Oracle Advanced Security Administrator's Guide
Release 8.1.7

Part Number A85430-01

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Thin JDBC Support

This chapter describes the Java implementation of Oracle Advanced Security, which allows Thin Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) clients to connect securely to Oracle8i databases.

This chapter contains the following topics:

About the Java Implementation

The Java implementation of Oracle Advanced Security provides network encryption and integrity protection for Thin JDBC clients communicating with Oracle8i databases that have Oracle Advanced Security enabled.

This section contains the following topics:

Java Database Connectivity Support

Java Database Connectivity (JDBC), an industry-standard Java interface, is a Java standard for connecting to a relational database from a Java program. Sun Microsystems defined the JDBC standard and Oracle Corporation implements and extends the standard with its own JDBC drivers.

Oracle JDBC drivers are used to create JDBC applications to communicate with Oracle databases. Oracle implements two types of JDBC drivers: Thick JDBC drivers built on top of the C-based Net8 client, as well as a Thin (Pure Java) JDBC driver to support downloadable applets. Oracle extensions to JDBC include the following features:

Securing Thin JDBC

Because the Thin JDBC driver is designed to be used with downloadable applets used over the Internet, Oracle designed a 100% Java implementation of Oracle Advanced Security encryption and integrity algorithms for use with thin clients. Oracle Advanced Security provides the following features for Thin JDBC:

The Oracle JDBC Thin driver implements the Oracle O3LOGON protocol for authentication. It does not support Oracle Advanced Security SSL implementation, nor does it support third party authentication features such as RADIUS, Kerberos, and SecurID. However, the Oracle JDBC OCI (thick) driver support is the same as thick client support, where all Oracle Advanced Security features are implemented.

Oracle Advanced Security continues to encrypt and provide integrity checking of Net8 traffic between Net8 clients and Oracle servers using algorithms written in C. The Oracle Advanced Security Java implementation provides Java versions of the following encryption algorithms:

In addition, this implementation provides data integrity checking for Thin JDBC with the following algorithms:

Implementation Overview

On the server side, the negotiation of algorithms and the generation of keys function exactly the same as Oracle Advanced Security native encryption. This allows backward and forward compatibility of clients and servers.

On the client side, the algorithm negotiation and key generation occur in exactly the same manner as C-based Oracle Advanced Security encryption. The client and server negotiate encryption algorithms, generate random numbers, use Diffie-Hellman to exchange session keys, and use the Oracle Password Protocol (O3LOGON key fold-in), in the same manner as traditional Net8 clients. Thin JDBC contains a complete implementation of a Net8 client in pure Java.

Obfuscation

Java cryptography code is obfuscated in this release. Obfuscation protects Java classes and methods that contain encryption and decryption capabilities with obfuscation software.

Java byte code obfuscation is a process often used by companies to protect intellectual property written in the form of Java programs. It mixes up Java symbols found in the code. The process leaves the original program structure intact, allowing the program to run correctly while changing the names of the classes, methods, and variables in order to hide the intended behavior. Although it is possible to decompile and read non-obfuscated Java code, obfuscated Java code is sufficiently difficult to decompile to satisfy U.S. government export controls.

Configuration Parameters

A properties class object containing several configuration parameters is passed to the Oracle Advanced Security interface. This chapter lists the configuration parameters for the following:

Client Encryption Level

Parameter Name 

oracle.net.encryption_client 

Description 

Defines the level of security that the client wants to negotiate with the server 

Parameter Type 

String 

Parameter Class 

Static 

Allowable Values 

REJECTED; ACCEPTED; REQUESTED; REQUIRED 

Default Value 

ACCEPTED 

Syntax 

up.put("oracle.net.encryption_client",level) 

Example 

up.put("oracle.net.encryption_client", "REQUIRED"), where up is defined as Properties up=new properties() 

Client Encryption Selected List

Parameter Name 

oracle.net.encryption_types_client 

Description 

Defines the encryption algorithm to be used 

Parameter Type 

String 

Parameter Class 

Static 

Allowable Values 

RC4_256; RC4_128; RC4_56C; RC4_40; DES56C; DESC40C 

Syntax 

up.put("oracle.net.encryption_types_client",alg) 

Example 

up.put("oracle.net.encryption_types_client", "DESC40C"), where up is defined as Properties up=new Properties() 


Note:

In this context, "C" refers to CBC (Cipher Block Chaining) mode. 


Client Integrity Level

Parameter Name 

oracle.net.crypto_checksum_client 

Description 

Defines the level of security that it wants to negotiate with the server for data integrity 

Parameter Type 

String 

Parameter Class 

Static 

Allowable Values 

REJECTED; ACCEPTED; REQUESTED; REQUIRED 

Default Value 

ACCEPTED 

Syntax 

up.put("oracle.net.crypto_checksum_client",level) 

Example 

up.put("oracle.net.crypto_checksum_client", "REQUIRED"), where up is defined as Properties up=new Properties() 

Client Integrity Selected List

Parameter Name 

oracle.net.crypto_cheksum_types_client 

Description 

Defines the data integrity algorithm to be used 

Parameter Type 

String 

Parameter Class 

Static 

Allowable Values 

MD5; SHA 

Syntax 

up.put("oracle.net.crypto_checksum_types_client",alg) 

Example 

up.put("oracle.net.crypto_checksum_types_client","MD5"), where up is defined as Properties up=new Properties() 


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