis</connector>
</connectors>
<acceptors>
<acceptor name="netty-acceptor">tcp://amq1:61616?sslEnabled=true;keyStorePath=broker_ks.p12;keyStorePassword=artemis</acceptor>
</acceptors>