Convert a CRT SSL certificate chain to PFX format

   

Many SSL certificate authorities (CAs) do not natively support .PFX format certificates which means that if you plan on installing them on something like an Azure App Service, you may encounter issues. Today, let’s figure out how to convert a CRT SSL certificate chain to PFX format.

First, let’s generate a private key and certificate signing request. Run the following command, and answer the questions as accurately as possible. The private key file (domain.key) should be kept secret and protected.

openssl req \
        -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout domain.key \
        -out domain.csr

Next, take the contents of domain.csr (it is just a plaintext file with your answers and some other non-secret information base64-encoded; it can be opened in any text editor) and request your certificate through your CA. This process varies per certificate authority, and so is out of scope for this article.

[Time passes]

Now, your CA provides you with a .ZIP file with the following files.

your_domain_com.crt
AAACertificateServices.crt
DomainValidationSecureServerCA.crt
USERTrustRSAAAACA.crt

(where your_domain_com.crt is the actual certificate file and the other .CRT files represent the various certificates that will allow a browser to chain up to the root; while the filenames and number of files will almost certainly be different for each certificate authority, the point here is to illustrate that there will be some number of .CRT files and that they are all important)

Extract those files into the same folder that you have the domain.key file from earlier in.

Finally, let’s take our certificate and combine them with the rest of the chain to create a single .PFX file by running the following command. Your site’s certificate should be specified in the -in parameter, and for each of the chain certificates, adding another -certfile entry.

openssl pkcs12 -export -out certificate.pfx \
        -inkey domain.key \
        -in your_domain_com.crt \
        -certfile AAACertificateServices.crt \
        -certfile DomainValidationSecureServerCA.crt \
        -certfile USERTrustRSAAAACA.crt

NOTE: Azure App Services and Azure Key Vaults require a password-protected .PFX file, so ensure that you enter one when prompted. When you go to upload the certificate and you are required to select the .PFX file and a password, the password you created here is the one it’s referring to.

And you’re done! You now have a file in that folder (certificate.pfx) that you can upload/install and ensure your site is protected against MITM attacks.

black and white striped textile

Cannot use the SKU Basic with File Change Audit for site

  

The problem

We’ve recently begun attempting to scale our Azure App Services up and down for our test environments; scaling them up to match production performance levels (SKU: PremiumV2) during the day and then back down to minimal (SKU: Basic) at the end of the working day to save on costs. Just in the last month or two however, we’ve started to get the error “Cannot use the SKU Basic with File Change Audit for site XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX”.

Initially, we thought it had to do with the fact that we had a Diagnostic setting that was tracking AppServiceFileAuditLogs, but even after removing that Diagnostic setting before attempting the scale down, the issue persisted.

After banging our head against the walls with no progress being made, we opened a low-severity ticket with Azure Support to understand what was going on. They suggested we remove the following App Configuration settings:

  • DIAGNOSTICS_AZUREBLOBCONTAINERSASURL
  • DIAGNOSTICS_AZUREBLOBRETENTIONINDAYS
  • DiagnosticServices_EXTENSION_VERSION
  • WEBSITE_HTTPLOGGING_CONTAINER_URL
  • WEBSITE_HTTPLOGGING_RETENTION_DAYS

Again, these did not have any effect.

It was at this time that I was in the portal browsing around for something else and happened to notice the “JSON View” option at the top right of the App Service so I checked it out and grep’d for audit just to see what I’d find.

Bingo: fileChangeAuditEnabled

Not so bingo: fileChangeAuditEnabled: null

But seeing that setting got me to thinking. What if there’s a bug in what JSON View is showing. The error we’re receiving is clearly saying it’s enabled, but the website is showing null; what if there’s some kind of type-mismatch going on behind the portal that is showing null but actually has a setting? What if we could use a different mechanism to test that theory?

Well, it just so happens that Azure PowerShell has a Get-AzResource function that can do just that and this blog post shows us how to do that.

The solution

First, let’s get the resource:

$appServiceRG = "example-resource-group"
$appServiceName = "example-app-service-name"
$config = Get-AzResource -ResourceGroupName $appServiceRG `
    -ResourceType "Microsoft.Web/sites/config" `
    -ResourceName "$($appServiceName)/web" `
    -apiVersion 2016-08-01

We now have an object in $config that we can now check the properties of by doing:

$config.Properties

And there it is:

fileChangeAuditEnabled                 : True

Now all we need to do is configure it to false (and also unset a property called ReservedInstanceCount which is a duplicate of preWarmedInstanceCount but cannot be included when we try and reset the other setting due to what I assume is Azure just keeping it around for legacy reasons):

$config.Properties.fileChangeAuditEnabled = "false"
$config.Properties.PSObject.Properties.Remove('ReservedInstanceCount')

Next, as per the suggestion from Parameswaran in the comments (thank you!), create a new Array (since existing arrays are of fixed size and cannot be modified) while removing AppServiceFileAuditLogs from the list of azureMonitorLogCategories

$newCategories = @()

ForEach ($entry in $config.Properties.azureMonitorLogCategories) {
    If ($entry -ne "AppServiceFileAuditLogs") {
        $newCategories += $entry
    }
}

$config.Properties.azureMonitorLogCategories = $newCategories

And finally, let’s set the setting:

$config | Set-AzResource -Force

Next, for any Deployment Slots you have on this resource, repeat these steps again, but using the following resource retrieval code:

$config = Get-AzResource -ResourceGroupName $appServiceRG `
    -ResourceType "Microsoft.Web/sites/slots" `
    -ResourceName "$($appServiceName)" `
    -apiVersion 2016-08-01

Now, when you try to scale down from a PremiumV2 SKU to a Basic SKU, you will no longer receive the error of “Cannot use the SKU Basic with File Change Audit for site XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX”.

macro shot of stainless steel padlock

Public key authentication for non-techies

   

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve had a number of conversations with people on our product and delivery teams about public key authentication due to conversations they’ve had to have with some of our vendors. After having to explain public key authentication to non-techies several times, I figured it might be useful to post something public in case it helps anyone else.

So what is public key authentication and how does it work?

At it’s base, public key authentication is a secure way for a user or client to connect to a service via SSH, without having to send a password across the wire. Passwords can be intercepted and so the fewer times we have to send a password across an untrusted network, the better. Before the first connection is ever established, the client generates a public/private key pair and then sends their public key to the server they wish to connect to, while keeping their private key private.

Now the math that goes into why sharing this public key in the open isn’t a problem is a bit complicated (but hardly goes beyond grade 12 math), but it’s a lot easier to understand when you compare it to a real world scenario.

Let’s say you have a friend (vendor) and they have a shed (server) that you want to access and leave a batch of freshly baked cookies (files) for on a regular basis when they’re not home. You think about it for a while and come up with a solution: “Friend, please install a separate door (username) on your shed that only provides access to a small section of it (your home folder)”. Next, you go to the hardware store and buy a deadbolt lock (public key) that comes with a metal key (private key) that you keep on your keychain. Finally, you send this deadbolt lock to your friend to install on the door, while never showing them the key that opens the lock.

You can now come and go as you please, leaving your friend freshly baked cookies every few days, and since your key never left your possession, you can be sure that one else is sneaking inside the shed to steal the cookies. Additionally, your friend never needs to see the key because they have access to the whole shed, and you can be certain that no one else will ever be able to open up the lock because they don’t have your key.

This is public key authentication in a nutshell.

One added benefit that I haven’t really touched on here is that public key authentication – when properly created and protected – is the securest way to offer access to a system. Due to the math involved, it would take an adversary many times longer than the entire universe’s existence (that is not an exaggeration) to break your private key. Basically you can assume that if you do it right, it’s going to be secure.

I hope this made public key authentication a little less confusing and daunting for the non-techies who read this site, but if not, Khan Academy has a great video that goes into more depth using paint and color mixing. And if that still doesn’t answer your question, please leave a comment and I’d be happy to go into more detail.

Posts navigation