How to obtain an A+ in the Qualys SSL Labs Security Test

How to obtain an A+ in the Qualys SSL Labs security test

   KB 22051        Last updated on 2015-08-7  




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Purpose

List the steps, per release, to obtain an A+ in the Qualys SSL Labs Security Test.

Resolution

Until have an option in the Admin Console, all of this Wiki is using the CLI. Please note that obtain the best result in the SSL Labs test doesn't need to fits with your environment if you are still running old equipment like Windows XP, etc. Tune your environment according to your needs.

Zimbra Collaboration 8.7

Fix the Logjam issue

Zimbra 8.7 has per default 1024-bit DH ciphers, as they are secure, the best practice is use at least 2048, and the Qualys SSL Labs test will give us the A+ using the correct ones.

Like root, create a new 2048 key, will take some minutes:

cd /opt/zimbra/conf
openssl dhparam -out dhparams.pem 2048
chown zimbra:zimbra dhparams.pem

Then like zimbra user, add this file to the environment:

zmprov mcf zimbraReverseProxySSLDHParam "/opt/zimbra/conf/dhparams.pem"
Tune the Cipher list

Like zimbra user, run the next command to tune the Ciphers and disable the RC4, etc:

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'

Restart the proxy

zmproxyctl restart

Strict Transport Security (HSTS) & Session resumption (caching)

Run the next command to add the proper header to the configuration:

zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000"
zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader "ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:50m;"
zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader "ssl_session_timeout 5m;

Restart the zimbra services

zmcontrol restart
The result

The result in the SSL Labs test will be:

Ssllabs-zimbra-8.7-proxy.png

Zimbra Collaboration 8.6 & 8.5

Using Proxy

Fix the Logjam issue

Zimbra 8.6 has per default 1024-bit DH ciphers, as they are secure, the best practice is use at least 2048, and the Qualys SSL Labs test will give us the A+ using the correct ones.

Like root, create a new 2048 key, will take some minutes:

cd /opt/zimbra/conf
openssl dhparam -out dhparams.pem 2048
chown zimbra:zimbra dhparams.pem

Edit the next 2 files:

/opt/zimbra/conf/nginx/templates/nginx.conf.web.https.default.template
/opt/zimbra/conf/nginx/templates/nginx.conf.web.https.template

You need to add the next content, ssl_dhparam /opt/zimbra/conf/dhparams.pem;, before the include, will looks like:

ssl_verify_client       ${ssl.clientcertmode.default};
ssl_verify_depth        ${ssl.clientcertdepth.default};
ssl_dhparam /opt/zimbra/conf/dhparams.pem;
include                 ${core.includes}/${core.cprefix}.web.https.mode-${web.mailmode};
Tune the Cipher list

Like zimbra user, run the next command to tune the Ciphers and disable the RC4, etc:

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'

Restart the proxy

zmproxyctl restart
Strict Transport Security (HSTS)

Like root user, edit the next file /opt/zimbra/conf/nginx/templates/nginx.conf.web.https.default.template and add in the section server { the next content :

add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubdomains;";
Session resumption (caching)

Like root user, add the next content after the add_header that you added in the previous step:

ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:50m;
ssl_session_timeout 5m;

Then restart the proxy like zimbra user:

zmproxyctl restart
The result

The result in the SSL Labs test will be:

Zimbra86-aplus-001.png

Without Proxy

Thank you to Alex that wrote this steps months ago.

Fix the Logjam issue

At this moment, Zimbra can't provide any solution to fix Logjam in Zimbra Collaboration 8.5 or above without use Proxy in front, please install the Proxy role. Also you can disable the next Cipher plus the next section to avoid logjam, but all the DHE Cipher will be disabled and can cause some troubles:

zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
Tune the Cipher list

Like zimbra user, run the next command to tune the Ciphers and disable the RC4, etc:

zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_DSS_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_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_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA

Restart the mailbox service

zmmailboxdctl restart
Strict Transport Security (HSTS)

Like zimbra user edit the next file /opt/zimbra/jetty/etc/jetty.xml.in and search by:

        <Call name="addRule">
        <Arg>
        <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.rewrite.handler.RewritePatternRule">
            <Set name="pattern">/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync/*</Set>
            <Set name="replacement">/service/extension/zimbrasync</Set>
        </New>
        </Arg>
        </Call>

Write just above the next:

        <Call name="addRule">
           <Arg>
              <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.rewrite.handler.HeaderPatternRule">
                 <Set name="pattern">*</Set>
                 <Set name="name">Strict-Transport-Security</Set>
                 <Set name="value">max-age=15768000; includeSubDomains</Set>
              </New>
           </Arg>
        </Call>

Restart the mailbox service

zmmailboxdctl restart
The result

The result if you followed all the previous steps in the SSL Labs test will be:

Ssllabs-zimbra-8.6.0-noproxy.png

If you din't applied the Logjam steps, you will obtain a B.

Zimbra Collaboration 8.0.9

Generate a SSL Certificate with SHA256

Per default, Zimbra Collaboration 8.0.x didn't generate a valid CSR with a 256bit hash. To force it, edit the next file as root:

/opt/zimbra/bin/zmcertmgr

And change this line:

${openssl} req -new -${DIGEST} -nodes -out ${current_csr} -keyout ${current_key} \

For the next one, adding the -sha256 to the OpenSSL command:

${openssl} req -sha256 -new -${DIGEST} -nodes -out ${current_csr} -keyout ${current_key} \

Then you can generate the new CSR, this time with a SHA256, follow the next Wiki.

Disable SSLv3 to fix the Poodle

Follow the next Wiki to disable SSLv3 in your Zimbra Collaboration 8.0.x environment.

Disable Client-Initiated SSL renegotiation

You need to edit the Jetty template and search by org.eclipse.jetty.server.ssl.SslSelectChannelConnector, then before the Set name dedicated to port add allowRenegotiate False, like this:

vi /opt/zimbra/jetty/etc/jetty.xml.in
    ...
            <New id="ssl" class="org.eclipse.jetty.server.ssl.SslSelectChannelConnector">
              <Set name="allowRenegotiate">FALSE</Set>
              <Set name="Port">%%zimbraMailSSLPort%%</Set>

Restart the mailbox service

zmmailboxdctl restart

Strict Transport Security (HSTS)

Run the next command to add the proper header to the configuration:

zmprov mcf +zimbraResponseHeader "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000"

Restart the zimbra services

zmcontrol restart

Using Proxy

The first step you need to check if you are using the proxy (nginx) or just mailboxd (jetty):

1. Verify if nginx is listening on port 443:

lsof -i :443
COMMAND  PID   USER   FD   TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
java    6637 zimbra   96u  IPv4 198165      0t0  TCP *:https (LISTEN)

2. Enable nginx for https proxy, as zimbra user:

./libexec/zmproxyconfig -e -w -o -a 8080:80:8443:443 -x https -H `zmhostname`

3. Sanity check #1

zmprov gs `zmhostname` zimbraMailReferMode
# name zimbra86.zimbra.io
zimbraMailReferMode: reverse-proxied

4. Sanity check #2

lsof -i :443
COMMAND   PID   USER   FD   TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
nginx   31418 zimbra   10u  IPv4 314934      0t0  TCP *:https (LISTEN)
nginx   31419 zimbra   10u  IPv4 314934      0t0  TCP *:https (LISTEN)
nginx   31420 zimbra   10u  IPv4 314934      0t0  TCP *:https (LISTEN)
nginx   31421 zimbra   10u  IPv4 314934      0t0  TCP *:https (LISTEN)

Now you have nginx properly enabled.

Fix the Logjam issue

Zimbra 8.0.x uses, by default, 1024 bit DH parameters. However, the current best practice is use at least 2048 bits, and the Qualys SSL Labs test will give us the A+ by doing so.

As root, create a new set of 2048 bit parameters. Note, this will take a few minutes:

cd /opt/zimbra/conf
openssl dhparam -out dhparams.pem 2048
chown zimbra:zimbra dhparams.pem

Edit the following two files:

/opt/zimbra/conf/nginx/templates/nginx.conf.web.https.default.template
/opt/zimbra/conf/nginx/templates/nginx.conf.web.https.template

You need to add the following content, "ssl_dhparam /opt/zimbra/conf/dhparams.pem;", before the include. It will look like:

ssl_verify_client       ${ssl.clientcertmode.default};
ssl_verify_depth        ${ssl.clientcertdepth.default};
ssl_dhparam /opt/zimbra/conf/dhparams.pem;
include                 ${core.includes}/${core.cprefix}.web.https.mode-${web.mailmode};
Disable weak Ciphers

Disable weak Ciphers, thank you to ShanxT. Please note, by eliminating these ciphers, some older clients may stop working:

zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384 \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA  \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256 \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256 \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA  \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5 \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_DSS_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
 +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256
Tune the Cipher list

You will want to disable the RC4, run the nex command:

zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA

Restart the mailbox service

zmmailboxdctl restart
The result

The result using a valid SSL commercial certificate, and Zimbra Collaboration Single-Server 8.0.9 Proxy, in the SSL Labs test will be an A+ if you followed all the steps.

Ssllabs-zimbra-8.0.9-proxyaplus.png

Without Proxy

Fix the Logjam issue

At this moment, Zimbra can't provide any solution to fix Logjam in Zimbra Collaboration 8.0.9, you need to upgrade to Zimbra Collaboration 8.6. But you can disable the next Ciphers, plus the next section to avoid logjam, but all the DHE Cipher will be disabled and can cause some troubles in old computers/clients:

zmprov mcf +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA  \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA  \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_DSS_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256
Tune the Cipher list

Like zimbra user, run the next command to tune the Ciphers and disable the RC4, etc:

zmprov modifyConfig +zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA \
+zimbraSSLExcludeCipherSuites TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA

Restart the mailbox service

zmmailboxdctl restart
The result

The result using a valid SSL commercial certificate, and Zimbra Collaboration Single-Server 8.0.9 without Proxy, in the SSL Labs test will be an A if you followed all the steps, if you want to obtain the A+, please upgrade to Zimbra Collaboration 8.6 with Proxy:

Ssllabs-zimbra-8.0.9-noproxy.png

Additional Content


Verified Against: Zimbra Collaboration 8.7, 8.6, 8.5, 8.0 Date Created: 06/22/2015
Article ID: https://wiki.zimbra.com/index.php?title=How_to_obtain_an_A%2B_in_the_Qualys_SSL_Labs_Security_Test Date Modified: 2015-08-07



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Wiki/KB reviewed by SME1 SME2 Copyeditor Last edit by Jorge de la Cruz
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