Nginx-1.19.6 + Openssl 1.1.1i - Can't do SSL handshake - nginx

Question

i'm trying to run a server using Nginx with sslv3 and ciphers RC4-SHA:RC4-MD5 support (i need exactly these ciphers).
I was able to do this on Ubuntu 16.04 using Openssl 1.0.2u source + last nginx version source (nginx-1.19.6). I builded Nginx using this command:
./configure --with-http_ssl_module --with-openssl=/path/to/openssl-1.0.2u --with-openssl-opt=enable-ssl3 --with-openssl-opt=enable-ssl3-method --with-openssl-opt=enable-weak-ssl-ciphers
Nginx config i used is:
server {
listen 443 ssl;
listen [::]:443 ssl;
ssl_protocols SSLv3;
ssl_ciphers RC4-SHA:RC4-MD5:#SECLEVEL=0;
ssl_certificate /path/to/server-chain.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /path/to/server.key;
server_name server.name.net;
underscores_in_headers on;
proxy_pass_request_headers on;
location / {
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host \$host:\$server_port;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server \$host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For \$proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9000;
}
}
After setting up nginx config file everything worked perfectly. I was able to obtain the ssl certificate using this command from an Ubuntu 14.04 machine:
openssl s_client -connect MyIP:443 -ssl3 -cipher RC4-SHA:RC4-MD5.
I tryed to do the same thing building Nginx with Openssl 1.1.1i source with the same configuration options, but after setting up nginx conf file, when i try to run openssl s_client -connect... command, i get this error:
CONNECTED(00000003)
140420793624224:error:1408F10B:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_RECORD:wrong version number:s3_pkt.c:339:
---
no peer certificate available
---
No client certificate CA names sent
---
SSL handshake has read 5 bytes and written 7 bytes
---
New, (NONE), Cipher is (NONE)
Secure Renegotiation IS NOT supported
Compression: NONE
Expansion: NONE
SSL-Session:
Protocol : SSLv3
Cipher : 0000
Session-ID:
Session-ID-ctx:
Master-Key:
Key-Arg : None
PSK identity: None
PSK identity hint: None
SRP username: None
Start Time: 1612540521
Timeout : 7200 (sec)
Verify return code: 0 (ok)
---
In Nginx error.log file i got this:
SSL_do_handshake() failed (SSL: error:141FC044:SSL routines:tls_setup_handshake:internal error) while SSL handshaking, client: 192.168.1.10, server: 0.0.0.0:443
Did something change with openssl 1.1.1? Am i missing any configuration options to enable SSLv3 + RC4-SHA:RC4-MD5?
Thanks for any tips!

Answer 1

In the end i was able to fix this!
I downloaded the last openssl source (1.1.1i) and the last nginx source (1.19.6).
I compiled and installed openssl with the following commands:
./config enable-ssl3 enable-ssl3-method enable-weak-ssl-ciphers
make
sudo make install
I edited openssl.cnf file (/usr/local/ssl/openssl.cnf) adding
openssl_conf = default_conf
at the beginning of the file and adding
[default_conf]
ssl_conf = ssl_sect
[ssl_sect]
system_default = system_default_sect
[system_default_sect]
CipherString = ALL:#SECLEVEL=0
at the bottom of the file. This enables old ciphers (i needed RC4-SHA and RC4-MD5).
Then i compiled and installed nginx with the following commands:
./configure --with-http_ssl_module --with-ld-opt="-L/usr/local"
make
sudo make install
After configuring nginx for ssl certificates i was able to get them using the openssl s_client... command!

Answer 2

SSL Ciphers in nginx need to be supported by your openSSL Version. From the openSSL Changelog of 1.0.2h and 1.1.0:
RC4 based libssl ciphersuites are now classed as "weak" ciphers and are disabled by default. They can be re-enabled using the enable-weak-ssl-ciphers option to Configure.