Error using PHP cURL with SSL certificates - php

Question

I'm trying to write a PHP script using cURL that can authorize a user through a page that uses an SSL certificate, in addition to username and password, and I can't seem to get past the SSL cert stage.
In this case, curl_setopt($handle, CURLOPT_VERIFYPEER, 0) unfortunately isn't an option. The certificate is a required part of authentication, otherwise I get the error mentioned in this other similar SO post.
I've tried a few command-line runs with cURL:
> curl --url https://website
This returns the (60) SLL certificate problem error. If I adjust the command to include the --cacert option:
> curl --url https://website --cacert /path/to/servercert.cer
It works just fine; the auth website is returned.
However, I've tried the following PHP code:
$handle = curl_init();
$options = array(
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => false,
CURLOPT_HEADER => true,
CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => false,
CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST => '0',
CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER => '1',
CURLOPT_CAINFO => '/path/to/servercert.cer',
CURLOPT_USERAGENT => 'Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.01; Windows NT 5.0)',
CURLOPT_VERBOSE => true,
CURLOPT_URL => 'https://website'
);
curl_setopt_array($handle, $options);
curl_exec($handle);
if (curl_errno($handle)) {
echo 'Error: ' . curl_error($handle);
}
curl_close($handle);
I would have thought the code was essentially analogous to the shell commands, but instead I'm greeted with the following error message:
Error: error setting certificate verify locations: CAfile: /path/to/servercert.cer CApath: none
I've read all the literature I can find (particularly on php.net and curl.haxx) and can't seem to find anything that fixes this problem. Any suggestions?
I have tried chmod 777 servercert.cer with no success. However, in executing the PHP script with the above code from the command line instead of the browser via php test.php, it works perfectly. Any explanation for why it doesn't work in the browser?

Answer 1

Because things work via the command line but not via php using curl then I would pursue curl being the problem.
According to this URL, http://curl.haxx.se/docs/sslcerts.html, which was reference in an SO post you cited above ( reading SSL page with CURL (php) )...
"Until 7.18.0, curl bundled a severely outdated ca bundle file that was
installed by default. These days, the curl archives include no ca certs at
all. You need to get them elsewhere. See below for example.
If the remote server uses a self-signed certificate, if you don't install a CA
cert bundle, if the server uses a certificate signed by a CA that isn't
included in the bundle you use or if the remote host is an impostor
impersonating your favorite site, and you want to transfer files from this
server, do one of the following:"
It then goes on to list a number of steps that you can try.
Since your 7.16.3 version of curl is prior to 7.18.0, if you haven't already, I would recommend updating your curl and openssl components and then working through the list referenced above.

Answer 2

To elaborate and sum this up:
if you have a PHP file using PHP curl and place the ca certificate for your systems in the same directory, the below code will give you a jumpstart
$url = "https://myserver.mydomain.local/get_somedata.php";
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
//These next lines are for the magic "good cert confirmation"
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 2);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, true);
//for local domains:
//you need to get the pem cert file for the root ca or intermediate CA that you signed all the domain certificates with so that PHP curl can use it...sorry batteries not included
//place the pem or crt ca certificate file in the same directory as the php file for this code to work
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CAINFO, __DIR__.'/cafile.pem');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CAPATH, __DIR__.'/cafile.pem');
//DEBUG: remove slashes on the next line to prove "SSL verify" is the cause
//curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
//Error handling and return result
$data = curl_exec($ch);
if ($data === false) {
$result = curl_error($ch);
} else {
$result = $data;
}
// Close handle
curl_close($ch);
return $result;

Answer 3

After 6 years of the question, I meet the same problem on a shared-host, and apparently there is no satisfactory answer. I found for myself a solution, hope it useful for everybody.
You can try this config:
curl_setopt($config,CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST,0);
curl_setopt($config,CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER,1);
curl_setopt($config,CURLOPT_CAINFO,'ca-bundle.crt');
curl_setopt($config,CURLOPT_CAPATH,'ca-bundle.crt');
I met same error with #Magsol: Error: error setting certificate verify locations: CAfile: /path/to/servercert.cer CApath: none; so I added the 4th line to set CAPath.
It's work with me. But note, the CA file must be place in accessable dir (with chmod 755 or 777) and it will better if CA file is in the same dir with PHP file.

Answer 4

Now that this question is vey old, but maybe could be useful for some users looking for an answer currently.
I have a similar problem about an API with SSL, having problems with CURL (not with the browsers) my problem was that I just put the certificate but not the ceritifcates chain/bundle. Then I put that and things started working. So that's important in order to avoid problems.
Hope this can be useful for someone.

Answer 5

You can try this if it works for you:
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://test.example.com/v1/authenticate.json?api_key=123456");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST,0);
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER,1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $data);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FAILONERROR, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_CAINFO,'cert.embedapp.20191004.pem');
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_CAPATH,'./cert.embedapp.20191004.pem');
Comment these lines and add this:
//curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_CAINFO,'cert.embedapp.20191004.pem');
//curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_CAPATH,'./cert.embedapp.20191004.pem');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSLCERT,'cert.embedapp.20191004.pem');