PHP to MySQL using SSL

Question

I have a remote MySQL Server that requires me to use SSL for connections. I can connect to it using my terminal. But when I try to connect to it using PHP, I get the following error:

SSL3_GET_RECORD:wrong version number

It seems like the OPENSSL Handshake fails and the reason could be that my PHP is trying to connect to it using SSL3. The MySQL Server supports only TLSv1.2. Is there a way to force PHP to connect using TLSv1.2 ?

Here is my code used to connect:

<?php

ini_set ('error_reporting', E_ALL);
ini_set ('display_errors', '1');
error_reporting (E_ALL|E_STRICT);

$db = mysqli_init();
mysqli_options ($db, MYSQLI_OPT_SSL_VERIFY_SERVER_CERT, true);

$db->ssl_set(NULL, NULL, '/path/to/ca-cert.pem' , NULL, NULL);
$link = mysqli_real_connect ($db, 'hostname', 'user', 'password', 'dbname', 3306, NULL, MYSQLI_CLIENT_SSL);
if (!$link)
{
    die ('Connect error (' . mysqli_connect_errno() . '): ' . mysqli_connect_error() . "\n");
} else {
    $res = $db->query('SHOW TABLES;');
    print_r ($res);
    $db->close();
}    
?>

Things I have tried and possible problems:

Seems like openssl version mismatch. I can connect using my terminal and not PHP, so I checked my openssl version in the terminal with the one I get using phpinfo(), they were the same
PHP is possibly using SSL3 to connect, and the server only supports TLSv1.2, I wasn't able to find a way to force PHP connections to MySQL using TLSv1.2
I tried to observe the handshake using tcpdump/Wireshark, but I don't think the process even starts since there is a version mismatch.
I confirmed using "openssl s_client -debug" that the server doesn't support SSL3 which makes me think this is an issue on my computer, but not sure.
The reason I say my client might be using SSL3 is because of SSL3_GET_RECORD, I don't know for sure if I'm right in that too.

So, in short, Help!

Environment:

PHP 7.0.18

MySQL Server Enterprise version 5.7.18

OpenSSL 1.0.2g

OS: Windows 7, Ubuntu 16.04. Tried on both

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39330686/how-to-fix-mysqlireal-connect-ssl-operation-failed-error — Iłya Bursov, Jul 20 '17 at 22:56
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26182346/error-on-pdo-ssl-connection — Iłya Bursov, Jul 20 '17 at 22:56

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 03 '17 at 22:19

The problem was the driver that PHP used to connect to MySQL. By default, it is mysqlnd. And I don't think it was being able to connect using a SHA256 or better cipher to my MySQL Server, which is an enterprise version.

The other option for the driver is a libmysql library which Oracle does provide as part of the MySQL Enterprise Server (.deb files). I started with a clean OS(Ubuntu), and compiled PHP with the libmysql provided by Oracle, and then I was able to establish the connection successfully!

More info here

PHP to MySQL using SSL

1 Answers1