intro.txt

/**
 
@mainpage Introduction to libest 
 
This document describes libest, a library that implements the 
Enrollment over Secure Transport protocol (RFC 7030).  This protocol is a
replacement for SCEP.  It allows X509 certificates to be provisioned
on end-user devices and network infrastructure devices.  Users of
libest are encouraged to read RFC 7030 prior to using the API.
See the @ref Features section for more detailed information.

libest provides a subset of the EST specification.  The 
following message flows are provided:

@latexonly
\begin{itemize}
\item  cacerts
\item  csrattrs
\item  simpleenroll
\item  simiplereenroll
\end{itemize}
@endlatexonly

 
This document is organized as follows.  The first chapter provides 
background material on EST and an overview of libest.  The subsequent
chapters provide a detailed reference to the libest API and related
functions.  The reference material is created automatically (using the
doxygen utility) from comments embedded in some of the C header
files. 

@section LICENSE License and Disclaimer

libest is distributed under the following license, which is included
in the source code distribution.  It is reproduced in the manual in
case you attained the library from another source.
	
@latexonly
\begin{quote}
Copyright (c) 2013-2014 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:
\begin{itemize}
\item  Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
  notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
\item Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
  copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
  disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
  with the distribution.
\item Neither the name of the Cisco Systems, Inc. nor the names of its
  contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
  from this software without specific prior written permission.
\end{itemize}
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT,
INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED
OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
\end{quote}
@endlatexonly

@section Features Supported Features

The EST specification defines requirements for enrolling X509
certifications for end-entities, Registration Authorities (RA), and 
Certificate Authorities (CA).  There are six message flows described
in the EST specification.  libest supports a subset of these
message flows, but it designed to operate as a client, RA, or CA.
libest supports the following four EST message flows:

@latexonly
\begin{itemize}
\item  cacerts
\item  csrattrs
\item  simpleenroll
\item  simiplereenroll
\end{itemize}
@endlatexonly

@latexonly
The following message flows are currently not supported:
\begin{itemize}
\item fullcmc 
\item serverkeygen 
\end{itemize}
@endlatexonly
 
The user should be aware that it is possible to misuse this library,
which may result in inadequate security.  If you are implementing a 
feature using this library, you will want to read the Security Considerations 
section of the EST specification (RFC 7030).  In addition, it is important that 
you read and understand the terms outlined in the @ref LICENSE section.


@section Installing Installing and Building libest 

@latexonly

To install libest, download the latest release of the distribution.  
The naming convention of the tarball is 
\texttt{libest-A.B.gz}, where \texttt{A} is the
major release number and \texttt{B} is
the minor release number, and \texttt{gz} is the file
extension.  Users are encouraged to use the most recent release.  
Unpack the distribution and
extract the source files; the directory into which the source files
will go is named \texttt{libest-A-B}.

libest uses the GNU \texttt{autoconf} and \texttt{make}
utilities\footnote{BSD make may not work; if both versions of make
are on your platform, you may have to invoke GNU make as \texttt{gmake}.}.  In
the \texttt{libest} directory, run the configure script and then make:
\begin{verbatim}
  ./configure [ options ]       
  make                          
  make install
\end{verbatim}

This package has been tested on both 32 and 64 bit Linux systems running
CentOS and Ubuntu.  The OpenSSL development package should be installed
on the system.  libest is designed to work 
with the OpenSSL 1.0.1 API.  You can use the --with-ssl-dir option with
the ./configure command to specify the location of the OpenSSL
installation on the host system.

\subsection{Static Linking}

By default, both the shared and statically linked version of 
libest are built.  If only the static version is to be used, 
the --disable-shared option should be used with ./configure.
This will disbale the generation of the shared version of the libest 
library, forcing the linker to use the statically linked version.

\subsection{Release builds}

By default libest includes debug symbols in the target binary.  To perform
a production release build that does not contain debug symbols, the 
following procedure can be used:

\begin{verbatim}
  ./configure [ options ]       
  make                          
  make install-strip
\end{verbatim}

@endlatexonly

@section Examples Example Code

@latexonly

Several example applications are included in the release tarball. These
are located in the \texttt{/example} subdirectory.

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{ll}
\hline
Example Applications    	& Function tested	\\
\hline
client-simple   & Example EST client application using the easy provision API \\
client   & Example EST client application using the granular API \\
server	& Example EST server application using OpenSSL CA \\
proxy	& Example EST proxy application acting as an RA \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

There are README files in each of the example subdirectories.  The
samples are built automatically when libest is configured and
compiled.  When running the example server application, there is a
script called createCA.sh that must be run once to create the
root CA certificate and certificate chain that is required for 
running the EST example server.  This script uses the host-resident
copy of OpenSSL on the system to create a CA database.  Your
host-resident copy of OpenSSL should provide support for ECC
operations.  

Note, the example code is not suitable for including into 
commercial software.  The examples are primarily used to test
the libest library and to show how the API should be used.  The
example code does not have all the appropriate error handling
and robust design required for commercial software.  For example,
the OpenSSL CA used by the example EST server is not thread safe and
provides no means to enforce certificate policy. 

@endlatexonly


@section Overview EST Overview

EST provides for a standards based mechanism to provision X509 certificates
from either an RA or CA.  An entity that desires to attain a valid
X509 certificate bound to a trust point acts as an EST client and
communicates with either an RA or a CA to request and receive an
X509 certificate from a trusted CA.  libest provides
both client-side and server-side capabilities to operate as any
role in the EST enrollment process (end-entity, RA, or CA). 
It is important to note that libest is not a CA.  libest is only
the EST stack, which can be used by a CA to comply with RFC 7030.

The EST specification requires the use of TLS for transport.  This 
allows all the entities participating in the enrollment process to
verify the identity of each other.  TLS also provides privacy on the
communication channel between the EST client and RA/CA.  
Using the simple case of an
EST client communicating with an EST enabled CA server, the following
minimal setup is required prior to initiating the enrollment process:

@latexonly
\begin{itemize}
\item   A server certificate must be provisioned for the EST enabled
  CA server.  This allows the CA to identify itself to EST clients.
\item   The certificate chain used to sign the server certificate 
  must be provided to libest on the server side.
\item   The root certificate of the chain used to sign the server
  certificate should be pre-provisioned on the EST client.  This allows
  the EST client to verify the identity of the EST enabled CA 
  server\footnote{This statement does not address the bootstrap enrollment process.  The bootstrap method is supported by libest, but requires additional configuration.}.  If this root certificate can not be pre-provisioned, then
  a fingerprint of the EST server identity certificate can be used by the
  EST client to verify the EST server identity.
\end{itemize}
@endlatexonly

With the above setup requirements satisfied, the enrollment process 
consists of the following procedure:

@latexonly
\begin{itemize}
\item   The EST client issues the /cacerts request to the server.  During 
  this process the EST client verifies the server identity using the 
  pre-provisioned root certificate described above, or using a fingerprint
  of the server certificate.
\item   The EST client replaces the pre-provisioned trusted root certificates
  with the certificates provided by the EST enabled CA server in the /cacerts
  response.  This new certificate chain is used for all future client-side
  EST operations.  The client should persist this new trust chain for 
  future use, such as certificate renewal.
\item   The EST client issues the /csrattrs request to the server.  The
  server responds by providing X509 attributes that should be included in
  the forthcoming PKCS10 CSR request.  The required X509 attributes are
  derived from the certificate policy configured on the CA.
\item   The EST client generates a PKCS10 CSR and includes any specific 
  X509 attributes required by the server based on the response in the /csrattrs
  request.
\item   The EST client sends the PKCS10 CSR to the server using the 
  /simpleenroll request.  The EST enabled CA server will sign the CSR and 
  return the X509 certificate to the client.
\end{itemize}
@endlatexonly


@section ESTClient EST Client Operation

Applications that need to provision X509 certificates can utilize
libest in client mode.  libest provides an API that performs the
steps in the enrollment process described in the @ref Overview section. 
The first step when using the API is to create an EST context.  Once
created, the context is used for subsequent API calls into the libest 
library.  The EST specification allows for several authentication methods.
This includes HTTP basic authentication, HTTP digest authentication, and
certificate based authentication.  The example client code provided
with the libest distribution tarball shows how to use the various capabilities 
in the libest API, including the various authentication methods.

There are two methods for provisioning a certifice while operating
in client mode.  The first is the easy provision API, which provides
a simplified API that encapsulates all the client-side EST operations
into a single enroll operation.  The second method is to use the
granular API for performing the /cacerts, /csrattrs, and /simpleenroll
operations individually.  The easy provision API is limited in that
the client can only specify the X509 Common Name value in the certificate
request.  If the CA certificate policy is configured such that additional
X509 attributes are required to be supplied by the client, then the
easy provision API should not be used.


@latexonly
\subsection{Easy Provision API}
@endlatexonly

The easy provision API provides a simplied entry point into libest to
enroll a certificate request with a CA.  This API encapsulates the
recommended steps as defined in RFC 7030, which includes:

@latexonly
\begin{itemize}
\item   Attain a fresh copy of the EST server CA certificates.
\item   Request the CSR attributes from the EST server to determine if proof-of-possession is required.
\item   Issue the simple enroll request to the EST server. 
\end{itemize}
@endlatexonly

The following procedure outlines the steps to utilize the easy provision API:

1.  Invoke the est_apps_startup() helper function, which
    initializes the OpenSSL library. This may not be required if
    your application has already initialized OpenSSL elsewhere.
2.  Invoke est_client_init() to attain an EST context. Use the
    pre-provisioned trusted root certificates. 
3.  Invoke est_client_set_auth() to specify the HTTP username
    and password to be used.  Optionally, an existing X509 certificate
    can be used to identify the client to the EST server.  For example,
    a previously issued certificate or a bootstrap certificate could
    be used.  The HTTP username is optional when a client certificate
    is provided.
4.  Invoke est_client_set_server() to specify the IP address of the
    EST server, which may be either an RA or CA.
5.  Invoke est_client_provision_cert() to create a PKCS10 CSR and
    forward it to the EST server, expecting the EST server to return
    the signed X509 certificate.
6.  Invoke est_client_copy_enrolled_cert() to copy the X509 cert provided
    by the EST server to local storage.
7.  Invoke est_client_copy_cacerts() to retrieve the latest trust chain that
    was provided by the EST server.  These certs should be persisted for future use.
8.  Invoke est_destroy() to remove the EST context.   

@latexonly
\subsection{Full Provision API}
@endlatexonly

While the easy provision API is easier to use, it does not allow the application
to specify X509 attributes in the PKCS10 CSR other than the Common Name.  Because
the CA may be configured with policy requiring the certificate requestor to provide
additional X509 attributes in the CSR, the easy provision API may not be suitable
for your application.  When this occurs, libest provides a more granular API that
allows your application to create the PKCS10 CSR itself, rather than having libest 
create the CSR on behalf of your application.  This allows your application to include
any required X509 attributes in the CSR.  The following steps outline the procedure 
for using the granular API: 

1.  Invoke the est_apps_startup() helper function, which
    initializes the OpenSSL library. This may not be required if
    your application has already initialized OpenSSL elsewhere.
2.  Invoke est_client_init() to attain an EST context. Use the
    pre-provisioned trusted root certificates. 
3.  Invoke est_client_set_auth() to specify the HTTP username
    and password to be used.  Optionally, an existing X509 certificate
    can be used to identify the client to the EST server.  For example,
    a previously issued certificate or a bootstrap certificate could
    be used.  The HTTP username is optional when a client certificate
    is provided.
4.  Invoke est_client_set_server() to specify the IP address of the
    EST server, which may be either an RA or CA.
5.  Invoke est_client_get_cacerts() and est_client_copy_cacerts() to 
    retrieve the latest trust chain from the EST server.
6.  Invoke est_destroy() to clean the EST context.
7.  Invoke est_client_init() to attain a new EST context.  Unlike 
    step 2, we use the new CA certs just attained in step 5.  Repeat
    steps 3 and 4 again too.
8.  Invoke est_client_get_csrattrs() to retrieve the required 
    X509 attributes from the CA.  
9.  Generate a public/private key pair if needed.
10. Using OpenSSL, generate a PKCS10 CSR and populate any required CSR attributes
    based on the response in step 8.
11. Invoke est_client_enroll_csr() to send the PKCS10 CSR to the CA and
    receive the X509 certificate.
12. Invoke est_client_copy_enrolled_cert() to copy the X509 cert provided
    by the EST server to local storage.
13. Invoke est_destroy() to remove the EST context.   

The procedure outlined above describes the general use case for
provisioning a certificate.  Please be aware the EST specification 
allows for many variations.  Other considerations include:

@latexonly
\begin{itemize}
\item   Handling the retry-after response when the CA isn't configured 
  for automatic approval.
\item   Manual verification of the CA server when trusted root 
  certificates are not pre-provisioned on the EST client.
\item   Bootstrap use case where multiple trust anchors are used.
\item   The re-enrollment process to renew a certificate.
\item   Enable CRL checks when verifying the server identity.
\item   Provide thread locking mechanism required by OpenSSL.
\end{itemize}
@endlatexonly

@section ESTServer EST Server Operation

The EST specification covers a broad spectrum of the OSI
model.  EST places requirements on TLS, HTTP, and the certificate
authority (CA).  libest is not a CA.  libest only implements the
TLS and HTTP layers as defined in RFC 7030.  It
is the responsibility of your application to bind
the CA server to libest.  Additionally, libest does not implement
the TCP server required to accept incoming requests. 
Your application must initialize and manage the
TCP sockets for incoming connections.  

When implementing an EST server your application is
responsible for binding the EST stack to a CA.  The
application is also responsible for opening the TCP sockets that will
receive incoming connections.  An overview of implementing a server is:

@latexonly
\begin{itemize}
\item  Initialize an EST context.  The application provides the server
    certificate and private key used to identify itself to any
    EST clients.  The application also provides the trusted certificate chain
    to be used when responding to the /cacerts requests. 
\item  Specify the callback function that libest will use to process
    an incoming CSR from the client.  This callback function is the
    glue that binds libest to the CA.  This function will forward
    the CSR to the CA and return the response to libest.  Your application
    must implement this callback function.
\item  Specify the callback function that libest will invoke to verify
    the client identity when HTTP basic or digest authentication
    is used.  This callback function would verify the user's identity
    and return a response to libest.  A typical use case would be
    to utilize a RADIUS server from within callback function.  Your application
    is responsible for hooking into the desired authentication server,
    such as RADIUS, LDAP, OAuth, etc.  libest currently does not contain
    support for authentication protocols.  In the future libest may
    include built-in support for RADIUS, LDAP, etc.
\item  Open one or more listening TCP sockets.  These sockets must be
    managed by the application.  An example of doing this would be
    to write an NGINX module that utlized NGINX to manage the
    listening sockets, while forwarding incoming requests on these
    sockets to libest.  Another example would be to write a custom
    multi-threaded TCP server to accept incoming socket requests and
    forward them to libest.
\end{itemize}
@endlatexonly

The following API calls would be invoked to implement an EST server.  These
represent the minimal configuration to implementing an EST server:

1.  Invoke the est_apps_startup() helper function, which
    initializes the OpenSSL library.  
2.  Invoke est_server_init() to attain a new EST context.  The server's
    certificate and private key are provided to this call.
3.  Invoke est_set_ca_enroll_cb() to provide a callback function to 
    libest that is invoked by libest when a PKCS10 CSR needs to be
    signed by the CA.  Your application must implement this callback
    function to forward the CSR to the CA.
4.  Invoke est_set_csr_cb() to provide a callback function to
    libest that is invoked by libest when requesting the CSR 
    attributes that should be included by EST clients during the
    enrollment process.
5.  Invoke est_server_start() to initialize the HTTPS services.
    This step is required to setup the TLS context within the
    HTTPS layer prior to receiving EST requests in step 7.
6.  Open a TCP listening socket and wait for incoming requests.
7.  Accept new incoming connections on the socket and invoke
    est_server_handle_request().

The procedure outlined above describes the general use case for
implementing a simple EST server operating as either an RA or CA. 
The EST specification allows for many
variations.  libest provides additional API entry points to customize
the behavior of the server.  Other considerations include:

@latexonly
\begin{itemize}
\item   Specify the retry period when the CA is configured for manual 
  approval.
\item   Enable CRL checks when verifying the client identity.
\item   Configuring either HTTP basic, HTTP digest, or no HTTP 
  authentication.
\item   Disabling the proof-of-possession check.
\item   Implementing a multi-threaded EST server to allow for simultaneous
  processing of EST requests.
\item   Providing support for the EST /simplereenroll flow.
\item   Provide thread locking mechanism required by OpenSSL.
\item   Enable TLS single-use DH key generation.
\end{itemize}
@endlatexonly

@section ESTProxy EST Proxy Operation

libest provides the ability to operate as an EST proxy.  An EST proxy receives
incoming EST requests and forwards outgoing EST requests to either an RA or CA.
A typical use case for EST proxy mode would be to deploy the proxy on a VPN
head-end device that is dual-homed on both a public and private network.  This would
allow EST requests orginating from VPN clients on the public Internet to be 
forwarded to an RA or CA residing on a private network.

Using libest in proxy mode is similar to server mode operation.  The application
is responsible for implementing the TCP listener and managing the TCP connections.
However, there is no need to integrate a CA with libest when operating in
proxy mode, which makes proxy mode suitable for operating as an RA.  The following 
steps outline the minimal API calls required to implement an EST proxy:

1.  Invoke the est_apps_startup() helper function, which
    initializes the OpenSSL library.  
2.  Invoke est_proxy_init() to attain a new EST context.  The proxy server
    certificate and private key are provided to this call.  This certificate is
    used to identify the proxy to both the client and to the RA/CA.
3.  Invoke est_proxy_set_server() to specify the IP address and port of the RA/CA.
4.  Invoke est_proxy_start() to initialize the HTTPS services.
    This step is required to setup the TLS context within the
    HTTPS layer prior to receiving EST requests in step 6.
5.  Open a TCP listening socket and wait for incoming requests.
6.  Accept new incoming connections on the socket and invoke
    est_server_handle_request().


@section FIPS FIPS 140-2 Compliance

Another consideration is FIPS 140 compliance.  libest was developed
using OpenSSL 1.0.1.  OpenSSL can be configured and compiled 
with FIPS 140 support.  This allows libest to claim FIPS compliance when the 
application invokes the FIPS_mode_set() entry point in the OpenSSL
API.  When in FIPS mode, some ciphers are not allowed, including MD5.
Since HTTP digest authentication uses MD5, FIPS should not be enabled
in conjunction with HTTP digest authentication.  Also, all certificates
and CSRs should not use MD5 and must use FIPS approved key sizes.

 */