JSSE recommended cipher suites

Question

In the wake of POODLE I am reviewing the configuration of a number of Tomcat servers running on the JSSE connector.

In order to work out what ciphers JSSE supported I wrote a little snippet that emitted all the available ciphers, the result was:

SSL_DHE_DSS_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA
SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA
SSL_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA
SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA
SSL_DH_anon_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA
SSL_DH_anon_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5
SSL_DH_anon_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
SSL_DH_anon_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA
SSL_DH_anon_WITH_RC4_128_MD5
SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA
SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5
SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA
SSL_RSA_WITH_NULL_MD5
SSL_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA
SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5
SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_DH_anon_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_DH_anon_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_DH_anon_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_NULL_SHA
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_NULL_SHA
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
TLS_ECDH_anon_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDH_anon_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDH_anon_WITH_NULL_SHA
TLS_ECDH_anon_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
TLS_EMPTY_RENEGOTIATION_INFO_SCSV
TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_DES_CBC_40_MD5
TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_DES_CBC_40_SHA
TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5
TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_SHA
TLS_KRB5_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_MD5
TLS_KRB5_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
TLS_KRB5_WITH_DES_CBC_MD5
TLS_KRB5_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA
TLS_KRB5_WITH_RC4_128_MD5
TLS_KRB5_WITH_RC4_128_SHA
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA256

I have disabled SSL completely on the server so only TLSv1.0-2 are available. I want to restrict to only strong ciphers. I have no concerns about backwards compatibility.

Narrowing down the list using mainly the Mozilla recommendation along with an answer on SO and this blog post I have narrowed down the list to:

TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256

Is this a sensible set of ciphers? Have I removed some that I should not have? Are any in that list not of a high security level?

Answer 1

It is always possible to be more paranoid, so you can shrink the list even more, depending on how worried you are. Basically:

• Remove the DH_anon cipher suites: they don't authenticate the server, hence they are weak against MitM attacks.
• Don't use RC4, since it has known biases.
• Don't use 3DES because its short block size (8 bytes) makes it troublesome past the first few gigabytes of data.
• Don't use any block cipher that works in CBC mode because CBC mode in the MAC-then-encrypt mode that SSL/TLS uses is hard to implement properly (see all the BEAST and Poodle attacks).
• Always use a DHE or ECDHE cipher suite, to get forward secrecy.
• Don't use SHA-1 if you want to look good with the panicking crowds that don't exactly understand what a collision based on differential path analysis is.

At that point, you end up with enforcing TLS 1.2 (and rejecting previous versions), and the following list:

TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256

Of course, this list will be further reduced, depending on the type of key contained in the server's certificate. If the key has type DSS, you can only use the first cipher suite. If it has type ECDSA, only the second applies. If, like 99.3% of the World, you use RSA for your certificate, you have the choice between the last two cipher suites; you will prefer the ECDHE one if you want to unleash your inner hipster.

In practice, the choice of SSL cipher suite is extremely unlikely to be the weak point through which compromise will occur. When attackers hijack your server, they won't do it by tackling with the crypto upfront. So don't overthink it. Be aware that most of your efforts at pruning the list of cipher suites are really meant to appease finicky auditors and worried managers, so the important operational question is not "what will ensure maximum security ?" but "what will induce the strongest feeling of security ?".