Restrict IP-host hostname verification to iPAddress SANs on Mbed TLS and wolfSSL

An IP-literal host must only be authenticated via a matching iPAddress SAN,
never via the certificate's Common Name (RFC 9110), as the OpenSSL backend
already does through X509_check_ip. The Mbed TLS and wolfSSL backends instead
fell back to the CN when no IP SAN matched, and recognized IPv4 only.

This is a more complete solution for #2476, which gated the CN fallback for
IPv4 hosts only; here the same gap is closed for IPv6 as well, and IPv6
iPAddress SANs are actually matched.

- Add impl::parse_ip_address() to parse IPv4/IPv6 literals into raw bytes
- Match IPv6 (16-byte) iPAddress SANs, not just IPv4
- Skip the CN fallback for IP-literal hosts (both IPv4 and IPv6)
- Remove the unused SSLClient::verify_host* dead code
- Add regression tests and test certificates for the IP-host cases

httplib.h

@@ -2878,13 +2878,6 @@ private:
 #endif
 
   friend class ClientImpl;
-
-#ifdef CPPHTTPLIB_OPENSSL_SUPPORT
-private:
-  bool verify_host(X509 *server_cert) const;
-  bool verify_host_with_subject_alt_name(X509 *server_cert) const;
-  bool verify_host_with_common_name(X509 *server_cert) const;
-#endif
 };
 #endif // CPPHTTPLIB_SSL_ENABLED
 
@@ -16526,6 +16519,21 @@ inline bool parse_ipv4(const std::string &str, unsigned char *out) {
   return *p == '\0';
 }
 
+// Parse an IP literal (IPv4 or IPv6) into raw network-order bytes.
+// `out` must have room for at least 16 bytes. Returns the address length
+// (4 for IPv4, 16 for IPv6) on success, or 0 if the string is not an IP
+// literal. Used to match a host against iPAddress SANs the same way the
+// OpenSSL backend does via X509_check_ip.
+inline size_t parse_ip_address(const std::string &str, unsigned char *out) {
+  if (is_ipv4_address(str)) { return parse_ipv4(str, out) ? 4 : 0; }
+  struct in6_addr addr6 = {};
+  if (inet_pton(AF_INET6, str.c_str(), &addr6) == 1) {
+    memcpy(out, &addr6, 16);
+    return 16;
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
 #ifdef _WIN32
 // Enumerate Windows system certificates and call callback with DER data
 template <typename Callback>
@@ -17725,99 +17733,6 @@ inline std::string verify_error_string(long error_code) {
 
 } // namespace tls
 
-inline bool SSLClient::verify_host(X509 *server_cert) const {
-  /* Quote from RFC2818 section 3.1 "Server Identity"
-
-     If a subjectAltName extension of type dNSName is present, that MUST
-     be used as the identity. Otherwise, the (most specific) Common Name
-     field in the Subject field of the certificate MUST be used. Although
-     the use of the Common Name is existing practice, it is deprecated and
-     Certification Authorities are encouraged to use the dNSName instead.
-
-     Matching is performed using the matching rules specified by
-     [RFC2459].  If more than one identity of a given type is present in
-     the certificate (e.g., more than one dNSName name, a match in any one
-     of the set is considered acceptable.) Names may contain the wildcard
-     character * which is considered to match any single domain name
-     component or component fragment. E.g., *.a.com matches foo.a.com but
-     not bar.foo.a.com. f*.com matches foo.com but not bar.com.
-
-     In some cases, the URI is specified as an IP address rather than a
-     hostname. In this case, the iPAddress subjectAltName must be present
-     in the certificate and must exactly match the IP in the URI.
-
-  */
-  return verify_host_with_subject_alt_name(server_cert) ||
-         verify_host_with_common_name(server_cert);
-}
-
-inline bool
-SSLClient::verify_host_with_subject_alt_name(X509 *server_cert) const {
-  auto ret = false;
-
-  auto type = GEN_DNS;
-
-  struct in6_addr addr6 = {};
-  struct in_addr addr = {};
-  size_t addr_len = 0;
-
-#ifndef __MINGW32__
-  if (inet_pton(AF_INET6, host_.c_str(), &addr6)) {
-    type = GEN_IPADD;
-    addr_len = sizeof(struct in6_addr);
-  } else if (inet_pton(AF_INET, host_.c_str(), &addr)) {
-    type = GEN_IPADD;
-    addr_len = sizeof(struct in_addr);
-  }
-#endif
-
-  auto alt_names = static_cast<const struct stack_st_GENERAL_NAME *>(
-      X509_get_ext_d2i(server_cert, NID_subject_alt_name, nullptr, nullptr));
-
-  if (alt_names) {
-    auto dsn_matched = false;
-    auto ip_matched = false;
-
-    auto count = sk_GENERAL_NAME_num(alt_names);
-
-    for (decltype(count) i = 0; i < count && !dsn_matched; i++) {
-      auto val = sk_GENERAL_NAME_value(alt_names, i);
-      if (!val || val->type != type) { continue; }
-
-      auto name =
-          reinterpret_cast<const char *>(ASN1_STRING_get0_data(val->d.ia5));
-      if (name == nullptr) { continue; }
-
-      auto name_len = static_cast<size_t>(ASN1_STRING_length(val->d.ia5));
-
-      switch (type) {
-      case GEN_DNS:
-        dsn_matched =
-            detail::match_hostname(std::string(name, name_len), host_);
-        break;
-
-      case GEN_IPADD:
-        if (!memcmp(&addr6, name, addr_len) || !memcmp(&addr, name, addr_len)) {
-          ip_matched = true;
-        }
-        break;
-      }
-    }
-
-    if (dsn_matched || ip_matched) { ret = true; }
-  }
-
-  GENERAL_NAMES_free(const_cast<STACK_OF(GENERAL_NAME) *>(
-      reinterpret_cast<const STACK_OF(GENERAL_NAME) *>(alt_names)));
-  return ret;
-}
-
-inline bool SSLClient::verify_host_with_common_name(X509 *server_cert) const {
-  auto cn = tls::get_cert_subject_cn(static_cast<tls::cert_t>(server_cert));
-  if (cn.empty()) { return false; }
-  return detail::match_hostname(cn, host_);
-}
-
 #endif // CPPHTTPLIB_OPENSSL_SUPPORT
 
 /*
@@ -18620,10 +18535,10 @@ inline bool verify_hostname(cert_t cert, const char *hostname) {
   auto mcert = static_cast<const mbedtls_x509_crt *>(cert);
   std::string host_str(hostname);
 
-  // Check if hostname is an IP address
+  // Check if hostname is an IP address (IPv4 or IPv6)
-  bool is_ip = impl::is_ipv4_address(host_str);
+  unsigned char ip_bytes[16];
-  unsigned char ip_bytes[4];
+  auto ip_len = impl::parse_ip_address(host_str, ip_bytes);
-  if (is_ip) { impl::parse_ipv4(host_str, ip_bytes); }
+  auto is_ip = ip_len > 0;
 
   // Check Subject Alternative Names (SAN)
   // In Mbed TLS 3.x, subject_alt_names contains raw values without ASN.1 tags
@@ -18635,9 +18550,9 @@ inline bool verify_hostname(cert_t cert, const char *hostname) {
     size_t len = san->buf.len;
 
     if (is_ip) {
-      // Check if this SAN is an IPv4 address (4 bytes)
+      // For an IP host, only a matching iPAddress SAN of the same family
-      if (len == 4 && memcmp(p, ip_bytes, 4) == 0) { return true; }
+      // (4 bytes for IPv4, 16 bytes for IPv6) may authenticate it.
-      // Check if this SAN is an IPv6 address (16 bytes) - skip for now
+      if (len == ip_len && memcmp(p, ip_bytes, ip_len) == 0) { return true; }
     } else {
       // Check if this SAN is a DNS name (printable ASCII string)
       bool is_dns = len > 0;
@@ -18652,21 +18567,25 @@ inline bool verify_hostname(cert_t cert, const char *hostname) {
     san = san->next;
   }
 
-  // Fallback: Check Common Name (CN) in subject
+  // Fallback: Check Common Name (CN) in subject. Skipped for IP-literal hosts:
-  char cn[256];
+  // an IP identity is only valid via an iPAddress SAN, never the CN (RFC 9110;
-  int ret = mbedtls_x509_dn_gets(cn, sizeof(cn), &mcert->subject);
+  // the OpenSSL backend's X509_check_ip behaves the same way).
-  if (ret > 0) {
+  if (!is_ip) {
-    std::string cn_str(cn);
+    char cn[256];
+    int ret = mbedtls_x509_dn_gets(cn, sizeof(cn), &mcert->subject);
+    if (ret > 0) {
+      std::string cn_str(cn);
 
-    // Look for "CN=" in the DN string
+      // Look for "CN=" in the DN string
-    size_t cn_pos = cn_str.find("CN=");
+      size_t cn_pos = cn_str.find("CN=");
-    if (cn_pos != std::string::npos) {
+      if (cn_pos != std::string::npos) {
-      size_t start = cn_pos + 3;
+        size_t start = cn_pos + 3;
-      size_t end = cn_str.find(',', start);
+        size_t end = cn_str.find(',', start);
-      std::string cn_value =
+        std::string cn_value =
-          cn_str.substr(start, end == std::string::npos ? end : end - start);
+            cn_str.substr(start, end == std::string::npos ? end : end - start);
 
-      if (detail::match_hostname(cn_value, host_str)) { return true; }
+        if (detail::match_hostname(cn_value, host_str)) { return true; }
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -19772,10 +19691,10 @@ inline bool verify_hostname(cert_t cert, const char *hostname) {
   auto x509 = static_cast<WOLFSSL_X509 *>(cert);
   std::string host_str(hostname);
 
-  // Check if hostname is an IP address
+  // Check if hostname is an IP address (IPv4 or IPv6)
-  bool is_ip = impl::is_ipv4_address(host_str);
+  unsigned char ip_bytes[16];
-  unsigned char ip_bytes[4];
+  auto ip_len = impl::parse_ip_address(host_str, ip_bytes);
-  if (is_ip) { impl::parse_ipv4(host_str, ip_bytes); }
+  auto is_ip = ip_len > 0;
 
   // Check Subject Alternative Names
   auto *san_names = static_cast<WOLF_STACK_OF(WOLFSSL_GENERAL_NAME) *>(
@@ -19802,10 +19721,12 @@ inline bool verify_hostname(cert_t cert, const char *hostname) {
           }
         }
       } else if (is_ip && names->type == WOLFSSL_GEN_IPADD) {
-        // IP address
+        // IP address: only an iPAddress SAN of the same family (4 bytes for
+        // IPv4, 16 bytes for IPv6) may authenticate the host.
         unsigned char *ip_data = wolfSSL_ASN1_STRING_data(names->d.iPAddress);
-        int ip_len = wolfSSL_ASN1_STRING_length(names->d.iPAddress);
+        auto san_ip_len = wolfSSL_ASN1_STRING_length(names->d.iPAddress);
-        if (ip_data && ip_len == 4 && memcmp(ip_data, ip_bytes, 4) == 0) {
+        if (ip_data && san_ip_len == static_cast<int>(ip_len) &&
+            memcmp(ip_data, ip_bytes, ip_len) == 0) {
           wolfSSL_sk_free(san_names);
           return true;
         }
@@ -19814,8 +19735,10 @@ inline bool verify_hostname(cert_t cert, const char *hostname) {
     wolfSSL_sk_free(san_names);
   }
 
-  // Fallback: Check Common Name (CN) in subject
+  // Fallback: Check Common Name (CN) in subject. Skipped for IP-literal hosts:
-  WOLFSSL_X509_NAME *subject = wolfSSL_X509_get_subject_name(x509);
+  // an IP identity is only valid via an iPAddress SAN, never the CN (RFC 9110;
+  // the OpenSSL backend's X509_check_ip behaves the same way).
+  auto subject = is_ip ? nullptr : wolfSSL_X509_get_subject_name(x509);
   if (subject) {
     char cn[256] = {};
     int cn_len = wolfSSL_X509_NAME_get_text_by_NID(subject, NID_commonName, cn,

test/gen-certs.sh

@@ -16,3 +16,14 @@ openssl genrsa -passout pass:test123! 2048 > key_encrypted.pem
 openssl req -new -batch -config test.conf -key key_encrypted.pem | openssl x509 -days 3650 -req -signkey key_encrypted.pem > cert_encrypted.pem
 openssl genrsa 2048 | openssl pkcs8 -topk8 -v1 PBE-SHA1-3DES -passout pass:test012! -out client_encrypted.key.pem
 openssl req -new -batch -config test.conf -key client_encrypted.key.pem -passin pass:test012! | openssl x509 -days 370 -req -CA rootCA.cert.pem -CAkey rootCA.key.pem -CAcreateserial > client_encrypted.cert.pem
+
+# Certificates for IP-host hostname verification regression tests.
+# cert_ip_cn.pem: CN is an IPv4 literal with NO subjectAltName. An IP host must
+#                 NOT be authenticated via the CN, so verifying it against this
+#                 cert must fail.
+openssl req -x509 -key key.pem -sha256 -days 3650 -nodes -subj "/CN=127.0.0.1" -out cert_ip_cn.pem
+
+# cert_ipv6.pem:  CN is an IPv6 literal plus an IPv6 iPAddress SAN for a
+#                 different address. The SAN address must match; the CN address
+#                 must be ignored.
+openssl req -x509 -key key.pem -sha256 -days 3650 -nodes -subj "/CN=::1" -addext "subjectAltName=IP:2001:db8::1" -out cert_ipv6.pem

test/test.cc

@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ inline std::string u8_to_string(const char8_t *s) {
 
 #define SERVER_CERT_FILE "./cert.pem"
 #define SERVER_CERT2_FILE "./cert2.pem"
+#define SERVER_CERT_IP_CN_FILE "./cert_ip_cn.pem"
+#define SERVER_CERT_IPV6_FILE "./cert_ipv6.pem"
 #define SERVER_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE "./key.pem"
 #define CA_CERT_FILE "./ca-bundle.crt"
 #define CLIENT_CA_CERT_FILE "./rootCA.cert.pem"
@@ -10939,6 +10941,108 @@ TEST(SSLClientServerTest, TlsVerifyHostname) {
   EXPECT_FALSE(verify_result_wrong)
       << "verify_hostname should not match 'wronghost.example.com'";
 }
+
+// An IP-literal host must only be authenticated via an iPAddress SAN, never via
+// the certificate's Common Name (RFC 9110). This mirrors the OpenSSL backend's
+// X509_check_ip behavior and must hold for every backend.
+TEST(SSLClientServerTest, TlsVerifyHostnameIpNotMatchedByCommonName) {
+  using namespace httplib::tls;
+
+  // Certificate CN is the IPv4 literal "127.0.0.1" and it carries no SAN.
+  SSLServer svr(SERVER_CERT_IP_CN_FILE, SERVER_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE);
+  ASSERT_TRUE(svr.is_valid());
+
+  svr.Get("/test", [](const Request &, Response &res) {
+    res.set_content("ok", "text/plain");
+  });
+
+  thread t([&]() { svr.listen(HOST, PORT); });
+  auto se = detail::scope_exit([&] {
+    svr.stop();
+    t.join();
+  });
+  svr.wait_until_ready();
+
+  bool verify_callback_called = false;
+  bool ip_matched_via_cn = true;
+
+  SSLClient cli(HOST, PORT);
+  cli.enable_server_certificate_verification(true);
+  cli.set_ca_cert_path(CA_CERT_FILE);
+  cli.set_connection_timeout(5);
+
+  cli.set_server_certificate_verifier([&](const VerifyContext &ctx) -> bool {
+    verify_callback_called = true;
+    if (!ctx.cert) return false;
+
+    // The IP appears only in the CN, so it must NOT be accepted.
+    ip_matched_via_cn = ctx.check_hostname("127.0.0.1");
+
+    return true; // Accept for the purpose of this test
+  });
+
+  cli.Get("/test");
+
+  ASSERT_TRUE(verify_callback_called)
+      << "Verify callback should have been called";
+  EXPECT_FALSE(ip_matched_via_cn)
+      << "An IP host must not be authenticated via the certificate CN";
+}
+
+// IPv6 hosts must be matched against IPv6 iPAddress SANs (and only those).
+TEST(SSLClientServerTest, TlsVerifyHostnameIpv6San) {
+  using namespace httplib::tls;
+
+  // Certificate CN is "::1" and it carries an IPv6 SAN for "2001:db8::1".
+  SSLServer svr(SERVER_CERT_IPV6_FILE, SERVER_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE);
+  ASSERT_TRUE(svr.is_valid());
+
+  svr.Get("/test", [](const Request &, Response &res) {
+    res.set_content("ok", "text/plain");
+  });
+
+  thread t([&]() { svr.listen(HOST, PORT); });
+  auto se = detail::scope_exit([&] {
+    svr.stop();
+    t.join();
+  });
+  svr.wait_until_ready();
+
+  bool verify_callback_called = false;
+  bool san_matched = false;
+  bool wrong_ipv6_matched = true;
+  bool cn_ipv6_matched = true;
+
+  SSLClient cli(HOST, PORT);
+  cli.enable_server_certificate_verification(true);
+  cli.set_ca_cert_path(CA_CERT_FILE);
+  cli.set_connection_timeout(5);
+
+  cli.set_server_certificate_verifier([&](const VerifyContext &ctx) -> bool {
+    verify_callback_called = true;
+    if (!ctx.cert) return false;
+
+    // Matches the IPv6 iPAddress SAN.
+    san_matched = ctx.check_hostname("2001:db8::1");
+    // A different IPv6 address must not match.
+    wrong_ipv6_matched = ctx.check_hostname("2001:db8::2");
+    // "::1" lives only in the CN, so it must not be accepted.
+    cn_ipv6_matched = ctx.check_hostname("::1");
+
+    return true; // Accept for the purpose of this test
+  });
+
+  cli.Get("/test");
+
+  ASSERT_TRUE(verify_callback_called)
+      << "Verify callback should have been called";
+  EXPECT_TRUE(san_matched)
+      << "verify_hostname should match an IPv6 iPAddress SAN";
+  EXPECT_FALSE(wrong_ipv6_matched)
+      << "verify_hostname should not match a non-matching IPv6 address";
+  EXPECT_FALSE(cn_ipv6_matched)
+      << "An IPv6 host must not be authenticated via the certificate CN";
+}
 #endif
 
 // mbedTLS-specific callback constructor test