Unable to find valid certification path to requested target - error even after cert imported

I have a Java client trying to access a server with a self-signed certificate.

When I try to Post to the server, I get the following error:

unable to find valid certification path to requested target

Having done some research on the issue, I then did the following.

  1. Saved my servers domain name as a root.cer file.
  2. In my Glassfish server's JRE, I ran this:
    keytool -import -alias example -keystore cacerts -file root.cer
  3. To check the cert was added to my cacert successfully, I did this:
    keytool -list -v -keystore cacerts
    I can see the cert is present.
  4. I then restarted Glassfish and retired the 'post'.

I am still getting thesame error.

I have a feeling this is because my Glassfish is not actually reading the cacert file that I have amended but maybe some other one.

Have any of you had this issue and can push me in the right direction?


Unfortunately - it could be many things - and lots of app servers and other java 'wrappers' are prone to play with properties and their 'own' take on keychains and what not. So it may be looking at something totally different.

Short of truss-ing - I'd try:

java -Djavax.net.debug=all -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=trustStore ...

to see if that helps. Instead of 'all' one can also set it to 'ssl', key manager and trust manager - which may help in your case. Setting it to 'help' will list something like below on most platforms.

Regardless - do make sure you fully understand the difference between the keystore (in which you have the private key and cert you prove your own identity with) and the trust store (which determines who you trust) - and the fact that your own identity also has a 'chain' of trust to the root - which is separate from any chain to a root you need to figure out 'who' you trust.

all            turn on all debugging
ssl            turn on ssl debugging

The   following can be used with ssl:
    record       enable per-record tracing
    handshake    print each handshake message
    keygen       print key generation data
    session      print session activity
    defaultctx   print default SSL initialization
    sslctx       print SSLContext tracing
    sessioncache print session cache tracing
    keymanager   print key manager tracing
    trustmanager print trust manager tracing
    pluggability print pluggability tracing

    handshake debugging can be widened with:
    data         hex dump of each handshake message
    verbose      verbose handshake message printing

    record debugging can be widened with:
    plaintext    hex dump of record plaintext
    packet       print raw SSL/TLS packets

Source: # See http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/guide/security/jsse/JSSERefGuide.html#Debug


Here is the solution , follow the below link Step by Step :

http://www.mkyong.com/webservices/jax-ws/suncertpathbuilderexception-unable-to-find-valid-certification-path-to-requested-target/

JAVA FILE : which is missing from the blog

/*
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 * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
 * are met:
 *
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 *
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 *     notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
 *     documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
 *
 *   - Neither the name of Sun Microsystems nor the names of its
 *     contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
 *     from this software without specific prior written permission.
 *
 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
 * IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
 * THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
 * PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
 * CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
 * EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
 * PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
 * PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
 * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
 * NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
 * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 */



import java.io.*;
import java.net.URL;

import java.security.*;
import java.security.cert.*;

import javax.net.ssl.*;

public class InstallCert {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    String host;
    int port;
    char[] passphrase;
    if ((args.length == 1) || (args.length == 2)) {
        String[] c = args[0].split(":");
        host = c[0];
        port = (c.length == 1) ? 443 : Integer.parseInt(c[1]);
        String p = (args.length == 1) ? "changeit" : args[1];
        passphrase = p.toCharArray();
    } else {
        System.out.println("Usage: java InstallCert <host>[:port] [passphrase]");
        return;
    }

    File file = new File("jssecacerts");
    if (file.isFile() == false) {
        char SEP = File.separatorChar;
        File dir = new File(System.getProperty("java.home") + SEP
            + "lib" + SEP + "security");
        file = new File(dir, "jssecacerts");
        if (file.isFile() == false) {
        file = new File(dir, "cacerts");
        }
    }
    System.out.println("Loading KeyStore " + file + "...");
    InputStream in = new FileInputStream(file);
    KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance(KeyStore.getDefaultType());
    ks.load(in, passphrase);
    in.close();

    SSLContext context = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
    TrustManagerFactory tmf =
        TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(TrustManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
    tmf.init(ks);
    X509TrustManager defaultTrustManager = (X509TrustManager)tmf.getTrustManagers()[0];
    SavingTrustManager tm = new SavingTrustManager(defaultTrustManager);
    context.init(null, new TrustManager[] {tm}, null);
    SSLSocketFactory factory = context.getSocketFactory();

    System.out.println("Opening connection to " + host + ":" + port + "...");
    SSLSocket socket = (SSLSocket)factory.createSocket(host, port);
    socket.setSoTimeout(10000);
    try {
        System.out.println("Starting SSL handshake...");
        socket.startHandshake();
        socket.close();
        System.out.println();
        System.out.println("No errors, certificate is already trusted");
    } catch (SSLException e) {
        System.out.println();
        e.printStackTrace(System.out);
    }

    X509Certificate[] chain = tm.chain;
    if (chain == null) {
        System.out.println("Could not obtain server certificate chain");
        return;
    }

    BufferedReader reader =
        new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));

    System.out.println();
    System.out.println("Server sent " + chain.length + " certificate(s):");
    System.out.println();
    MessageDigest sha1 = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA1");
    MessageDigest md5 = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5");
    for (int i = 0; i < chain.length; i++) {
        X509Certificate cert = chain[i];
        System.out.println
            (" " + (i + 1) + " Subject " + cert.getSubjectDN());
        System.out.println("   Issuer  " + cert.getIssuerDN());
        sha1.update(cert.getEncoded());
        System.out.println("   sha1    " + toHexString(sha1.digest()));
        md5.update(cert.getEncoded());
        System.out.println("   md5     " + toHexString(md5.digest()));
        System.out.println();
    }

    System.out.println("Enter certificate to add to trusted keystore or 'q' to quit: [1]");
    String line = reader.readLine().trim();
    int k;
    try {
        k = (line.length() == 0) ? 0 : Integer.parseInt(line) - 1;
    } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
        System.out.println("KeyStore not changed");
        return;
    }

    X509Certificate cert = chain[k];
    String alias = host + "-" + (k + 1);
    ks.setCertificateEntry(alias, cert);

    OutputStream out = new FileOutputStream("jssecacerts");
    ks.store(out, passphrase);
    out.close();

    System.out.println();
    System.out.println(cert);
    System.out.println();
    System.out.println
        ("Added certificate to keystore 'jssecacerts' using alias '"
        + alias + "'");
    }

    private static final char[] HEXDIGITS = "0123456789abcdef".toCharArray();

    private static String toHexString(byte[] bytes) {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(bytes.length * 3);
        for (int b : bytes) {
            b &= 0xff;
            sb.append(HEXDIGITS[b >> 4]);
            sb.append(HEXDIGITS[b & 15]);
            sb.append(' ');
        }
        return sb.toString();
    }

    private static class SavingTrustManager implements X509TrustManager {

    private final X509TrustManager tm;
    private X509Certificate[] chain;

    SavingTrustManager(X509TrustManager tm) {
        this.tm = tm;
    }

    public X509Certificate[] getAcceptedIssuers() {
        throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
    }

    public void checkClientTrusted(X509Certificate[] chain, String authType)
        throws CertificateException {
        throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
    }

    public void checkServerTrusted(X509Certificate[] chain, String authType)
        throws CertificateException {
        this.chain = chain;
        tm.checkServerTrusted(chain, authType);
    }
    }

}

You need to configuring JSSE System Properties, specifically point to client certificate store.

Via command line:

java -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=truststores/client.ts com.progress.Client

or via Java code:

import java.util.Properties;
    ...
    Properties systemProps = System.getProperties();
    systemProps.put("javax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword","passwordForKeystore");
    systemProps.put("javax.net.ssl.keyStore","pathToKeystore.ks");
    systemProps.put("javax.net.ssl.trustStore", "pathToTruststore.ts");
    systemProps.put("javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword","passwordForTrustStore");
    System.setProperties(systemProps);
    ...

For more refer to details on RedHat site.


(repost from my other response)
Use cli utility keytool from java software distribution for import (and trust!) needed certificates

Sample:

  1. From cli change dir to jre\bin

  2. Check keystore (file found in jre\bin directory)
    keytool -list -keystore ..\lib\security\cacerts
    Password is changeit

  3. Download and save all certificates in chain from needed server.

  4. Add certificates (before need to remove "read-only" attribute on file ..\lib\security\cacerts), run:

    keytool -alias REPLACE_TO_ANY_UNIQ_NAME -import -keystore.\lib\security\cacerts -file "r:\root.crt"

accidentally I found such a simple tip. Other solutions require the use of InstallCert.Java and JDK

source: http://www.java-samples.com/showtutorial.php?tutorialid=210