Develop Reference

SSL Error "The message received was unexpected or badly formatted" for a .NET application on one specific machine only

I have a .NET Core 3.1 C# application which is calling an API via HTTPS (and presenting its public key as part of getting the token as that certificate is later used to decrypt information sent back separately). On just about all our machines, it is working, but on one Windows 8.1 machine, we get the following series of exceptions when we try to initially connect for an authentication token:
The SSL connection could not be established, see inner exception.
---> System.Security.Authentication.AuthenticationException: Authentication failed, see inner exception.
---> System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception (0x80090326): The message received was unexpected or badly formatted.
The exception is thrown from System.Net.Http.HttpClient.FinishSendAsyncBuffered so I suspect it is happening at the HTTPS level and our certificate stuff is not really relevant here anyway.
Our code to get the token looks like this:
The constructor for the auth service:
public XXXXAuthService(IXXDbService dbService, XXXXApiConfig config)
{
_dbService = dbService;
_config = config;
// try forcing TLS1.2 for SSL connection exceptions thrown in some operating environments
ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Tls12;
_httpClient = new HttpClient {BaseAddress = new Uri(config.BaseUrl)};
_httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear();
_httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
}
Code to get the auth token:
private async Task<string> GetXXXXBearerToken(string userId, DateTime creationTime)
{
var token = await GenerateProviderJwtForXXXX(userId, creationTime);
var kvp = new List<KeyValuePair<string, string>>
{
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("grant_type", "urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:token-exchange"),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("subject_token", token),
new KeyValuePair<string, string>("subject_token_type", "urn:ietf:params:oauth:token-type:jwt")
};
var data = new FormUrlEncodedContent(kvp);
var publicKey = await GetXXXXPublicKey();
_httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Remove("X-XXXX-Public-Cert");
_httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("X-XXXX-Public-Cert", publicKey);
var response = await _httpClient.PostAsync("Identity/token", data);
if (!response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
throw new Exception("XXXX Token Server Error: " + response.ReasonPhrase);
var result = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
var authResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<OAuthResponse>(result);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(authResponse.access_token))
return authResponse.access_token;
System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine("Token Exchange Result: " + result);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(authResponse.error))
{
var outcome = new XXX.XXXX.Model.OperationOutcome();
outcome.Issue.Add(new XXX.XXXX.Model.OperationOutcome.IssueComponent()
{
//some code to throw an error is here
}
throw new XXX.XXXX.Rest.XXXXOperationException("Bearer Token Exchange failed", response.StatusCode);
}
Unfortunately none of the existing questions/advice anywhere on Stack Overflow, or the rest of the web, for this particular error seems to have helped. They are primarily about version discrepancies between client and server which seems not to be the case here as I am forcing TLS 1.2 (which is active and enabled on the failing machine).
Interestingly, I can visit the server URL in a browser via HTTPS just fine, which suggests there is something about my code that is the problem rather than the machine, but it works everywhere else.
I have confirmed that:
The certificate I am using to authenticate the connection on the machine is valid and has a chain of trust (though as above I don't think we are getting that far as the TLS connection itself is failing)
The server we are calling supports TLS 1.2 (by forcing it)
I can get to the website for the URL independently via the browser
Is there something I need to do either in the code or on the machine to get this call to work everywhere?
Things I have tried to resolve the issue
Installing all Windows 8.1 updates to present day
Forcing TLS 1.2 in the code (see above code sample)
Limiting VM to TLS 1.2 only

I might be able to at least point you in the right direction…
Same Symptoms
I had a .NET Core 3.1 web app running on IIS (Windows Server 2012 R2) that got the exact same error and stacktrace when it tried to connect to another server using TLS 1.2. I also had the symptom where I could connect with the browser (Chrome), but not with the app. (Would have been interesting to see if Internet Explorer browser worked though.)
Root Cause
The TLS handshake was failing because the two servers were unable to agree on a common cipher suite. (Using Wireshark, I discovered that when my app tried to connect it provided a more limited set of cipher suites than when the Chrome browser made the call.)
Solution
In my case, I used IIS Crypto (a small free tool: https://www.nartac.com/Products/IISCrypto/) to enable additional cipher suites on my web app's server. I downloaded and ran IIS Crypto, checkmarked additional cipher suites on its Cipher Suites tab, and then restarted the machine.
One of the new cipher suites worked with my app and the destination server, so the TLS handshake was successful and the error was resolved.
One quick caveat: Some cipher suites are more secure than others, so you'll want to read up on best practices.
Addendum
If you want to further diagnose the failure, I'd recommend installing Wireshark (another free tool: https://www.wireshark.org/#download) on the machine with your .NET Core app. If a TLS Handshake Failure is the issue, you will see a message like: Alert (Level: Fatal, Description: Handshake Failure)
This primer on wireshark output helped me:
https://blog.catchpoint.com/2017/05/12/dissecting-tls-using-wireshark/

I faced a simular issue, and in order to help others here's what I concluded:
Sucessfully executing this code doesn't mean that your application supports the specified protocol version, and the "SSL Error" can still occur later on when trying to establish a connection:
ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Tls12;
In my case I was trying to force Tls13 and found out that my app configuration didn't actually support it:
net core 3.0 running on a Windows Server Datacenter 2019, version 1809
So I had to change my configuration to the following which provides support for the protocol version I needed:
Net framework 5.0 on a Windows Server Datacenter 2022, OS build 20348.288
I was trying to connect to an endpoint that suddenly dropped Tls 1.2 support (not sure why) and from then on only accepted Tls 1.3.

TF400324 error, but only when using the TFS API

I've seen a lot of discussion about "TF400324: Team Foundation services are not available from server", but everything I've read relates to DNS or proxies, and reflect being unable to connect to TFS at all, through any channel. My case is different: I cannot reach my TFS server when using the .NET library, but it works fine using Visual Studio's workflow tools, and I can reach the same URL just fine in a browser.
Zee code, it is here:
private TfsConfigurationServer _server;
...
Uri url = new Uri(serverName + rootFolder);
var creds1 = new NetworkCredential(username, password, Environment.UserDomainName);
var creds2 = new BasicAuthCredential(creds1);
var creds3 = new TfsClientCredentials(creds2) { AllowInteractive = false };
_server = new TfsConfigurationServer(url, creds3);
// Throws Microsoft.TeamFoundation.TeamFoundationServiceUnavailableException
_server.Authenticate();
The creds are needlessly elaborate because I've tried various suggested solutions, but I don't think that's relevant; I get the same behavior with any other creds I've tried, or no creds at all.
If I copy the exact URL to a browser, I can authenticate and proceed. Within Visual Studio I can connect to TFS using Source Control Explorer and other tools, without explicitly authenticating. What might the library want handled differently?
Additional detail from the error:
Team Foundation services are not available from server https://tfs.imahufflepuff.com:8080/tfs/Root/Project.
Technical information (for administrator):
The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a send.
---> System.Net.WebException: The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a send.
---> System.IO.IOException: The handshake failed due to an unexpected packet format.
We don't have an in-house TFS admin, otherwise I'd kick this issue over to him. I've tried to use Fiddler to get additional detail, but VS consistently refuses to show up there. I can reach an externally-hosted API while debugging, so I don't think there's a network or proxy problem locking down VS.

Have you tried using TfsTeamProjectCollection class instead of TfsConfigurationServer ?
E.g.
Uri url = new Uri(serverName + rootFolder);
var creds = new NetworkCredential(username, password, Environment.UserDomainName);
var server = new TfsTeamProjectCollection(url, creds);
server.Authenticate();
You can also try debugging this issue using Fiddler. You'll have to change VS proxy settings before starting Fiddler:
Either set the registry key reg add hkcu\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\12.0\TeamFoundation\RequestSettings
/v BypassProxyOnLocal /t REG_SZ /d False
or
Set environment variable TFS_BYPASS_PROXY_ON_LOCAL=0

Seems like an SSL handshake issue at its root, which has nothing to do with the TFS and HTTP protocol and authentication, they sit above SSL. So make sure you have a valid certificate, matching hostname, good validity, accessible CRL where the cert is not revoked, etc. Also check in other browsers or openssl.exe ("openssl.exe s_client -connect servername:8080") for more diagnostic info. You didn't mention but a proxy or an SSL-level certificate authentication could also cause problems, should be easily debuggable by the methods I mentioned above.

Cannot Create Secure SSL/TLS Channel Error While Performing Facebook C# SDK GET Operation

After testing code locally on Windows 7/IIS7.5, we've deployed this code to a Windows 2003/IIS6 production environment and are receiving the dreaded "The request was aborted: Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel" error.
I've added every possible ServicePointManager line of code and to no avail:
ServicePointManager.UseNagleAlgorithm = true;
ServicePointManager.Expect100Continue = true;
ServicePointManager.CheckCertificateRevocationList = true;
ServicePointManager.DefaultConnectionLimit = ServicePointManager.DefaultPersistentConnectionLimit;
ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Ssl3;
ServicePointManager.ServerCertificateValidationCallback = delegate { return true; };
This all comes about while using the latest Facebook C# SDK and attempting to perform a GET operation.
By tracing, I'm able to see that the Facebook Token is being passed correctly, but can't figure out anything else.
Any ideas? I've tried every solution I can find but can't seem to figure out anything that works.
Thanks in advance!

Replace calls to graph.facebook.com with graph.beta.facebook.com and you will be operational again it worked for us. Hope Facebook will fix this soon.

SSL Socket between .Net and Java with client authentication

I am trying to create an SSL Socket Server/Client between .NET and Java. In this case, my SSL Socket Server will run in .net and the client runs in Java under Linux. My problem is that the connection fails during the handshaking, specifically when the server request a certificate from the client, the client is unable to send something back and the connection fails.
In .net I am using sslStream to establish the connection and on Java I am using the standard SSLSocket. Some code snippets are below, but this is what I have so far:
On the server side (Windows), I have a private certificate in the Personal/Certificates folders under MMC. I have a public certificate from the client in the Trusted People/Certificates. Both certificates were issued by the same CA. The certificate chain for both certificates have multiple levels, but it is the same for both. The root level certificate in the chain is also installed in the trusted Certification Authorities/Certificates folder.
On the client side (Linux), I have a keystore that contains the private certificate that matches the public certificate installed at the server. I have a trust store that contains the public certificate from the server, matching the server's private one.
On the server side (.net) I am using a Socket that does an asynchronous read and then it gets wrapped into an SSLStream, the code snippet is like this:
NetworkStream ns = new NetworkStream(socket, false);
SslStream ssl = new SslStream(ns, true);
ssl.AuthenticateAsServer(serverCertificate, true, SslProtocols.Default, true);
The client code is pretty much standard code:
SSLSocketFactory factory = (SSLSocketFactory) SSLSocketFactory.getDefault();
InetAddress addr = InetAddress.getByName(servername);
SSLSocket socket = (SSLSocket) factory.createSocket(addr,port);
socket.setUseClientMode(true);
socket.setNeedClientAuth(true);
socket.setWantClientAuth(true);
socket.startHandshake();
os = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
is = new DataInputStream(socket.getInputStream());
byte[] outBuf = new byte[50];
os.write("SEND SOMETHING".getBytes("UTF-8"));
is.read(outBuf);
In java I have set the proper varialbes to point to the trust and key store with their password.
Now, following the standard SSL Handshake, this is what happens:
ClientHello
ServerHello
Server sends public certificate
Client matches the public certificate with the one on the trust store
Server sends the Certificate request
With the certificate request the server sends a list of valid CAs, on this list only the my root CA is sent (among a long list of other well known CAs.).
Client certificate is null.
Server receives a null certificate from the client, thus closes the connection.
And that is it, the client won't send a valid certificate back to the server. I have some questions on this:
Has anybody experienced something like this?
Regarding that list of CAs sent by the server (Windows), How does .net determine what to send to the client? Is there a way to modify that list?
Do I need to send the all the authorities in the chain used to sign my certificate in that list of CAs? or is the Root one enough?
Am I missing something on either side of my code?
Any help will be greatly appreciated it.
In

The following two statements are useless on the client side (although they shouldn't hurt):
socket.setNeedClientAuth(true);
socket.setWantClientAuth(true);
The fact that you see the Certificate Request message and the Client Certificate message shows that the server is configured properly.
The most likely cause that comes to mind for the absence of certificate in the client certificate message is that the keystore (on the client side) might not be configured properly. You may be interested in this answer to make sure that your client key store is configured properly. More specifically, you need to make sure that the private key for your client certificate was imported in the same alias as the certificate chain (and that it's the chain going back to a CA advertised in the Certificate Request message).
(Regarding the rest of your question, I'm not sure how to modify the CA list sent by the server when using SslStream in C#. This earlier question would seem to suggest there is no solution, although newer versions of .Net may have addresses the issue since this question was asked. I haven't been able to find anything that would do it by looking at the SslStream API documentation and related classes, but this doesn't mean it doesn't exist.)

Accessing Securised Web Service

I need to connect to a provider's web service with a Windows Form application. He gives me a certificate to access it but I have a security problem.
I have done these following steps :
Add certificate to personal store (on IE & Firefox)
Generate a proxy with the remote wsdl (no problem)
Use this code to call a method :
`using (service1.MessagesService m = new service1.MessagesService())
{
X509Certificate crt = new X509Certificate(#"C:\OpenSSL\bin\thecert.p12",string.Empty);
m.ClientCertificates.Add(crt);
var result = m.AuthoriseTransaction(aut);
this.textBox1.AppendText(result.id.ToString());
}`
I have the following error :
The underlying connection was closed: Could not establish trust relationship for the channel SSL / TLS.
Thanks for your help

Your connection isn't being authorised correctly, is the webservice over https? You may need to create a custom implementation of CertificatePolicy. See this article for an example.