HTTPS/SSL connections failing or Tenable vulnerabilities detected due to invalid SSL cipher character in ONTAP

Applies to

• ONTAP 9
• HTTPS/SSL
  • Cluster Peering
  • AutoSupports
  • System Manager
• Tenable Security Scanner
• Security vulnerability scans (TLS/SSL cipher plugins)

Issue

• After a node reboot, services using HTTPS/SSL fail to connect.
• Failures can be seen in (but are not limited to):
  • Autosupport
  • Cluster Peering
  • System Manager
• SSL error messages seen in various logs and command outputs:

"autosupport check show-details" command:

Cluster::> autosupport check show-details
Node: cluster-01
Category: http-https
          Component: http-put-destination
             Status: failed
             Detail: HTTP/S PUT connectivity check failed for destination:
                     https://support.netapp.com/put/AsupPut/. Error: SSL
                     connect error
          Component: http-post-destination
             Status: failed
             Detail: HTTP/S POST connectivity check failed for destination:
                     https://support.netapp.com/asupprod/post/1.0/postAsup.
                     Error: SSL connect error

Notifyd log:

[kern_notifyd:info:1530] (category: 1530:0:deliver) (emittime: 8/31/2021 01:44:52) (message: TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS header, Certificate Status (22):)
[kern_notifyd:info:1530] (category: 1530:0:deliver) (emittime: 8/31/2021 01:44:52) (message: TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello (1):)
[kern_notifyd:info:1530] (category: 1530:0:deliver) (emittime: 8/31/2021 01:44:52) (message: error:0E065068:configuration file routines:STR_COPY:variable has no value)
[kern_notifyd:info:1530] (category: 1530:0:deliver) (emittime: 8/31/2021 01:44:52) (message: Marked for [closure]: Failed HTTPS connection)
[kern_notifyd:info:1530] (category: 1530:0:deliver) (emittime: 8/31/2021 01:44:52) (message: multi_done)
00000015.0062e0fa 001c17d5 Tue Aug 31 2021 01:44:53 -04:00 [kern_notifyd:info:1530] (category: 1530:0:deliver) (emittime: 8/31/2021 01:44:52) (message: The cache now contains 0 members)
[kern_notifyd:info:1530] (category: 1530:0:deliver) (emittime: 8/31/2021 01:44:52) (message: Closing connection 0)

APACHE-ERROR log:

[ssl:emerg] [pid 67509:tid 34389163776] AH02562: Failed to configure certificate 127.0.0.1:0 (with chain), check /mroot/etc/vserver_0000000000/certificates/ssl/server/UUID/server.crt
[ssl:emerg] [pid 67509:tid 34389163776] SSL Library Error: error:0E065068:configuration file routines:STR_COPY:variable has no value (line 12)
{ssl:error] [pid 67509:tid 34389163776] [client 10.0.0.5:30001] [vserver 0000000000] Failed to initialize SSL context
[ssl:notice] [pid 67509:tid 34389171456] [client 10.0.0.5:30001] [vserver 0000000000] No server certificate chain is configured for this vserver
 [ssl:notice] [pid 67509:tid 34389171456] [client 10.0.0.5:30001] [vserver 0000000000] Certificate-based client authentication is not configured for this vserver

• Tenable security scanner flags TLS/SSL cipher vulnerability (e.g., Plugin 1039445 – 8 - Managing TLS and SSL - Supported Ciphers) on a cluster even after cipher configuration has been updated per the hardening guide recommendation.
• The vulnerability is detected on the PROD cluster but not on the DR cluster, despite both having been configured with the same intended cipher string.
• Comparison reveals a discrepancy between clusters:
• DR: AES:!LOW:!aNULL:!EXP:!eNULL:!3DES:!RC4 → No vulnerability detected
• PROD: AES:!LOW:!aNULL:!EXP:!eNULL:!3DES:!RC4$ → Vulnerability detected
• No HTTPS/SSL connection failures may be observed — the invalid character may surface only through security scanner results.