Example: Detect SSL

In this example we will build a simple function to detect the presence of the SSL handshake given an input buffer sequence. Then we build on the example by adding a synchronous stream algorithm. Finally, we implemement an asynchronous detection function using a composed operation. This SSL detector may be used to allow a server to accept both SSL/TLS and unencrypted connections at the same port.

Here is the declaration for a function to detect the SSL client handshake. The input to the function is simply a buffer sequence, no stream. This allows the detection algorithm to be used elsewhere.

#include <boost/beast/core.hpp>
#include <boost/asio/coroutine.hpp>
#include <boost/asio/executor_work_guard.hpp>
#include <boost/logic/tribool.hpp>

/** Return `true` if a buffer contains a TLS/SSL client handshake.

    This function returns `true` if the beginning of the buffer
    indicates that a TLS handshake is being negotiated, and that
    there are at least four octets in the buffer.

    If the content of the buffer cannot possibly be a TLS handshake
    request, the function returns `false`. Otherwise, if additional
    octets are required, `boost::indeterminate` is returned.

    @param buffer The input buffer to inspect. This type must meet
    the requirements of @b ConstBufferSequence.

    @return `boost::tribool` indicating whether the buffer contains
    a TLS client handshake, does not contain a handshake, or needs
    additional octets.

    @see

    http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2246.txt
    7.4. Handshake protocol
*/
template<class ConstBufferSequence>
boost::tribool
is_ssl_handshake(ConstBufferSequence const& buffers);

The implementation checks the buffer for the presence of the SSL Handshake message octet sequence and returns an apporopriate value:

template<
    class ConstBufferSequence>
boost::tribool
is_ssl_handshake(
    ConstBufferSequence const& buffers)
{
    // Make sure buffers meets the requirements
    static_assert(
        boost::asio::is_const_buffer_sequence<ConstBufferSequence>::value,
        "ConstBufferSequence requirements not met");

    // We need at least one byte to really do anything
    if(boost::asio::buffer_size(buffers) < 1)
        return boost::indeterminate;

    // Extract the first byte, which holds the
    // "message" type for the Handshake protocol.
    unsigned char v;
    boost::asio::buffer_copy(boost::asio::buffer(&v, 1), buffers);

    // Check that the message type is "SSL Handshake" (rfc2246)
    if(v != 0x16)
    {
        // This is definitely not a handshake
        return false;
    }

    // At least four bytes are needed for the handshake
    // so make sure that we get them before returning `true`
    if(boost::asio::buffer_size(buffers) < 4)
        return boost::indeterminate;

    // This can only be a TLS/SSL handshake
    return true;
}

Now we define a stream operation. We start with the simple, synchronous version which takes the stream and buffer as input:

/** Detect a TLS/SSL handshake on a stream.

    This function reads from a stream to determine if a TLS/SSL
    handshake is being received. The function call will block
    until one of the following conditions is true:

    @li The disposition of the handshake is determined

    @li An error occurs

    Octets read from the stream will be stored in the passed dynamic
    buffer, which may be used to perform the TLS handshake if the
    detector returns true, or otherwise consumed by the caller based
    on the expected protocol.

    @param stream The stream to read from. This type must meet the
    requirements of @b SyncReadStream.

    @param buffer The dynamic buffer to use. This type must meet the
    requirements of @b DynamicBuffer.

    @param ec Set to the error if any occurred.

    @return `boost::tribool` indicating whether the buffer contains
    a TLS client handshake, does not contain a handshake, or needs
    additional octets. If an error occurs, the return value is
    undefined.
*/
template<
    class SyncReadStream,
    class DynamicBuffer>
boost::tribool
detect_ssl(
    SyncReadStream& stream,
    DynamicBuffer& buffer,
    boost::beast::error_code& ec)
{
    namespace beast = boost::beast;

    // Make sure arguments meet the requirements
    static_assert(beast::is_sync_read_stream<SyncReadStream>::value,
        "SyncReadStream requirements not met");
    static_assert(
        boost::asio::is_dynamic_buffer<DynamicBuffer>::value,
        "DynamicBuffer requirements not met");

    // Loop until an error occurs or we get a definitive answer
    for(;;)
    {
        // There could already be data in the buffer
        // so we do this first, before reading from the stream.
        auto const result = is_ssl_handshake(buffer.data());

        // If we got an answer, return it
        if(! boost::indeterminate(result))
        {
            // This is a fast way to indicate success
            // without retrieving the default category.
            ec.assign(0, ec.category());
            return result;
        }

        // The algorithm should never need more than 4 bytes
        BOOST_ASSERT(buffer.size() < 4);

        // Prepare the buffer's output area.
        auto const mutable_buffer = buffer.prepare(beast::read_size(buffer, 1536));

        // Try to fill our buffer by reading from the stream
        std::size_t const bytes_transferred = stream.read_some(mutable_buffer, ec);

        // Check for an error
        if(ec)
            break;

        // Commit what we read into the buffer's input area.
        buffer.commit(bytes_transferred);
    }

    // error
    return false;
}

The synchronous algorithm is the model for building the asynchronous operation which has more boilerplate. First, we declare the asynchronous initiating function:

/** Detect a TLS/SSL handshake asynchronously on a stream.

    This function is used to asynchronously determine if a TLS/SSL
    handshake is being received.
    The function call always returns immediately. The asynchronous
    operation will continue until one of the following conditions
    is true:

    @li The disposition of the handshake is determined

    @li An error occurs

    This operation is implemented in terms of zero or more calls to
    the next layer's `async_read_some` function, and is known as a
    <em>composed operation</em>. The program must ensure that the
    stream performs no other operations until this operation completes.

    Octets read from the stream will be stored in the passed dynamic
    buffer, which may be used to perform the TLS handshake if the
    detector returns true, or otherwise consumed by the caller based
    on the expected protocol.

    @param stream The stream to read from. This type must meet the
    requirements of @b AsyncReadStream.

    @param buffer The dynamic buffer to use. This type must meet the
    requirements of @b DynamicBuffer.

    @param handler Invoked when the operation completes.
    The handler may be moved or copied as needed.
    The equivalent function signature of the handler must be:
    @code
    void handler(
        error_code const& error,    // Set to the error, if any
        boost::tribool result       // The result of the detector
    );
    @endcode
    Regardless of whether the asynchronous operation completes
    immediately or not, the handler will not be invoked from within
    this function. Invocation of the handler will be performed in a
    manner equivalent to using `boost::asio::io_context::post`.
*/
template<
    class AsyncReadStream,
    class DynamicBuffer,
    class CompletionToken>
BOOST_ASIO_INITFN_RESULT_TYPE(                      
    CompletionToken,
    void(boost::beast::error_code, boost::tribool)) 
async_detect_ssl(
    AsyncReadStream& stream,
    DynamicBuffer& buffer,
    CompletionToken&& token);

	`BOOST_ASIO_INITFN_RESULT_TYPE` customizes the return value based on the completion token
	This is the signature for the completion handler

The implementation of the initiating function is straightforward and contains mostly boilerplate. It is to construct the return type customization helper to obtain the actual handler, and then create the composed operation and launch it. The actual code for interacting with the stream is in the composed operation, which is written as a separate class.

// This is the composed operation.
template<
    class AsyncReadStream,
    class DynamicBuffer,
    class Handler>
class detect_ssl_op;

// Here is the implementation of the asynchronous initation function
template<
    class AsyncReadStream,
    class DynamicBuffer,
    class CompletionToken>
BOOST_ASIO_INITFN_RESULT_TYPE(
    CompletionToken,
    void(boost::beast::error_code, boost::tribool))
async_detect_ssl(
    AsyncReadStream& stream,
    DynamicBuffer& buffer,
    CompletionToken&& token)
{
    namespace beast = boost::beast;

    // Make sure arguments meet the requirements
    static_assert(beast::is_async_read_stream<AsyncReadStream>::value,
        "SyncReadStream requirements not met");
    static_assert(
        boost::asio::is_dynamic_buffer<DynamicBuffer>::value,
        "DynamicBuffer requirements not met");

    // This helper manages some of the handler's lifetime and
    // uses the result and handler specializations associated with
    // the completion token to help customize the return value.
    //
    boost::asio::async_completion<
        CompletionToken, void(beast::error_code, boost::tribool)> init{token};

    // Create the composed operation and launch it. This is a constructor
    // call followed by invocation of operator(). We use BOOST_ASIO_HANDLER_TYPE
    // to convert the completion token into the correct handler type,
    // allowing user defined specializations of the async result template
    // to take effect.
    //
    detect_ssl_op<
        AsyncReadStream,
        DynamicBuffer,
        BOOST_ASIO_HANDLER_TYPE(
            CompletionToken, void(beast::error_code, boost::tribool))>{
                stream, buffer, init.completion_handler}(beast::error_code{}, 0);

    // This hook lets the caller see a return value when appropriate.
    // For example this might return std::future<error_code, boost::tribool> if
    // CompletionToken is boost::asio::use_future.
    //
    // If a coroutine is used for the token, the return value from
    // this function will be the `boost::tribool` representing the result.
    //
    return init.result.get();
}

Now we will declare our composed operation. There is a considerable amount of necessary boilerplate to get this right, but the result is worth the effort.

// Read from a stream to invoke is_tls_handshake asynchronously.
// This will be implemented using Asio's "stackless coroutines"
// which are based on macros forming a switch statement. The
// operation is derived from `coroutine` for this reason.
//
template<
    class AsyncReadStream,
    class DynamicBuffer,
    class Handler>
class detect_ssl_op : public boost::asio::coroutine
{
    // This composed operation has trivial state,
    // so it is just kept inside the class and can
    // be cheaply copied as needed by the implementation.

    AsyncReadStream& stream_;

    // Boost.Asio and the Networking TS require an object of
    // type executor_work_guard<T>, where T is the type of
    // executor returned by the stream's get_executor function,
    // to persist for the duration of the asynchronous operation.
    boost::asio::executor_work_guard<
        decltype(std::declval<AsyncReadStream&>().get_executor())> work_;

    DynamicBuffer& buffer_;
    Handler handler_;
    boost::tribool result_ = false;

public:
    // Boost.Asio requires that handlers are CopyConstructible.
    // The state for this operation is cheap to copy.
    detect_ssl_op(detect_ssl_op const&) = default;

    // The constructor just keeps references the callers varaibles.
    //
    template<class DeducedHandler>
    detect_ssl_op(
        AsyncReadStream& stream,
        DynamicBuffer& buffer,
        DeducedHandler&& handler)
        : stream_(stream)
        , work_(stream.get_executor())
        , buffer_(buffer)
        , handler_(std::forward<DeducedHandler>(handler))
    {
    }

    // Associated allocator support. This is Asio's system for
    // allowing the final completion handler to customize the
    // memory allocation strategy used for composed operation
    // states. A composed operation needs to use the same allocator
    // as the final handler. These declarations achieve that.

    using allocator_type =
        boost::asio::associated_allocator_t<Handler>;

    allocator_type
    get_allocator() const noexcept
    {
        return (boost::asio::get_associated_allocator)(handler_);
    }

    // Executor hook. This is Asio's system for customizing the
    // manner in which asynchronous completion handlers are invoked.
    // A composed operation needs to use the same executor to invoke
    // intermediate completion handlers as that used to invoke the
    // final handler.

    using executor_type = boost::asio::associated_executor_t<
        Handler, decltype(std::declval<AsyncReadStream&>().get_executor())>;

    executor_type get_executor() const noexcept
    {
        return (boost::asio::get_associated_executor)(handler_, stream_.get_executor());
    }

    // Our main entry point. This will get called as our
    // intermediate operations complete. Definition below.
    //
    void operator()(boost::beast::error_code ec, std::size_t bytes_transferred);
};

The boilerplate is all done, and now we need to implement the function call operator that turns this composed operation a completion handler with the signature void(error_code, std::size_t) which is exactly the signature needed when performing asynchronous reads. This function is a transformation of the synchronous version of detect_ssl above, but with the inversion of flow that characterizes code written in the callback style:

// detect_ssl_op is callable with the signature
// void(error_code, bytes_transferred),
// allowing `*this` to be used as a ReadHandler
//
template<
    class AsyncStream,
    class DynamicBuffer,
    class Handler>
void
detect_ssl_op<AsyncStream, DynamicBuffer, Handler>::
operator()(boost::beast::error_code ec, std::size_t bytes_transferred)
{
    namespace beast = boost::beast;

    // This introduces the scope of the stackless coroutine
    BOOST_ASIO_CORO_REENTER(*this)
    {
        // There could already be data in the buffer
        // so we do this first, before reading from the stream.
        result_ = is_ssl_handshake(buffer_.data());

        // If we got an answer, return it
        if(! boost::indeterminate(result_))
        {
            // We need to invoke the handler, but the guarantee
            // is that the handler will not be called before the
            // call to async_detect_ssl returns, so we must post
            // the operation to the executor. The helper function
            // `bind_handler` lets us bind arguments in a safe way
            // that preserves the type customization hooks of the
            // original handler.
            BOOST_ASIO_CORO_YIELD
            boost::asio::post(
                stream_.get_executor(),
                beast::bind_handler(std::move(*this), ec, 0));
        }
        else
        {
            // Loop until an error occurs or we get a definitive answer
            for(;;)
            {
                // The algorithm should never need more than 4 bytes
                BOOST_ASSERT(buffer_.size() < 4);

                BOOST_ASIO_CORO_YIELD
                {
                    // Prepare the buffer's output area.
                    auto const mutable_buffer = buffer_.prepare(beast::read_size(buffer_, 1536));

                    // Try to fill our buffer by reading from the stream
                    stream_.async_read_some(mutable_buffer, std::move(*this));
                }

                // Check for an error
                if(ec)
                    break;

                // Commit what we read into the buffer's input area.
                buffer_.commit(bytes_transferred);

                // See if we can detect the handshake
                result_ = is_ssl_handshake(buffer_.data());

                // If it is detected, call the handler
                if(! boost::indeterminate(result_))
                {
                    // We don't need bind_handler here because we were invoked
                    // as a result of an intermediate asynchronous operation.
                    break;
                }
            }
        }

        // Invoke the final handler.
        handler_(ec, result_);
    }
}

This SSL detector is used by the server framework in the example directory.

Boost C++ Libraries

Example: Detect SSL