HTTPS

Stability: 2 - Stable

HTTPS is the HTTP protocol over TLS/SSL. In Node.js this is implemented as a separate module.

Class: https.Agent

An Agent object for HTTPS similar to http.Agent. See https.request() for more information.

new Agent([options])

• options {Object} Set of configurable options to set on the agent. Can have the same fields as for http.Agent(options), and

  • maxCachedSessions {number} maximum number of TLS cached sessions. Use 0 to disable TLS session caching. Default: 100.

    See Session Resumption for infomation about TLS session reuse.

Class: https.Server

This class is a subclass of tls.Server and emits events same as http.Server. See http.Server for more information.

server.close([callback])

• callback {Function}
• Returns: {https.Server}

See server.close() from the HTTP module for details.

server.headersTimeout

• {number} Default: 40000

See http.Server#headersTimeout.

server.listen()

Starts the HTTPS server listening for encrypted connections. This method is identical to server.listen() from net.Server.

server.maxHeadersCount

• {number} Default: 2000

See http.Server#maxHeadersCount.

server.setTimeout([msecs][, callback])

• msecs {number} Default: 120000 (2 minutes)
• callback {Function}
• Returns: {https.Server}

See http.Server#setTimeout().

server.timeout

• {number} Default: 120000 (2 minutes)

See http.Server#timeout.

server.keepAliveTimeout

• {number} Default: 5000 (5 seconds)

See http.Server#keepAliveTimeout.

https.createServer([options][, requestListener])

• options {Object} Accepts options from tls.createServer(), tls.createSecureContext() and http.createServer().
• requestListener {Function} A listener to be added to the 'request' event.
• Returns: {https.Server}

// curl -k https://localhost:8000/
const https = require('https');
const fs = require('fs');

const options = {
  key: fs.readFileSync('test/fixtures/keys/agent2-key.pem'),
  cert: fs.readFileSync('test/fixtures/keys/agent2-cert.pem')
};

https.createServer(options, (req, res) => {
  res.writeHead(200);
  res.end('hello world\n');
}).listen(8000);

Or

const https = require('https');
const fs = require('fs');

const options = {
  pfx: fs.readFileSync('test/fixtures/test_cert.pfx'),
  passphrase: 'sample'
};

https.createServer(options, (req, res) => {
  res.writeHead(200);
  res.end('hello world\n');
}).listen(8000);

https.get(options[, callback])

https.get(url[, options][, callback])

• url {string | URL}
• options {Object | string | URL} Accepts the same options as https.request(), with the method always set to GET.
• callback {Function}

Like http.get() but for HTTPS.

options can be an object, a string, or a URL object. If options is a string, it is automatically parsed with new URL(). If it is a URL object, it will be automatically converted to an ordinary options object.

const https = require('https');

https.get('https://encrypted.google.com/', (res) => {
  console.log('statusCode:', res.statusCode);
  console.log('headers:', res.headers);

  res.on('data', (d) => {
    process.stdout.write(d);
  });

}).on('error', (e) => {
  console.error(e);
});

https.globalAgent

Global instance of https.Agent for all HTTPS client requests.

https.request(options[, callback])

https.request(url[, options][, callback])

• url {string | URL}
• options {Object | string | URL} Accepts all options from http.request(), with some differences in default values:
  • protocol Default: 'https:'
  • port Default: 443
  • agent Default: https.globalAgent
• callback {Function}

Makes a request to a secure web server.

The following additional options from tls.connect() are also accepted: ca, cert, ciphers, clientCertEngine, crl, dhparam, ecdhCurve, honorCipherOrder, key, passphrase, pfx, rejectUnauthorized, secureOptions, secureProtocol, servername, sessionIdContext.

options can be an object, a string, or a URL object. If options is a string, it is automatically parsed with new URL(). If it is a URL object, it will be automatically converted to an ordinary options object.

const https = require('https');

const options = {
  hostname: 'encrypted.google.com',
  port: 443,
  path: '/',
  method: 'GET'
};

const req = https.request(options, (res) => {
  console.log('statusCode:', res.statusCode);
  console.log('headers:', res.headers);

  res.on('data', (d) => {
    process.stdout.write(d);
  });
});

req.on('error', (e) => {
  console.error(e);
});
req.end();

Example using options from tls.connect():

const options = {
  hostname: 'encrypted.google.com',
  port: 443,
  path: '/',
  method: 'GET',
  key: fs.readFileSync('test/fixtures/keys/agent2-key.pem'),
  cert: fs.readFileSync('test/fixtures/keys/agent2-cert.pem')
};
options.agent = new https.Agent(options);

const req = https.request(options, (res) => {
  // ...
});

Alternatively, opt out of connection pooling by not using an Agent.

const options = {
  hostname: 'encrypted.google.com',
  port: 443,
  path: '/',
  method: 'GET',
  key: fs.readFileSync('test/fixtures/keys/agent2-key.pem'),
  cert: fs.readFileSync('test/fixtures/keys/agent2-cert.pem'),
  agent: false
};

const req = https.request(options, (res) => {
  // ...
});

Example using a URL as options:

const options = new URL('https://abc:xyz@example.com');

const req = https.request(options, (res) => {
  // ...
});

Example pinning on certificate fingerprint, or the public key (similar to pin-sha256):

const tls = require('tls');
const https = require('https');
const crypto = require('crypto');

function sha256(s) {
  return crypto.createHash('sha256').update(s).digest('base64');
}
const options = {
  hostname: 'github.com',
  port: 443,
  path: '/',
  method: 'GET',
  checkServerIdentity: function(host, cert) {
    // Make sure the certificate is issued to the host we are connected to
    const err = tls.checkServerIdentity(host, cert);
    if (err) {
      return err;
    }

    // Pin the public key, similar to HPKP pin-sha25 pinning
    const pubkey256 = 'pL1+qb9HTMRZJmuC/bB/ZI9d302BYrrqiVuRyW+DGrU=';
    if (sha256(cert.pubkey) !== pubkey256) {
      const msg = 'Certificate verification error: ' +
        `The public key of '${cert.subject.CN}' ` +
        'does not match our pinned fingerprint';
      return new Error(msg);
    }

    // Pin the exact certificate, rather then the pub key
    const cert256 = '25:FE:39:32:D9:63:8C:8A:FC:A1:9A:29:87:' +
      'D8:3E:4C:1D:98:DB:71:E4:1A:48:03:98:EA:22:6A:BD:8B:93:16';
    if (cert.fingerprint256 !== cert256) {
      const msg = 'Certificate verification error: ' +
        `The certificate of '${cert.subject.CN}' ` +
        'does not match our pinned fingerprint';
      return new Error(msg);
    }

    // This loop is informational only.
    // Print the certificate and public key fingerprints of all certs in the
    // chain. Its common to pin the public key of the issuer on the public
    // internet, while pinning the public key of the service in sensitive
    // environments.
    do {
      console.log('Subject Common Name:', cert.subject.CN);
      console.log('  Certificate SHA256 fingerprint:', cert.fingerprint256);

      hash = crypto.createHash('sha256');
      console.log('  Public key ping-sha256:', sha256(cert.pubkey));

      lastprint256 = cert.fingerprint256;
      cert = cert.issuerCertificate;
    } while (cert.fingerprint256 !== lastprint256);

  },
};

options.agent = new https.Agent(options);
const req = https.request(options, (res) => {
  console.log('All OK. Server matched our pinned cert or public key');
  console.log('statusCode:', res.statusCode);
  // Print the HPKP values
  console.log('headers:', res.headers['public-key-pins']);

  res.on('data', (d) => {});
});

req.on('error', (e) => {
  console.error(e.message);
});
req.end();

Outputs for example:

Subject Common Name: github.com
  Certificate SHA256 fingerprint: 25:FE:39:32:D9:63:8C:8A:FC:A1:9A:29:87:D8:3E:4C:1D:98:DB:71:E4:1A:48:03:98:EA:22:6A:BD:8B:93:16
  Public key ping-sha256: pL1+qb9HTMRZJmuC/bB/ZI9d302BYrrqiVuRyW+DGrU=
Subject Common Name: DigiCert SHA2 Extended Validation Server CA
  Certificate SHA256 fingerprint: 40:3E:06:2A:26:53:05:91:13:28:5B:AF:80:A0:D4:AE:42:2C:84:8C:9F:78:FA:D0:1F:C9:4B:C5:B8:7F:EF:1A
  Public key ping-sha256: RRM1dGqnDFsCJXBTHky16vi1obOlCgFFn/yOhI/y+ho=
Subject Common Name: DigiCert High Assurance EV Root CA
  Certificate SHA256 fingerprint: 74:31:E5:F4:C3:C1:CE:46:90:77:4F:0B:61:E0:54:40:88:3B:A9:A0:1E:D0:0B:A6:AB:D7:80:6E:D3:B1:18:CF
  Public key ping-sha256: WoiWRyIOVNa9ihaBciRSC7XHjliYS9VwUGOIud4PB18=
All OK. Server matched our pinned cert or public key
statusCode: 200
headers: max-age=0; pin-sha256="WoiWRyIOVNa9ihaBciRSC7XHjliYS9VwUGOIud4PB18="; pin-sha256="RRM1dGqnDFsCJXBTHky16vi1obOlCgFFn/yOhI/y+ho="; pin-sha256="k2v657xBsOVe1PQRwOsHsw3bsGT2VzIqz5K+59sNQws="; pin-sha256="K87oWBWM9UZfyddvDfoxL+8lpNyoUB2ptGtn0fv6G2Q="; pin-sha256="IQBnNBEiFuhj+8x6X8XLgh01V9Ic5/V3IRQLNFFc7v4="; pin-sha256="iie1VXtL7HzAMF+/PVPR9xzT80kQxdZeJ+zduCB3uj0="; pin-sha256="LvRiGEjRqfzurezaWuj8Wie2gyHMrW5Q06LspMnox7A="; includeSubDomains