gtls Network Stream Driver

This network stream driver implements a TLS protected transport via the GnuTLS library.

Available since: 3.19.0 (suggested minimum 3.19.8 and above)

Supported Driver Modes

• 0 - unencrypted trasmission (just like ptcp driver)
• 1 - TLS-protected operation

Note: mode 0 does not provide any benefit over the ptcp driver. This mode exists for technical reasons, but should not be used. It may be removed in the future.

Supported Authentication Modes

• anon - anonymous authentication as described in IETF’s draft-ietf-syslog-transport-tls-12 Internet draft
• x509/fingerprint - certificate fingerprint authentication as described in IETF’s draft-ietf-syslog-transport-tls-12 Internet draft
• x509/certvalid - certificate validation only
• x509/name - certificate validation and subject name authentication as described in IETF’s draft-ietf-syslog-transport-tls-12 Internet draft

Note: “anon” does not permit to authenticate the remote peer. As such, this mode is vulnerable to man in the middle attacks as well as unauthorized access. It is recommended NOT to use this mode.

x509/certvalid is a nonstandard mode. It validates the remote peers certificate, but does not check the subject name. This is weak authentication that may be useful in scenarios where multiple devices are deployed and it is sufficient proof of authenticity when their certificates are signed by the CA the server trusts. This is better than anon authentication, but still not recommended. Known Problems

Even in x509/fingerprint mode, both the client and server certificate currently must be signed by the same root CA. This is an artifact of the underlying GnuTLS library and the way we use it. It is expected that we can resolve this issue in the future.