Configurable mtls

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ This is a part of aligning `headscale`'s behaviour with Tailscale's upstream beh
   - Tags should now work correctly and adding a host to Headscale should now reload the rules.
   - The documentation have a [fictional example](docs/acls.md) that should cover some use cases of the ACLs features
 
+**Features**:
+
+- Add support for configurable mTLS [docs](docs/tls.md#configuring-mutual-tls-authentication-mtls) [#297](https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/pull/297)
+
 **Changes**:
 
 - Remove dependency on CGO (switch from CGO SQLite to pure Go) [#346](https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/pull/346)

app.go

@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ const (
 	errUnsupportedLetsEncryptChallengeType = Error(
 		"unknown value for Lets Encrypt challenge type",
 	)
+
+	DisabledClientAuth = "disabled"
+	RelaxedClientAuth  = "relaxed"
+	EnforcedClientAuth = "enforced"
 )
 
 // Config contains the initial Headscale configuration.
@@ -90,8 +94,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	TLSLetsEncryptCacheDir      string
 	TLSLetsEncryptChallengeType string
 
-	TLSCertPath string
-	TLSKeyPath  string
+	TLSCertPath       string
+	TLSKeyPath        string
+	TLSClientAuthMode tls.ClientAuthType
 
 	ACMEURL   string
 	ACMEEmail string
@@ -150,6 +155,27 @@ type Headscale struct {
 	requestedExpiryCache *cache.Cache
 }
 
+// Look up the TLS constant relative to user-supplied TLS client
+// authentication mode. If an unknown mode is supplied, the default
+// value, tls.RequireAnyClientCert, is returned. The returned boolean
+// indicates if the supplied mode was valid.
+func LookupTLSClientAuthMode(mode string) (tls.ClientAuthType, bool) {
+	switch mode {
+	case DisabledClientAuth:
+		// Client cert is _not_ required.
+		return tls.NoClientCert, true
+	case RelaxedClientAuth:
+		// Client cert required, but _not verified_.
+		return tls.RequireAnyClientCert, true
+	case EnforcedClientAuth:
+		// Client cert is _required and verified_.
+		return tls.RequireAndVerifyClientCert, true
+	default:
+		// Return the default when an unknown value is supplied.
+		return tls.RequireAnyClientCert, false
+	}
+}
+
 // NewHeadscale returns the Headscale app.
 func NewHeadscale(cfg Config) (*Headscale, error) {
 	privKey, err := readOrCreatePrivateKey(cfg.PrivateKeyPath)
@@ -676,12 +702,18 @@ func (h *Headscale) getTLSSettings() (*tls.Config, error) {
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(h.cfg.ServerURL, "https://") {
 			log.Warn().Msg("Listening with TLS but ServerURL does not start with https://")
 		}
+
+		log.Info().Msg(fmt.Sprintf(
+			"Client authentication (mTLS) is \"%s\". See the docs to learn about configuring this setting.",
+			h.cfg.TLSClientAuthMode))
+
 		tlsConfig := &tls.Config{
-			ClientAuth:   tls.RequireAnyClientCert,
+			ClientAuth:   h.cfg.TLSClientAuthMode,
 			NextProtos:   []string{"http/1.1"},
 			Certificates: make([]tls.Certificate, 1),
 			MinVersion:   tls.VersionTLS12,
 		}
+
 		tlsConfig.Certificates[0], err = tls.LoadX509KeyPair(h.cfg.TLSCertPath, h.cfg.TLSKeyPath)
 
 		return tlsConfig, err

app_test.go

@@ -65,3 +65,20 @@ func (s *Suite) ResetDB(c *check.C) {
 	}
 	app.db = db
 }
+
+// Enusre an error is returned when an invalid auth mode
+// is supplied.
+func (s *Suite) TestInvalidClientAuthMode(c *check.C) {
+	_, isValid := LookupTLSClientAuthMode("invalid")
+	c.Assert(isValid, check.Equals, false)
+}
+
+// Ensure that all client auth modes return a nil error.
+func (s *Suite) TestAuthModes(c *check.C) {
+	modes := []string{"disabled", "relaxed", "enforced"}
+
+	for _, v := range modes {
+		_, isValid := LookupTLSClientAuthMode(v)
+		c.Assert(isValid, check.Equals, true)
+	}
+}

cmd/headscale/cli/utils.go

@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ func LoadConfig(path string) error {
 
 	viper.SetDefault("tls_letsencrypt_cache_dir", "/var/www/.cache")
 	viper.SetDefault("tls_letsencrypt_challenge_type", "HTTP-01")
+	viper.SetDefault("tls_client_auth_mode", "relaxed")
 
 	viper.SetDefault("log_level", "info")
 
@@ -92,6 +93,20 @@ func LoadConfig(path string) error {
 		!strings.HasPrefix(viper.GetString("server_url"), "https://") {
 		errorText += "Fatal config error: server_url must start with https:// or http://\n"
 	}
+
+	_, authModeValid := headscale.LookupTLSClientAuthMode(
+		viper.GetString("tls_client_auth_mode"),
+	)
+
+	if !authModeValid {
+		errorText += fmt.Sprintf(
+			"Invalid tls_client_auth_mode supplied: %s. Accepted values: %s, %s, %s.",
+			viper.GetString("tls_client_auth_mode"),
+			headscale.DisabledClientAuth,
+			headscale.RelaxedClientAuth,
+			headscale.EnforcedClientAuth)
+	}
+
 	if errorText != "" {
 		//nolint
 		return errors.New(strings.TrimSuffix(errorText, "\n"))
@@ -281,6 +296,10 @@ func getHeadscaleConfig() headscale.Config {
 			Msgf("'ip_prefixes' not configured, falling back to default: %v", prefixes)
 	}
 
+	tlsClientAuthMode, _ := headscale.LookupTLSClientAuthMode(
+		viper.GetString("tls_client_auth_mode"),
+	)
+
 	return headscale.Config{
 		ServerURL:         viper.GetString("server_url"),
 		Addr:              viper.GetString("listen_addr"),
@@ -312,8 +331,9 @@ func getHeadscaleConfig() headscale.Config {
 		),
 		TLSLetsEncryptChallengeType: viper.GetString("tls_letsencrypt_challenge_type"),
 
-		TLSCertPath: absPath(viper.GetString("tls_cert_path")),
-		TLSKeyPath:  absPath(viper.GetString("tls_key_path")),
+		TLSCertPath:       absPath(viper.GetString("tls_cert_path")),
+		TLSKeyPath:        absPath(viper.GetString("tls_key_path")),
+		TLSClientAuthMode: tlsClientAuthMode,
 
 		DNSConfig: dnsConfig,
 

config-example.yaml

@@ -105,6 +105,13 @@ acme_email: ""
 # Domain name to request a TLS certificate for:
 tls_letsencrypt_hostname: ""
 
+# Client (Tailscale/Browser) authentication mode (mTLS)
+# Acceptable values:
+# - disabled: client authentication disabled
+# - relaxed: client certificate is required but not verified
+# - enforced: client certificate is required and verified
+tls_client_auth_mode: relaxed
+
 # Path to store certificates and metadata needed by
 # letsencrypt
 tls_letsencrypt_cache_dir: /var/lib/headscale/cache

docs/tls.md

@@ -29,3 +29,17 @@ headscale can also be configured to expose its web service via TLS. To configure
 tls_cert_path: ""
 tls_key_path: ""
 ```
+
+### Configuring Mutual TLS Authentication (mTLS)
+
+mTLS is a method by which an HTTPS server authenticates clients, e.g. Tailscale, using TLS certificates. This can be configured by applying one of the following values to the `tls_client_auth_mode` setting in the configuration file.
+
+| Value               | Behavior                                                   |
+| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `disabled`          | Disable mTLS.                                              |
+| `relaxed` (default) | A client certificate is required, but it is not verified.  |
+| `enforced`          | Requires clients to supply a certificate that is verified. |
+
+```yaml
+tls_client_auth_mode: ""
+```