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24 <div id="page-content">
25 <div id="preamble"><h1>Apache Module mod_session_crypto</h1>
27 <p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/mod/mod_session_crypto.html" title="English"> en </a></p>
29 <table class="module"><tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>Session encryption support</td></tr>
30 <tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Experimental</td></tr>
31 <tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#ModuleIdentifier">Module Identifier:</a></th><td>session_crypto_module</td></tr>
32 <tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#SourceFile">Source File:</a></th><td>mod_session_crypto.c</td></tr>
33 <tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Compatibility">Compatibility:</a></th><td>Available in Apache 2.3 and later</td></tr></table>
36 <div class="warning"><h3>Warning</h3>
37 <p>The session modules make use of HTTP cookies, and as such can fall
38 victim to Cross Site Scripting attacks, or expose potentially private
39 information to clients. Please ensure that the relevant risks have
40 been taken into account before enabling the session functionality on
44 <p>This submodule of <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_session.html">mod_session</a></code> provides support for the
45 encryption of user sessions before being written to a local database, or
46 written to a remote browser via an HTTP cookie.</p>
48 <p>This can help provide privacy to user sessions where the contents of
49 the session should be kept private from the user, or where protection is
50 needed against the effects of cross site scripting attacks.</p>
52 <p>For more details on the session interface, see the documentation for
53 the <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_session.html">mod_session</a></code> module.</p>
56 <div id="quickview"><h3 class="directives">Directives</h3>
58 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#sessioncryptocipher">SessionCryptoCipher</a></li>
59 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#sessioncryptodriver">SessionCryptoDriver</a></li>
60 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#sessioncryptopassphrase">SessionCryptoPassphrase</a></li>
61 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#sessioncryptopassphrasefile">SessionCryptoPassphraseFile</a></li>
65 <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#basicusage">Basic Usage</a></li>
66 </ul><h3>See also</h3>
68 <li><code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_session.html">mod_session</a></code></li>
69 <li><code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_session_cookie.html">mod_session_cookie</a></code></li>
70 <li><code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_session_dbd.html">mod_session_dbd</a></code></li>
71 </ul><ul class="seealso"><li><a href="#comments_section">Comments</a></li></ul></div>
72 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
74 <h2><a name="basicusage" id="basicusage">Basic Usage</a></h2>
76 <p>To create a simple encrypted session and store it in a cookie called
77 <var>session</var>, configure the session as follows:</p>
79 <div class="example"><h3>Browser based encrypted session</h3><pre class="prettyprint lang-config">Session On
80 SessionCookieName session path=/
81 SessionCryptoPassphrase secret</pre>
84 <p>The session will be encrypted with the given key. Different servers can
85 be configured to share sessions by ensuring the same encryption key is used
88 <p>If the encryption key is changed, sessions will be invalidated
91 <p>For documentation on how the session can be used to store username
92 and password details, see the <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_auth_form.html">mod_auth_form</a></code> module.</p>
95 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
96 <div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="SessionCryptoCipher" id="SessionCryptoCipher">SessionCryptoCipher</a> <a name="sessioncryptocipher" id="sessioncryptocipher">Directive</a></h2>
97 <table class="directive">
98 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>The crypto cipher to be used to encrypt the session</td></tr>
99 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>SessionCryptoCipher <var>name</var></code></td></tr>
100 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:</a></th><td><code>aes256</code></td></tr>
101 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess</td></tr>
102 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Experimental</td></tr>
103 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_session_crypto</td></tr>
104 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Compatibility">Compatibility:</a></th><td>Available in Apache 2.3.0 and later</td></tr>
106 <p>The <code class="directive">SessionCryptoCipher</code> directive allows the cipher to
107 be used during encryption. If not specified, the cipher defaults to
108 <code>aes256</code>.</p>
110 <p>Possible values depend on the crypto driver in use, and could be one of:</p>
112 <ul><li>3des192</li><li>aes128</li><li>aes192</li><li>aes256</li></ul>
116 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
117 <div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="SessionCryptoDriver" id="SessionCryptoDriver">SessionCryptoDriver</a> <a name="sessioncryptodriver" id="sessioncryptodriver">Directive</a></h2>
118 <table class="directive">
119 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>The crypto driver to be used to encrypt the session</td></tr>
120 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>SessionCryptoDriver <var>name</var> <var>[param[=value]]</var></code></td></tr>
121 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:</a></th><td><code>none</code></td></tr>
122 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>server config</td></tr>
123 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Experimental</td></tr>
124 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_session_crypto</td></tr>
125 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Compatibility">Compatibility:</a></th><td>Available in Apache 2.3.0 and later</td></tr>
127 <p>The <code class="directive">SessionCryptoDriver</code> directive specifies the name of
128 the crypto driver to be used for encryption. If not specified, the driver defaults
129 to the recommended driver compiled into APR-util.</p>
131 <p>The <var>NSS</var> crypto driver requires some parameters for configuration,
132 which are specified as parameters with optional values after the driver name.</p>
134 <div class="example"><h3>NSS without a certificate database</h3><pre class="prettyprint lang-config">SessionCryptoDriver nss</pre>
137 <div class="example"><h3>NSS with certificate database</h3><pre class="prettyprint lang-config">SessionCryptoDriver nss dir=certs</pre>
140 <div class="example"><h3>NSS with certificate database and parameters</h3><pre class="prettyprint lang-config">SessionCryptoDriver nss dir=certs key3=key3.db cert7=cert7.db secmod=secmod</pre>
143 <div class="example"><h3>NSS with paths containing spaces</h3><pre class="prettyprint lang-config">SessionCryptoDriver nss "dir=My Certs" key3=key3.db cert7=cert7.db secmod=secmod</pre>
146 <p>The <var>NSS</var> crypto driver might have already been
147 configured by another part of the server, for example from
148 <code>mod_nss</code> or <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_ldap.html">mod_ldap</a></code>. If found to
149 have already been configured, a warning will be logged, and the
150 existing configuration will have taken affect. To avoid this
151 warning, use the noinit parameter as follows.</p>
153 <div class="example"><h3>NSS with certificate database</h3><pre class="prettyprint lang-config">SessionCryptoDriver nss noinit</pre>
156 <p>To prevent confusion, ensure that all modules requiring NSS are configured with
157 identical parameters.</p>
159 <p>The <var>openssl</var> crypto driver supports an optional parameter to specify
160 the engine to be used for encryption.</p>
162 <div class="example"><h3>OpenSSL with engine support</h3><pre class="prettyprint lang-config">SessionCryptoDriver openssl engine=name</pre>
167 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
168 <div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="SessionCryptoPassphrase" id="SessionCryptoPassphrase">SessionCryptoPassphrase</a> <a name="sessioncryptopassphrase" id="sessioncryptopassphrase">Directive</a></h2>
169 <table class="directive">
170 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>The key used to encrypt the session</td></tr>
171 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>SessionCryptoPassphrase <var>secret</var> [ <var>secret</var> ... ] </code></td></tr>
172 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:</a></th><td><code>none</code></td></tr>
173 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess</td></tr>
174 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Experimental</td></tr>
175 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_session_crypto</td></tr>
176 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Compatibility">Compatibility:</a></th><td>Available in Apache 2.3.0 and later</td></tr>
178 <p>The <code class="directive">SessionCryptoPassphrase</code> directive specifies the keys
179 to be used to enable symmetrical encryption on the contents of the session before
180 writing the session, or decrypting the contents of the session after reading the
183 <p>Keys are more secure when they are long, and consist of truly random characters.
184 Changing the key on a server has the effect of invalidating all existing sessions.</p>
186 <p>Multiple keys can be specified in order to support key rotation. The first key
187 listed will be used for encryption, while all keys listed will be attempted for
188 decryption. To rotate keys across multiple servers over a period of time, add a new
189 secret to the end of the list, and once rolled out completely to all servers, remove
190 the first key from the start of the list.</p>
192 <p>As of version 2.4.7 if the value begins with <var>exec:</var> the resulting command
193 will be executed and the first line returned to standard output by the program will be
195 <div class="example"><pre>#key used as-is
196 SessionCryptoPassphrase secret
198 #Run /path/to/program to get key
199 SessionCryptoPassphrase exec:/path/to/program
201 #Run /path/to/otherProgram and provide arguments
202 SessionCryptoPassphrase "exec:/path/to/otherProgram argument1"</pre></div>
206 <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
207 <div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="SessionCryptoPassphraseFile" id="SessionCryptoPassphraseFile">SessionCryptoPassphraseFile</a> <a name="sessioncryptopassphrasefile" id="sessioncryptopassphrasefile">Directive</a></h2>
208 <table class="directive">
209 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>File containing keys used to encrypt the session</td></tr>
210 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>SessionCryptoPassphraseFile <var>filename</var></code></td></tr>
211 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:</a></th><td><code>none</code></td></tr>
212 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>server config, virtual host, directory</td></tr>
213 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Experimental</td></tr>
214 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_session_crypto</td></tr>
215 <tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Compatibility">Compatibility:</a></th><td>Available in Apache 2.3.0 and later</td></tr>
217 <p>The <code class="directive">SessionCryptoPassphraseFile</code> directive specifies the
218 name of a configuration file containing the keys to use for encrypting or decrypting
219 the session, specified one per line. The file is read on server start, and a graceful
220 restart will be necessary for httpd to pick up changes to the keys.</p>
222 <p>Unlike the <code class="directive">SessionCryptoPassphrase</code> directive, the keys are
223 not exposed within the httpd configuration and can be hidden by protecting the file
226 <p>Multiple keys can be specified in order to support key rotation. The first key
227 listed will be used for encryption, while all keys listed will be attempted for
228 decryption. To rotate keys across multiple servers over a period of time, add a new
229 secret to the end of the list, and once rolled out completely to all servers, remove
230 the first key from the start of the list.</p>
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236 <p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/mod/mod_session_crypto.html" title="English"> en </a></p>
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