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= Using Zimbra with strong TLS configuration =


= Introduction =
Transport Layer Security (TLS) encrypts data sent over the Internet to ensure that eavesdroppers and hackers are unable to see what you transmit which is particularly useful for private and sensitive information such as passwords, credit card numbers, and personal correspondence. (further reading: https://www.internetsociety.org/deploy360/tls/basics)
By default, the Zimbra mailbox server, ''zmmailboxd'', supports both strong and weak SSL/TLS cipher suites for '''IMAPS''', '''POP3S''', and '''HTTPS'''. A typical security requirement is to disable weak ciphers which usually includes SSL versions prior to SSLv3 and any cipher not supporting at least 128 bit.


= Enable Strong Ciphers =
In this article you will learn how to configure Zimbra to use only strong encryption ciphers for TLS. Configuration settings on this page are routinely validated by our QA team.
To enable strong ciphers, weak ciphers must be disabled. It is best practise to run a SSL/TLS cipher scan first to see which ciphers your server currently supports.


As of today it is recommended to test HTTPS/SSL against multiple checks:
<span id="_zimbra_openssl_fips_update"></span>
= Zimbra OpenSSL FIPS update =


[https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/index.html SSL Labs (Qualsys)]
If you installed or upgraded to Zimbra version 9.0.0.P34, 8.8.15.P41, 10.0.2 or higher, Zimbra will use OpenSSL 3.0.x and FIPS compliance for OpenSSL will be enabled by default. Using FIPS mode for OpenSSL is more secure as weak ciphers will not be available and many security issues do not affect OpenSSL FIPS.
[https://sslcheck.globalsign.com GlobalSign]


[https://ssltools.websecurity.symantec.com/checker/#home Verisgin/Symantec]
To find out if Zimbra OpenSSL is FIPS enabled, you can run the following command that should fail with ''Error setting digest'':


Once the supported weak ciphers are determined, they can be disabled one by one system wide using the '''zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites''' global directory attribute.
<pre>/opt/zimbra/common/bin/openssl md5 /dev/null</pre>
<span id="_generate_ssl_ciphers_for_use_with_zimbrareverseproxysslciphers"></span>
= Generate ssl_ciphers for use with zimbraReverseProxySSLCiphers =


To disable weak ciphers use the ''zmprov'' command.  Be sure to prefix the attribute name with "+" when using mcf to keep existing values.
''This section is removed as it is no longer relevant when using OpenSSL FIPS.''


su - zimbra
<span id="_note_on_supporting_old_clients"></span>
zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites <cipher1>
= Note on supporting old clients =
zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites <cipher2>
zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites <cipher...>
zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites <cipherN>
zmmailboxdctl restart


The disabled ciphers in Zimbra by default include these:
Zimbra highly recommends running Zimbra OpenSSL in FIPS mode. Steps to enforce OS level FIPS or disable FIPS can be found in: https://wiki.zimbra.com/wiki/FIPS you should then harden TLS based on out-of-date recommendations from https://wiki.zimbra.com/index.php?title=Cipher_suites&oldid=69590


$ zmprov gcf zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites
<span id="_configuring_zimbra_proxy_nginx"></span>
zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites: SSL_DHE_DSS_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA
= Configuring Zimbra Proxy Nginx =
zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites: SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA
zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites: SSL_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA
zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites: SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA
zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites: SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA
zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites: SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5
zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites: SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA


Please note that curl by default will not connect to RC4 ciphers:
Configure Zimbra to use the ciphers provided by OpenSSL FIPS, and enable ''only'' TLSv1.2 and TLSv1.3 like this:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=807749


= Nginx Proxy Ciphers =
<pre>zmprov mcf zimbraReverseProxySSLProtocols TLSv1.2
zmprov mcf +zimbraReverseProxySSLProtocols TLSv1.3


Zimbra recommends that all sites (including single-server sites) use the Zimbra nginx proxy. The proxy provides an additional layer of security, defense in depth, and control. As of ZCS 8.7 or later, the nginx proxy is required in all ZCS installations.
zmprov -l mcf zimbraReverseProxySSLCiphers &quot;&quot;


With the proxy, one can provide tight control over ciphers. The single valued '''zimbraReverseProxySSLCiphers''' attribute configures what cipher suites the nginx proxy will allow to be negotiated over SSL.  This affects HTTPS when the web proxy is enabled, and POP and IMAP when the mail proxy is enabled.  It is only possible to set this value in globalconfig.
zmproxyctl restart</pre>
<span id="_configuring_zimbra_mailbox"></span>
= Configuring Zimbra Mailbox =


The current recommended setting is (removes RC4 from the default in 8.6):
Also configure Zimbra mailbox to allow the use of TLSv1.3. Open in a text editor <code>/opt/zimbra/conf/localconfig.xml</code> find the line <code>mailboxd_java_options</code> and set <code>TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3</code> in <code>https.protocols</code> and <code>jdk.tls.client.protocols</code>. Example result:


<code>
<pre>&lt;key name=&quot;mailboxd_java_options&quot;&gt;
ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-DSS-AES128-GCM-SHA256:kEDH+AESGCM:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-DSS-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256:DHE-DSS-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES128:AES256:HIGH:!aNULL:!eNULL:!EXPORT:!DES:!MD5:!PSK:!RC4
  &lt;value&gt;-server -Dhttps.protocols=TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3 -Djdk.tls.client.protocols=TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3 -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dsun.net.inetaddr.ttl=${networkaddress_cache_ttl} -Dorg.apache.jasper.compiler.disablejsr199=true -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:SoftRefLRUPolicyMSPerMB=1 -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:G1NewSizePercent=15 -XX:G1MaxNewSizePercent=45 -XX:-OmitStackTraceInFastThrow -verbose:gc -Xlog:gc*=info,safepoint=info:file=/opt/zimbra/log/gc.log:time:filecount=20,filesize=10m -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true&lt;/value&gt;
</code>
&lt;/key&gt;</pre>
Then restart mailbox, or reboot your server:


It can be set using the '''zmprov mcf''' command:
<pre>zmmailboxdctl restart</pre>
<span id="_configure_additional_http_headers"></span>
== Configure additional HTTP headers ==


$ zmprov mcf zimbraReverseProxySSLCiphers 'ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-DSS-AES128-GCM-SHA256:kEDH+AESGCM:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-DSS-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256:DHE-DSS-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES128:AES256:HIGH:!aNULL:!eNULL:!EXPORT:!DES:!MD5:!PSK:!RC4'
The following headers will:
$ zmproxyctl restart # on all proxies


= SSL Protocols =
* Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)
* Disable search indexing of your server by Google et al.


As of ZCS 8.6, SSLv2 and SSLv3 are disabled by default. Only these SSL Protocols are enabled by default:
<pre>zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader &quot;Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains&quot;
zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader &quot;X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff&quot;
zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader &quot;X-Robots-Tag: noindex&quot;
zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader &quot;Referrer-Policy: no-referrer&quot;
zmprov mcf zimbraMailKeepOutWebCrawlers TRUE
zmmailboxdctl restart</pre>
<span id="_dh_parameters"></span>
= DH parameters =


* TLSv1
No longer self generated, use pre-defined DHE groups as recommended by [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7919 IETF RFC 7919].
* TLSv1.1
* TLSv1.2


However, it has been found that certain older Microsoft Outlook clients (2011 and previous) require that the server also accept "SSLv2Hello". Enabling this does not mean that the server is actually allowing SSLv2, but it does mean that it allows the SSLv2Hello "introduction", before switching to TLSv1 or greater.
Note: the <code>zmdhparam</code> command will in most cases not work when used with OpenSSL FIPS.


If using the Zimbra nginx proxy, it is not necessary to add SSLv2Hello to the mailstore configuration. However, if not using the Zimbra nginx proxy and only using the mailstore for SSL handling (i.e., mailboxd), then you must enable SSLv2Hello protocol to allow older Outlook clients to work:
Further reading:


zmprov mcf +zimbraMailboxdSSLProtocols SSLv2Hello
* https://weakdh.org/
zmmailboxdctl restart
* https://github.com/internetstandards/dhe_groups


In ZCS 8.7, SSLv2Hello will be enabled by default: https://bugzilla.zimbra.com/show_bug.cgi?id=97332
<pre>wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/internetstandards/dhe_groups/master/ffdhe4096.pem -O /etc/ffdhe4096.pem
su - zimbra
zmprov mcf zimbraSSLDHParam /etc/ffdhe4096.pem</pre>
Reboot the server.


= Debugging Cipher issues =
<span id="_configuring_zimbra_mta_postfix"></span>
= Configuring Zimbra MTA Postfix =


1. Jetty can use a Java startup option to log SSL and cipher debug data to /opt/zimbra/log/zmmailboxd.out:
Postfix traffic is not routed through Zimbra proxy. Below commands show how to configure Zimbra MTA to use only strong TLS ciphers. In 2023 not all mail servers on the Internet support encryption. For maximum compatibility it is still recommended to use <code>Opportunistic TLS</code>. So that you can receive email via unencrypted transmissions. However you can set zimbraMtaTlsSecurityLevel to encrypt to force the use of TLS. This ''will'' result in mail delivery issues.


-Djavax.net.debug=ssl,handshake,data
To test the current state of the MTA run from the MTA:


This can be added to the end of your mailboxd_java_options:
<pre>nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 25 your-mta-server.example.com
nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 465 your-mta-server.example.com</pre>
The last line of output with Zimbra default config: least strength: F


a. Get your current mailboxd_java_options:
<pre>openssl s_client -starttls smtp -showcerts -connect your-mta-server.example.com:25 -servername your-mta-server.example.com -tls1_1</pre>
Configure Zimbra MTA Postfix using:


  $ zmlocalconfig mailboxd_java_options
<pre>zmprov mcf zimbraMtaSmtpdTlsCiphers medium
zmprov mcf zimbraMtaSmtpdTlsMandatoryCiphers medium
zmprov mcf zimbraMtaSmtpdTlsProtocols '&gt;=TLSv1.2'
zmprov mcf zimbraMtaTlsSecurityLevel may
postconf -e fast_flush_domains=&quot;&quot;
postconf -e smtpd_etrn_restrictions=reject
postconf -e disable_vrfy_command=yes
postconf -e tls_medium_cipherlist=$(/opt/zimbra/common/bin/openssl ciphers)
postconf -e tls_preempt_cipherlist=no
zmprov gs `zmhostname` zimbraMtaTlsAuthOnly
zmprov ms `zmhostname` zimbraMtaTlsAuthOnly TRUE # if not already (this is default)
zmmtactl restart</pre>
Run again to verify your set-up:


b. Add the above to it:
<pre>nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 25 your-mta-server.example.com
nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 465 your-mta-server.example.com</pre>
The last line of output with Zimbra new config: least strength: A


  $ zmlocalconfig -e mailboxd_java_options="-server -Djava.awt.headless=true -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -XX:+UseParNewGC -XX:NewRatio=2 -XX:PermSize=196m -XX:MaxPermSize=350m -XX:SoftRefLRUPolicyMSPerMB=1 -verbose:gc -XX:+PrintGCDetails -XX:+PrintGCApplicationStoppedTime -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -XX:HeapDumpPath=/opt/zimbra/log -XX:ErrorFile=/opt/zimbra/log/hs_err_pid%p.log -Dorg.apache.jasper.compiler.disablejsr199=true -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -XX:+PrintGCDateStamps -Xloggc:/opt/zimbra/log/gc.log -XX:-UseGCLogFileRotation -XX:NumberOfGCLogFiles=20 -XX:GCLogFileSize=4096K -Djavax.net.debug=ssl,handshake,data"
It seems TLS v1.3 is either not enabled or not tested via nmap, but you can verify that like so:


c. SSL and cipher logging will now be written to /opt/zimbra/log/zmmailboxd.out
<pre>openssl s_client -starttls smtp -showcerts -connect your-mta-server.example.com:25 -servername your-mta-server.example.com -tls1_3


2. OpenSSL can be used to test server availability of SSL protocols and ciphers. Please note, however, that the SSL ciphers are named differently in OpenSSL then they are in Java. You can find a mapping of those cipher names here:
openssl s_client -starttls smtp -showcerts -connect your-mta-server.example.com:25 -servername your-mta-server.example.com -tls1_1</pre>
Please note that you can best run nmap/openssl commands on your MTA server to avoid firewall and network blocking issues of port 25.


* https://www.openssl.org/docs/apps/ciphers.html#cipher_suite_names
<span id="_configuring_zimbra_ldap_openldap"></span>
= Configuring Zimbra LDAP OpenLDAP =


These cipher names and category definitions (i.e., HIGH, MEDIUM, etc.) can be on that OpenSSL page above, and in turn are used in all Zimbra components that utilize OpenSSL, e.g., nginx, postfix, libcurl and others. Java/Jetty is not linked to OpenSSL, and therefore uses the longer cipher names indicated on this page.
Zimbra stores passwords in LDAP and is not proxied via Zimbra proxy. To find your current TLS protocols and ciphers you can run nmap, but you will need a recent version of nmap.


a. OpenSSL testing:
<pre>nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 389 your-ldap-server.example.com</pre>
Check and see if TLSv1.0 and TLSv1.1 are enabled (default) and what the least strength cipher is for TLSv1.2 and above (default: A).


These OpenSSL commands largely replicate what many older clients (such as Outlook 2011) use:
To force the use of TLS &gt;= v1.2 with strong Ciphers run the following:


openssl s_client -tls1 -cipher RC4-SHA -connect mail.example.com:443
<pre>zmlocalconfig -e ldap_common_tlsprotocolmin=&quot;3.3&quot;
openssl s_client -tls1 -cipher DES-CBC3-SHA -connect mail.example.com:443
zmlocalconfig -e ldap_common_tlsciphersuite=&quot;HIGH&quot;</pre>
In addition require TLS for LDAP (disable unencrypted LDAP) via:


However, as noted above, some of these may also require SSLv2Hello first. The above ciphers in turn map to these in the JVM/Jetty:
<pre>zmlocalconfig -e ldap_starttls_supported=1
zmlocalconfig -e zimbra_require_interprocess_security=1
zmlocalconfig -e ldap_starttls_required=true</pre>
For this change it is recommended to restart Zimbra using <code>zmcontrol restart</code>.


TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA                RC4-SHA
<span id="_configuring_pop3"></span>
TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA          DES-CBC3-SHA
= Configuring POP3 =


= Bugs =
It is recommended you disable the use of POP3 via a host firewall, in case you want to use POP3 anyway, disable the unencrypted sending of username and password and force the use of encryption with the following command:
Prior to ZCS 5.0.10, the zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites attribute values are not picked up by the Jetty configuration for HTTPS.  To fix, replace all occurrences of ''zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites'' with ''zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuitesXML'' in ''/opt/zimbra/jetty/etc/jetty.xml.in''. 


cd /opt/zimbra/jetty/etc
<pre>zmprov ms `zmhostname` zimbraPop3CleartextLoginEnabled FALSE</pre>
sed 's/%%zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites%%/%%zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuitesXML%%/g' jetty.xml.in > /tmp/jetty.xml.in.new
Verify that TLS is required for POP3 via Zimbra Proxy, the setting should be <code>only</code> which is default.
cp jetty.xml.in /tmp/jetty.xml.in.old
mv /tmp/jetty.xml.in.new jetty.xml.in
zmmailboxdctl restart


Please see [http://bugzilla.zimbra.com/show_bug.cgi?id=30691 bug 30691] for more details.
<pre>zmprov gs `zmhostname` zimbraReverseProxyPop3StartTlsMode
zimbraReverseProxyPop3StartTlsMode: only</pre>
With the above setting the Zimbra POP3 implementation requires the client to issue the STLS command. This command will switch from cleartext to encrypted communications.


= References =
If the STLS command is not issued, any command the client sends such as AUTH or USER to Zimbra will result in an error and the client will not try authentication. This means the password is not send without encryption. In addition email contents and attachments are also transmitted using encrypted communication.
''J2SE cipher list'' http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/guide/security/jsse/JSSERefGuide.html#SunJSSE


''OpenSSL ciphers list'' http://openssl.org/docs/apps/ciphers.html#SSL_v3_0_cipher_suites_
<span id="_false_positives_in_openvas_and_warnings_in_email_clients_such_as_thunderbird"></span>
== False positives in OpenVAS and warnings in email clients such as Thunderbird ==


Email clients and vulnerability scanner can send some commands in plain text to Zimbra, such as CAPA (to list capabilities) and Zimbra will respond to these without encryption. This will make vulnerability scanners such as OpenVAS believe POP3 is enabled for unencrypted connections. This is however not the case. The false positive will look like this:


{{Article Footer|Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.0.9|10/1/2008}}
<code>The remote host is running a POP3 daemon that allows cleartext logins over unencrypted connections.</code>


[[Category: SSL/TLS]]
For the same reason you can add your Zimbra account with POP3 to Thunderbird (and other clients) and select <code>Connection security: none</code> this will trigger a warning, saying your credentials will be transmitted without encryption. In reality the communication between the client and Zimbra will halt because of errors before authentication unless TLS is used.
[[Category: Mailbox]]
 
This has been verified by using Wireshark.
 
<span id="_configuring_imap"></span>
= Configuring IMAP =
 
It is recommended you disable the use of IMAP via a host firewall, in case you want to use IMAP anyway, very that you have the following settings, that are the default and disable the unencrypted sending of username and password and force the use of encryption with the following command:
 
<pre>zmprov gs `zmhostname` zimbraImapCleartextLoginEnabled
zmprov ms `zmhostname` zimbraImapCleartextLoginEnabled FALSE # if not already</pre>
Verify that TLS is required for IMAP via Zimbra Proxy, the setting should be <code>only</code> which is default.
 
<pre>zmprov gs `zmhostname` zimbraReverseProxyImapStartTlsMode
zimbraReverseProxyImapStartTlsMode: only</pre>
<span id="_troubleshooting_mail_clients"></span>
= Troubleshooting mail clients =
 
This guide verified against Thunderbird. If you have trouble connecting email clients to Zimbra after following the steps in this guide, please see: https://wiki.zimbra.com/wiki/Accessing_Zimbra_Collaboration_Server_with_Thunderbird
 
<span id="_configuring_admin_ui"></span>
= Configuring Admin UI =
 
It is not recommended to expose the Admin UI to the Internet. Instead administrators should access Admin UI via a VPN. In any case you will need to make sure to proxy the Admin UI via Zimbra Proxy to make sure it uses the best TLS configuration. This means you should access Admin UI via the proxied port 9071, and deny access to port 7071 via a firewall. To enable this you should run as user Zimbra:
 
<pre>/opt/zimbra/libexec/zmproxyconfig -e -w -C -H `zmhostname`
zmproxyctl restart</pre>
<span id="_validate_your_settings_online_using_ssl_labs"></span>
= Validate your settings online using SSL Labs =
 
Go to https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html and enter the the domain name of your Zimbra server. If you followed the steps in this article you should receive an A+ score and there should be no mention of weak ciphers in the report. This article was written in September 2021. In the report take a look at the client devices listed under <code>Handshake Simulation</code> these will give you an idea of the devices your users can use to connect to your Zimbra server. Also validate there are no weak ciphers listed under <code>Cipher Suites</code>.
 
<span id="_further_reading"></span>
= Further reading =
 
* https://wiki.zimbra.com/wiki/SecureConfiguration
* https://wiki.zimbra.com/wiki/Postconf_keys

Latest revision as of 11:49, 16 August 2023

Using Zimbra with strong TLS configuration

Transport Layer Security (TLS) encrypts data sent over the Internet to ensure that eavesdroppers and hackers are unable to see what you transmit which is particularly useful for private and sensitive information such as passwords, credit card numbers, and personal correspondence. (further reading: https://www.internetsociety.org/deploy360/tls/basics)

In this article you will learn how to configure Zimbra to use only strong encryption ciphers for TLS. Configuration settings on this page are routinely validated by our QA team.

Zimbra OpenSSL FIPS update

If you installed or upgraded to Zimbra version 9.0.0.P34, 8.8.15.P41, 10.0.2 or higher, Zimbra will use OpenSSL 3.0.x and FIPS compliance for OpenSSL will be enabled by default. Using FIPS mode for OpenSSL is more secure as weak ciphers will not be available and many security issues do not affect OpenSSL FIPS.

To find out if Zimbra OpenSSL is FIPS enabled, you can run the following command that should fail with Error setting digest: 

/opt/zimbra/common/bin/openssl md5 /dev/null

Generate ssl_ciphers for use with zimbraReverseProxySSLCiphers

This section is removed as it is no longer relevant when using OpenSSL FIPS.

Note on supporting old clients

Zimbra highly recommends running Zimbra OpenSSL in FIPS mode. Steps to enforce OS level FIPS or disable FIPS can be found in: https://wiki.zimbra.com/wiki/FIPS you should then harden TLS based on out-of-date recommendations from https://wiki.zimbra.com/index.php?title=Cipher_suites&oldid=69590

Configuring Zimbra Proxy Nginx

Configure Zimbra to use the ciphers provided by OpenSSL FIPS, and enable only TLSv1.2 and TLSv1.3 like this: 

zmprov mcf zimbraReverseProxySSLProtocols TLSv1.2
zmprov mcf +zimbraReverseProxySSLProtocols TLSv1.3

zmprov -l mcf zimbraReverseProxySSLCiphers ""

zmproxyctl restart

Configuring Zimbra Mailbox

Also configure Zimbra mailbox to allow the use of TLSv1.3. Open in a text editor /opt/zimbra/conf/localconfig.xml find the line mailboxd_java_options and set TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3 in https.protocols and jdk.tls.client.protocols. Example result: 

<key name="mailboxd_java_options">
  <value>-server -Dhttps.protocols=TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3 -Djdk.tls.client.protocols=TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3 -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dsun.net.inetaddr.ttl=${networkaddress_cache_ttl} -Dorg.apache.jasper.compiler.disablejsr199=true -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:SoftRefLRUPolicyMSPerMB=1 -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:G1NewSizePercent=15 -XX:G1MaxNewSizePercent=45 -XX:-OmitStackTraceInFastThrow -verbose:gc -Xlog:gc*=info,safepoint=info:file=/opt/zimbra/log/gc.log:time:filecount=20,filesize=10m -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true</value>
</key>

Then restart mailbox, or reboot your server: 

zmmailboxdctl restart

Configure additional HTTP headers

The following headers will:

  • Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)
  • Disable search indexing of your server by Google et al.
zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains"
zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader "X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff"
zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader "X-Robots-Tag: noindex"
zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader "Referrer-Policy: no-referrer"
zmprov mcf zimbraMailKeepOutWebCrawlers TRUE
zmmailboxdctl restart

DH parameters

No longer self generated, use pre-defined DHE groups as recommended by IETF RFC 7919.

Note: the zmdhparam command will in most cases not work when used with OpenSSL FIPS.

Further reading: 

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/internetstandards/dhe_groups/master/ffdhe4096.pem -O /etc/ffdhe4096.pem
su - zimbra
zmprov mcf zimbraSSLDHParam /etc/ffdhe4096.pem

Reboot the server.

Configuring Zimbra MTA Postfix

Postfix traffic is not routed through Zimbra proxy. Below commands show how to configure Zimbra MTA to use only strong TLS ciphers. In 2023 not all mail servers on the Internet support encryption. For maximum compatibility it is still recommended to use Opportunistic TLS. So that you can receive email via unencrypted transmissions. However you can set zimbraMtaTlsSecurityLevel to encrypt to force the use of TLS. This will result in mail delivery issues.

To test the current state of the MTA run from the MTA: 

nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 25 your-mta-server.example.com
nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 465 your-mta-server.example.com

The last line of output with Zimbra default config: least strength: F 

openssl s_client -starttls smtp -showcerts -connect your-mta-server.example.com:25 -servername your-mta-server.example.com -tls1_1

Configure Zimbra MTA Postfix using: 

zmprov mcf zimbraMtaSmtpdTlsCiphers medium
zmprov mcf zimbraMtaSmtpdTlsMandatoryCiphers  medium
zmprov mcf zimbraMtaSmtpdTlsProtocols '>=TLSv1.2'
zmprov mcf zimbraMtaTlsSecurityLevel may
postconf -e fast_flush_domains=""
postconf -e smtpd_etrn_restrictions=reject
postconf -e disable_vrfy_command=yes
postconf -e tls_medium_cipherlist=$(/opt/zimbra/common/bin/openssl ciphers)
postconf -e tls_preempt_cipherlist=no
zmprov gs `zmhostname` zimbraMtaTlsAuthOnly
zmprov ms `zmhostname` zimbraMtaTlsAuthOnly TRUE # if not already (this is default)
zmmtactl restart

Run again to verify your set-up: 

nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 25 your-mta-server.example.com
nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 465 your-mta-server.example.com

The last line of output with Zimbra new config: least strength: A

It seems TLS v1.3 is either not enabled or not tested via nmap, but you can verify that like so: 

openssl s_client -starttls smtp -showcerts -connect your-mta-server.example.com:25 -servername your-mta-server.example.com -tls1_3

openssl s_client -starttls smtp -showcerts -connect your-mta-server.example.com:25 -servername your-mta-server.example.com -tls1_1

Please note that you can best run nmap/openssl commands on your MTA server to avoid firewall and network blocking issues of port 25.

Configuring Zimbra LDAP OpenLDAP

Zimbra stores passwords in LDAP and is not proxied via Zimbra proxy. To find your current TLS protocols and ciphers you can run nmap, but you will need a recent version of nmap. 

nmap --script ssl-enum-ciphers -p 389 your-ldap-server.example.com

Check and see if TLSv1.0 and TLSv1.1 are enabled (default) and what the least strength cipher is for TLSv1.2 and above (default: A).

To force the use of TLS >= v1.2 with strong Ciphers run the following: 

zmlocalconfig -e ldap_common_tlsprotocolmin="3.3"
zmlocalconfig -e ldap_common_tlsciphersuite="HIGH"

In addition require TLS for LDAP (disable unencrypted LDAP) via: 

zmlocalconfig -e ldap_starttls_supported=1
zmlocalconfig -e zimbra_require_interprocess_security=1
zmlocalconfig -e ldap_starttls_required=true

For this change it is recommended to restart Zimbra using zmcontrol restart.

Configuring POP3

It is recommended you disable the use of POP3 via a host firewall, in case you want to use POP3 anyway, disable the unencrypted sending of username and password and force the use of encryption with the following command: 

zmprov ms `zmhostname` zimbraPop3CleartextLoginEnabled FALSE

Verify that TLS is required for POP3 via Zimbra Proxy, the setting should be only which is default. 

zmprov gs `zmhostname` zimbraReverseProxyPop3StartTlsMode
zimbraReverseProxyPop3StartTlsMode: only

With the above setting the Zimbra POP3 implementation requires the client to issue the STLS command. This command will switch from cleartext to encrypted communications.

If the STLS command is not issued, any command the client sends such as AUTH or USER to Zimbra will result in an error and the client will not try authentication. This means the password is not send without encryption. In addition email contents and attachments are also transmitted using encrypted communication.

False positives in OpenVAS and warnings in email clients such as Thunderbird

Email clients and vulnerability scanner can send some commands in plain text to Zimbra, such as CAPA (to list capabilities) and Zimbra will respond to these without encryption. This will make vulnerability scanners such as OpenVAS believe POP3 is enabled for unencrypted connections. This is however not the case. The false positive will look like this:

The remote host is running a POP3 daemon that allows cleartext logins over unencrypted connections.

For the same reason you can add your Zimbra account with POP3 to Thunderbird (and other clients) and select Connection security: none this will trigger a warning, saying your credentials will be transmitted without encryption. In reality the communication between the client and Zimbra will halt because of errors before authentication unless TLS is used.

This has been verified by using Wireshark.

Configuring IMAP

It is recommended you disable the use of IMAP via a host firewall, in case you want to use IMAP anyway, very that you have the following settings, that are the default and disable the unencrypted sending of username and password and force the use of encryption with the following command: 

zmprov gs `zmhostname` zimbraImapCleartextLoginEnabled
zmprov ms `zmhostname` zimbraImapCleartextLoginEnabled FALSE # if not already

Verify that TLS is required for IMAP via Zimbra Proxy, the setting should be only which is default. 

zmprov gs `zmhostname` zimbraReverseProxyImapStartTlsMode
zimbraReverseProxyImapStartTlsMode: only

Troubleshooting mail clients

This guide verified against Thunderbird. If you have trouble connecting email clients to Zimbra after following the steps in this guide, please see: https://wiki.zimbra.com/wiki/Accessing_Zimbra_Collaboration_Server_with_Thunderbird

Configuring Admin UI

It is not recommended to expose the Admin UI to the Internet. Instead administrators should access Admin UI via a VPN. In any case you will need to make sure to proxy the Admin UI via Zimbra Proxy to make sure it uses the best TLS configuration. This means you should access Admin UI via the proxied port 9071, and deny access to port 7071 via a firewall. To enable this you should run as user Zimbra: 

/opt/zimbra/libexec/zmproxyconfig -e -w -C -H `zmhostname`
zmproxyctl restart

Validate your settings online using SSL Labs

Go to https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html and enter the the domain name of your Zimbra server. If you followed the steps in this article you should receive an A+ score and there should be no mention of weak ciphers in the report. This article was written in September 2021. In the report take a look at the client devices listed under Handshake Simulation these will give you an idea of the devices your users can use to connect to your Zimbra server. Also validate there are no weak ciphers listed under Cipher Suites.

Further reading

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