SSL_CTX_new.pod revision 269682
1=pod 2 3=head1 NAME 4 5SSL_CTX_new - create a new SSL_CTX object as framework for TLS/SSL enabled functions 6 7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8 9 #include <openssl/ssl.h> 10 11 SSL_CTX *SSL_CTX_new(const SSL_METHOD *method); 12 13=head1 DESCRIPTION 14 15SSL_CTX_new() creates a new B<SSL_CTX> object as framework to establish 16TLS/SSL enabled connections. 17 18=head1 NOTES 19 20The SSL_CTX object uses B<method> as connection method. The methods exist 21in a generic type (for client and server use), a server only type, and a 22client only type. B<method> can be of the following types: 23 24=over 4 25 26=item SSLv2_method(void), SSLv2_server_method(void), SSLv2_client_method(void) 27 28A TLS/SSL connection established with these methods will only understand 29the SSLv2 protocol. A client will send out SSLv2 client hello messages 30and will also indicate that it only understand SSLv2. A server will only 31understand SSLv2 client hello messages. 32 33=item SSLv3_method(void), SSLv3_server_method(void), SSLv3_client_method(void) 34 35A TLS/SSL connection established with these methods will only understand the 36SSLv3 protocol. A client will send out SSLv3 client hello messages 37and will indicate that it only understands SSLv3. A server will only understand 38SSLv3 client hello messages. This especially means, that it will 39not understand SSLv2 client hello messages which are widely used for 40compatibility reasons, see SSLv23_*_method(). 41 42=item TLSv1_method(void), TLSv1_server_method(void), TLSv1_client_method(void) 43 44A TLS/SSL connection established with these methods will only understand the 45TLSv1 protocol. A client will send out TLSv1 client hello messages 46and will indicate that it only understands TLSv1. A server will only understand 47TLSv1 client hello messages. This especially means, that it will 48not understand SSLv2 client hello messages which are widely used for 49compatibility reasons, see SSLv23_*_method(). It will also not understand 50SSLv3 client hello messages. 51 52=item SSLv23_method(void), SSLv23_server_method(void), SSLv23_client_method(void) 53 54A TLS/SSL connection established with these methods may understand the SSLv2, 55SSLv3, TLSv1, TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 protocols. 56 57If the cipher list does not contain any SSLv2 ciphersuites (the default 58cipher list does not) or extensions are required (for example server name) 59a client will send out TLSv1 client hello messages including extensions and 60will indicate that it also understands TLSv1.1, TLSv1.2 and permits a 61fallback to SSLv3. A server will support SSLv3, TLSv1, TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 62protocols. This is the best choice when compatibility is a concern. 63 64If any SSLv2 ciphersuites are included in the cipher list and no extensions 65are required then SSLv2 compatible client hellos will be used by clients and 66SSLv2 will be accepted by servers. This is B<not> recommended due to the 67insecurity of SSLv2 and the limited nature of the SSLv2 client hello 68prohibiting the use of extensions. 69 70=back 71 72The list of protocols available can later be limited using the SSL_OP_NO_SSLv2, 73SSL_OP_NO_SSLv3, SSL_OP_NO_TLSv1, SSL_OP_NO_TLSv1_1 and SSL_OP_NO_TLSv1_2 74options of the SSL_CTX_set_options() or SSL_set_options() functions. 75Using these options it is possible to choose e.g. SSLv23_server_method() and 76be able to negotiate with all possible clients, but to only allow newer 77protocols like TLSv1, TLSv1.1 or TLS v1.2. 78 79Applications which never want to support SSLv2 (even is the cipher string 80is configured to use SSLv2 ciphersuites) can set SSL_OP_NO_SSLv2. 81 82SSL_CTX_new() initializes the list of ciphers, the session cache setting, 83the callbacks, the keys and certificates and the options to its default 84values. 85 86=head1 RETURN VALUES 87 88The following return values can occur: 89 90=over 4 91 92=item NULL 93 94The creation of a new SSL_CTX object failed. Check the error stack to 95find out the reason. 96 97=item Pointer to an SSL_CTX object 98 99The return value points to an allocated SSL_CTX object. 100 101=back 102 103=head1 SEE ALSO 104 105L<SSL_CTX_free(3)|SSL_CTX_free(3)>, L<SSL_accept(3)|SSL_accept(3)>, 106L<ssl(3)|ssl(3)>, L<SSL_set_connect_state(3)|SSL_set_connect_state(3)> 107 108=cut 109