Handling self signed certificates with NSURLConnection

Question

I want to allow a self-signed certificate with an NSURLConnection, provided that the host is in a trusted list.

I see a lot of folks doing something like this:

- (BOOL)connection:(NSURLConnection *)connection canAuthenticateAgainstProtectionSpace:(NSURLProtectionSpace *)protectionSpace {
    if ([protectionSpace.authenticationMethod isEqualToString:NSURLAuthenticationMethodServerTrust]) {
        if (allowSelfSignedCertForThisHost) {
            NSLog(@"Allowing self signed!");
            return YES;
        }
    }
    return NO;
}

- (void)connection:(NSURLConnection *)connection didReceiveAuthenticationChallenge:(NSURLAuthenticationChallenge *)challenge {
    if ([challenge.protectionSpace.authenticationMethod isEqualToString:NSURLAuthenticationMethodServerTrust]) {
        if ([trustedHosts containsObject:challenge.protectionSpace.host]) {
            [challenge.sender useCredential:[NSURLCredential credentialForTrust:challenge.protectionSpace.serverTrust] forAuthenticationChallenge:challenge];
        }
    }
    [challenge.sender continueWithoutCredentialForAuthenticationChallenge:challenge];
}

However, I'm wondering why you would invoke useCredential:forAuthenticationChallenge but also continueWithoutCredentialForAuthenticationChallenge after.

Cy-4AH · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-17T08:28:58.997

1

Just add that certificate on device with iPhone Configuration Utility or Apple Configurator.

edited Jan 17 '14 at 08:28

answered Jan 17 '14 at 07:58

Cy-4AH

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That's not feasible - it is sent by the host that I'm connecting to. – Willam Hill Jan 17 '14 at 15:56
@Will, so download it and install. You don't need private key from it. Just certificate will be enough. – Cy-4AH Jan 17 '14 at 15:58
Would there be any code change to recognize this custom certificate? This seems simpler and more secure. – Willam Hill Jan 17 '14 at 18:13
Once the custom certificate is installed, is there anything that needs to be done programmatically to recognize this certificate? – Willam Hill Jan 17 '14 at 23:48
@Will, nothing. If you open yours link in Safari, it also will show that certificate is trusted. – Cy-4AH Jan 18 '14 at 18:47

Handling self signed certificates with NSURLConnection

1 Answers1