[PATCH] tlshd: Add runtime check for ML-DSA support in gnutls
Chuck Lever <[email protected]> Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:18:17 -0400
| Newsgroups | dev.linux.lists.kernel-tls-handshake |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
From: Chuck Lever <[email protected]> Fedora 42 ships gnutls 3.8.11, which defines GNUTLS_PK_MLDSA* and GNUTLS_SIGN_MLDSA* enum constants in its headers and can parse ML-DSA certificates and import ML-DSA private keys. However, it does not register SHAKE-256 as an available digest algorithm: gnutls_hash_get_len(GNUTLS_DIG_SHAKE_256) returns 0 and SHAKE-256 is absent from gnutls_digest_list(). Because the ML-DSA sign algorithm table entries specify GNUTLS_DIG_SHAKE_256 as their hash, all ML-DSA signing operations fail at the hash step during TLS handshakes. RHEL 10's gnutls 3.8.10 carries downstream patches that wire up SHAKE-256 in the digest framework, so ML-DSA works there. The existing compile-time configure check (AC_COMPILE_IFELSE on the GNUTLS_SIGN_MLDSA65 constant) cannot distinguish these two cases: both define the constant, but only one has a functional implementation. The symptom on Fedora 42 is that tlshd's server-side retrieve_key callback selects the ML-DSA certificate (because the client's gnutls also advertises ML-DSA signature algorithms in its ClientHello), gnutls fails at cert_select_sign_algorithm for every cipher suite, and the handshake fails with "No supported cipher suites have been found. (-87)". The RSA fallback never runs because gnutls retries the callback for each cipher suite and gets the same unusable ML-DSA certificate each time. Probe gnutls_hash_get_len(GNUTLS_DIG_SHAKE_256) at certificate load time to detect whether the hash prerequisite for ML-DSA is present. When it returns zero, tlshd_cert_check_pk_alg() returns false, disabling the post-quantum certificate so the RSA certificate is used instead. Signed-off-by: Chuck Lever <[email protected]> --- src/tlshd/config.c | 22 +++++++++++++++------- 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/tlshd/config.c b/src/tlshd/config.c index ce48a4d17fc2..1ed94a7776ad 100644 --- a/src/tlshd/config.c +++ b/src/tlshd/config.c @@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ #include <gnutls/gnutls.h> #include <gnutls/abstract.h> +#include <gnutls/crypto.h> #include <netlink/netlink.h> @@ -384,6 +385,7 @@ static bool tlshd_cert_check_pk_alg(gnutls_datum_t *data, { gnutls_x509_crt_t cert; gnutls_pk_algorithm_t pk_alg; + bool result = false; int ret; ret = gnutls_x509_crt_init(&cert); @@ -391,10 +393,8 @@ static bool tlshd_cert_check_pk_alg(gnutls_datum_t *data, return false; ret = gnutls_x509_crt_import(cert, data, GNUTLS_X509_FMT_PEM); - if (ret < 0) { - gnutls_x509_crt_deinit(cert); - return false; - } + if (ret < 0) + goto out; pk_alg = gnutls_x509_crt_get_pk_algorithm(cert, NULL); tlshd_log_debug("%s: certificate pk algorithm %s", __func__, @@ -403,15 +403,23 @@ static bool tlshd_cert_check_pk_alg(gnutls_datum_t *data, case GNUTLS_PK_MLDSA44: case GNUTLS_PK_MLDSA65: case GNUTLS_PK_MLDSA87: + if (!gnutls_hash_get_len(GNUTLS_DIG_SHAKE_256)) { + tlshd_log_notice("%s: gnutls lacks SHAKE-256 support, " + "disabling %s", + __func__, + gnutls_pk_algorithm_get_name(pk_alg)); + goto out; + } *pkalg = pk_alg; + result = true; break; default: - gnutls_x509_crt_deinit(cert); - return false; + break; } +out: gnutls_x509_crt_deinit(cert); - return true; + return result; } #else static bool tlshd_cert_check_pk_alg(__attribute__ ((unused)) gnutls_datum_t *data, -- 2.53.0