[Python-Dev] evolving the SSL module API

Bill Janssen janssen at parc.com
Thu Sep 10 21:01:12 CEST 2009


Heikki, I'm OK with this, too.  would you like to propose an extended
API for the SSL module?  That would give us a starting point to talk
about.

This should probably be a PEP, just for the sake of writing things down.

As you say, the hostname checking feature seems to me possibly
appropriate for some application protocols, though it's made the use of
HTTPS as a transport-level protocol unnecessarily confusing and buggy.
I don't see putting that into the SSL module as a default, but perhaps a
utility function in that module, to check a server-side cert against a
hostname, is a good idea.

Bill


Heikki Toivonen <htoivonen at spikesource.com> wrote:

> Bill Janssen wrote:
> > OK, seems reasonable.  Thanks.  In the near term, can you do this with
> > M2Crypto or PyOpenSSL?
> > 
> > When I started this update in 2007, we were trying to keep the API
> > simple to avoid confusing people and avoid competition with the two
> > full-fledged toolkits out there.  But I don't see any real reason not to
> > extend the API a bit.
> 
> Speaking as the M2Crypto maintainer, I don't mind the stdlib competing
> with M2Crypto/getting better at SSL. In fact, I would actually like to
> see the stdlib SSL implementation getting good enough so that people
> would not need M2Crypto for SSL (except maybe in special circumstances).
> There is much M2Crypto does besides SSL so this wouldn't even obsolete it.
> 
> One of the main things IMO missing from stdlib SSL implementation is
> hostname checking by default (with override option), but I know you and
> I have different opinions on this. I would be happy to provide patches
> against the stdlib SSL implementation for some things M2Crypto does that
> the stdlib SSL module is missing if we could agree on the
> features/design first. Simple is good, but I'd like the defaults to be
> secure and commonly overridden things to be overrideable.
> 
> -- 
>   Heikki Toivonen
> 
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