12.4.1 Adding a New TLS Extension

Adding support for a new TLS extension is done from time to time, and the process to do so is not difficult. Here are the steps you need to follow if you wish to do this yourself. For sake of discussion, let's consider adding support for the hypothetical TLS extension foobar.

1. Modify configure.in to add --enable-foobar or --disable-foobar.

   Which to chose depends on whether you intend to make the extension be enabled by default. Look at existing checks (i.e., SRP, authz) for how to model the code. For example:

   AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to disable foobar support]) AC_ARG_ENABLE(foobar, AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-foobar], [disable foobar support]), ac_enable_foobar=no) if test x$ac_enable_foobar != xno; then AC_MSG_RESULT(no) AC_DEFINE(ENABLE_FOOBAR, 1, [enable foobar]) else ac_full=0 AC_MSG_RESULT(yes) fi AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_FOOBAR, test "$ac_enable_foobar" != "no")

2. Add IANA extension value to extensions_t in gnutls_int.h.

   A good name for the value would be GNUTLS_EXTENSION_FOOBAR. Check with http://www.iana.org/assignments/tls-extensiontype-values for allocated values. For experiments, you could pick a number but remember that some consider it a bad idea to deploy such modified version since it will lead to interoperability problems in the future when the IANA allocates that number to someone else, or when the foobar protocol is allocated another number.

3. Add an entry to _gnutls_extensions in gnutls_extensions.c.

   A typical entry would be:

   #if ENABLE_FOOBAR GNUTLS_EXTENSION_ENTRY (GNUTLS_EXTENSION_FOOBAR, _gnutls_foobar_recv_params, _gnutls_foobar_send_params), #endif

   The GNUTLS_EXTENSION_FOOBAR is the integer value you added to gnutls_int.h earlier. The two functions are new functions that you will need to implement, most likely you'll need to add an #include "ext_foobar.h" as well.

4. Add new files ext_foobar.c and ext_foobar.h that implements the extension.

   The functions you are responsible to add are those mentioned in the previous step. As a starter, you could add this:

   int _gnutls_foobar_recv_params (gnutls_session_t session, const opaque * data, size_t data_size) { return 0; } int _gnutls_foobar_send_params (gnutls_session_t session, opaque * data, size_t _data_size) { return 0; }

   The _gnutls_foobar_recv_params function is responsible for parsing incoming extension data (both in the client and server).

   The _gnutls_foobar_send_params function is responsible for sending extension data (both in the client and server).

   If you receive length fields that doesn't match, return GNUTLS_E_UNEXPECTED_PACKET_LENGTH. If you receive invalid data, return GNUTLS_E_RECEIVED_ILLEGAL_PARAMETER. You can use other error codes too. Return 0 on success.

   The function typically store some information in the session variable for later usage. If you need to add new fields there, check tls_ext_st in gnutls_int.h and compare with existing TLS extension specific variables.

   Recall that both the client and server both send and receives parameters, and your code most likely will need to do different things depending on which mode it is in. It may be useful to make this distinction explicit in the code. Thus, for example, a better template than above would be:

   int _gnutls_foobar_recv_params (gnutls_session_t session, const opaque * data, size_t data_size) { if (session->security_parameters.entity == GNUTLS_CLIENT) return foobar_recv_client (session, data, data_size); else return foobar_recv_server (session, data, data_size); } int _gnutls_foobar_send_params (gnutls_session_t session, opaque * data, size_t data_size) { if (session->security_parameters.entity == GNUTLS_CLIENT) return foobar_send_client (session, data, data_size); else return foobar_send_server (session, data, data_size); }

   The functions used would be declared as static functions, of the appropriate prototype, in the same file.

   When adding the files, you'll need to add them to Makefile.am as well, for example:

   if ENABLE_FOOBAR COBJECTS += ext_foobar.c HFILES += ext_foobar.h endif

5. Add API functions to enable/disable the extension.

   Normally the client will have one API to request use of the extension, and setting some extension specific data. The server will have one API to let the library know that it is willing to accept the extension, often this is implemented through a callback but it doesn't have to.

   The APIs need to be added to includes/gnutls/gnutls.h or includes/gnutls/extra.h as appropriate. It is recommended that if you don't have a requirement to use the LGPLv2.1+ license for your extension, that you place your work under the GPLv3+ license and thus in the libgnutls-extra library.

   You can implement the API function in the ext_foobar.c file, or if that file ends up becoming rather larger, add a gnutls_foobar.c file.