* Why does Valgrind complain about the use of uninitialized data?
* Why doesn't a memory BIO work when a file does?
* Where are the declarations and implementations of d2i_X509() etc?
+* When debugging I observe SIGILL during OpenSSL initialization: why?
===============================================================================
* Which is the current version of OpenSSL?
The current version is available from <URL: http://www.openssl.org>.
-OpenSSL 1.0.1e was released on Feb 11, 2013.
In addition to the current stable release, you can also access daily
snapshots of the OpenSSL development version at <URL:
documentation is included in each OpenSSL distribution under the docs
directory.
-For information on parts of libcrypto that are not yet documented, you
-might want to read Ariel Glenn's documentation on SSLeay 0.9, OpenSSL's
-predecessor, at <URL: http://www.columbia.edu/~ariel/ssleay/>. Much
-of this still applies to OpenSSL.
-
There is some documentation about certificate extensions and PKCS#12
in doc/openssl.txt
The ways to print out the oneline format of the DN (Distinguished Name) have
been extended in version 0.9.7 of OpenSSL. Using the new X509_NAME_print_ex()
interface, the "-nameopt" option could be introduded. See the manual
-page of the "openssl x509" commandline tool for details. The old behaviour
+page of the "openssl x509" command line tool for details. The old behaviour
has however been left as default for the sake of compatibility.
* What is a "128 bit certificate"? Can I create one with OpenSSL?
inadequate. A relaxation of the rules allowed the use of strong encryption but
only to an authorised server.
-Two slighly different techniques were developed to support this, one used by
+Two slightly different techniques were developed to support this, one used by
Netscape was called "step up", the other used by MSIE was called "Server Gated
Cryptography" (SGC). When a browser initially connected to a server it would
check to see if the certificate contained certain extensions and was issued by
* Test suite still fails, what to do?
-Another common reason for failure to complete some particular test is
-simply bad code generated by a buggy component in toolchain or deficiency
-in run-time environment. There are few cases documented in PROBLEMS file,
-consult it for possible workaround before you beat the drum. Even if you
-don't find solution or even mention there, do reserve for possibility of
-a compiler bug. Compiler bugs might appear in rather bizarre ways, they
-never make sense, and tend to emerge when you least expect them. In order
-to identify one, drop optimization level, e.g. by editing CFLAG line in
-top-level Makefile, recompile and re-run the test.
+Another common reason for test failures is bugs in the toolchain
+or run-time environment. Known cases of this are documented in the
+PROBLEMS file, please review it before you beat the drum. Even if you
+don't find anything in that file, please do consider the possibility
+of a compiler bug. Compiler bugs often appear in rather bizarre ways,
+they never make sense, and tend to emerge when you least expect
+them. One thing to try is to reduce the level of optimization (such
+as by editing the CFLAG variable line in the top-level Makefile),
+and then recompile and re-run the test.
* I think I've found a bug, what should I do?
unsure whether it is a bug or not submit a query to the openssl-users mailing
list.
+If you think you have found a bug based on the output of static analysis tools
+then please manually check the issue is genuine. Such tools can produce a
+LOT of false positives.
+
* I'm SURE I've found a bug, how do I report it?
+To avoid duplicated reports check the mailing lists and release notes for the
+relevant version of OpenSSL to see if the problem has been reported already.
+
Bug reports with no security implications should be sent to the request
tracker. This can be done by mailing the report to <rt@openssl.org> (or its
alias <openssl-bugs@openssl.org>), please note that messages sent to the
If you think your bug has security implications then please send it to
openssl-security@openssl.org if you don't get a prompt reply at least
acknowledging receipt then resend or mail it directly to one of the
-more active team members (e.g. Steve).
+more active team members (e.g. Steve). If you wish to use PGP to send
+in a report please use one or more of the keys of the team members listed
+at <URL: http://www.openssl.org/about/>
+
+Note that bugs only present in the openssl utility are not in general
+considered to be security issues.
[PROG] ========================================================================
The implementation passes an ASN1 "template" defining the structure into an
ASN1 interpreter using generalised functions such as ASN1_item_d2i().
+* When debugging I observe SIGILL during OpenSSL initialization: why?
+
+OpenSSL adapts to processor it executes on and for this reason has to
+query its capabilities. Unfortunately on some processors the only way
+to achieve this for non-privileged code is to attempt instructions
+that can cause Illegal Instruction exceptions. The initialization
+procedure is coded to handle these exceptions to manipulate corresponding
+bits in capabilities vector. This normally appears transparent, except
+when you execute it under debugger, which stops prior delivering signal
+to handler. Simply resuming execution does the trick, but when debugging
+a lot it might feel counterproductive. Two options. Either set explicit
+capability environment variable in order to bypass the capability query
+(see corresponding crypto/*cap.c for details). Or configure debugger not
+to stop upon SIGILL exception, e.g. in gdb case add 'handle SIGILL nostop'
+to your .gdbinit.
===============================================================================