SSL encryption

There are a few levels of security that SSL encryption can provide when communicating with Apache Cassandra. You can find them below in the increasing security order: the first being the least secure and the last - the most.

  1. Using default SSL context. This method is actually not secure as there is no peer validation happening. Cassandra.cluster(ssl: true)
  2. Using shared certificate authority. This method is more secure than the previous one, because the client is able to validate the identity of the server. Using this method the server can’t trust the client unless additional authentication has been provided. Cassandra.cluster(server_cert: '/path/to/ca.pem')
  3. Using trusted client certificates. This method, in addition to peer verification, allows server to validate identities of the clients. Make sure to enable client_encryption_options.require_client_auth setting in cassandra.yaml, as well as add all trusted client keys to Apache Cassandra’s truststore. You can use server certificate as well as client certificate and private key with an optional passphrase to connect to Apache Cassandra. Cassandra.cluster(server_cert: '/path/to/ca.pem', client_cert: '/path/to/client.pem', private_key: '/path/to/client.key', passphrase: 'secret passphrase for private key')

Using default SSL encryption

Given
a running cassandra cluster with SSL encryption enabled
And
the following example:
require 'cassandra'

begin
  cluster = Cassandra.cluster(ssl: true)
  puts "connection successful"
rescue => e
  puts "#{e.class.name}: #{e.message}"
  puts "connection failed"
else
  cluster.close
end
When
it is executed
Then
its output should contain:
connection successful

Connection fails when not using SSL encryption

Given
a running cassandra cluster with SSL encryption enabled
And
the following example:
require 'cassandra'

begin
  cluster = Cassandra.cluster(ssl: false, connect_timeout: 2)
  puts "connection successful"
rescue => e
  puts "#{e.class.name}: #{e.message}"
  puts "connection failed"
else
  cluster.close
end
When
it is executed
Then
its output should contain:
connection failed

Using an SSL certificate authority

Given
a running cassandra cluster with SSL encryption enabled
And
the following example:
require 'cassandra'

begin
  cluster = Cassandra.cluster(server_cert: ENV['SERVER_CERT'])
  puts "connection successful"
rescue => e
  puts "#{e.class.name}: #{e.message}"
  puts "connection failed"
else
  cluster.close
end
When
it is executed with a valid ca path in the environment
Then
its output should contain:
connection successful

Using SSL authentication

Given
a running cassandra cluster with SSL client authentication enabled
And
the following example:
require 'cassandra'

begin
  cluster = Cassandra.cluster(
    server_cert:  ENV['SERVER_CERT'],
    client_cert:  ENV['CLIENT_CERT'],
    private_key:  ENV['PRIVATE_KEY'],
    passphrase:   ENV['PASSPHRASE']
  )
  puts "connection successful"
rescue => e
  puts "#{e.class.name}: #{e.message}"
  puts "connection failed"
else
  cluster.close
end
When
it is executed with ca and cert path and key in the environment
Then
its output should contain:
connection successful

Using a custom SSL context

Given
a running cassandra cluster with SSL encryption enabled
And
the following example:
require 'cassandra'
require 'openssl'

begin
  cluster = Cassandra.cluster(ssl: OpenSSL::SSL::SSLContext.new)
  puts "connection successful"
rescue => e
  puts "#{e.class.name}: #{e.message}"
  puts "connection failed"
else
  cluster.close
end
When
it is executed
Then
its output should contain:
connection successful