Use HTTPS in client browser on local network without internet connection


McLean

I am working on a web application running on a server. There will be some clients (smartphone browsers) that connect to the server via HTTPS over WiFi, which cannot connect to the internet. It is mainly used for 1 day events.

Question: Is it possible to use HTTPS without internet?

  • We were unable to add any certificates to the customer's truststore. Nor can we configure the client in any other way. Clients will be random people visiting the event
  • Clients do not have internet access to verify CRL/OCSP. May not have internet connection

I have an idea to use local DNS :

  • I have a key and a trusted SSL certificate (LetsEncrypt) foroffline.mydomain.com
  • There is a DNS server in the offline WiFi network that points all DNS addresses to my application server
  • offline.mydomain.comAll certificates and CRLs in the SSL certificate's chain of trust are downloaded to the application server and are accessible on the paths defined in the certificate's CDP and AIA
  • The application server claims to be running on it https://offline.mydomain.com(and the DNS server points to offline.mydomain.comthe application server)

The whole process is:

  • client: GET https://offline.mydomain.com/app
  • DNS: offline.mydomain.com on the IP of the application server
  • My application server: this is HTML
  • ...
  • client: GET http://crl.ca.com/crls/ca.crl
  • DNS: crl.ca.com on the IP of the application server
  • my application server: this is the CRL
  • ...
  • client: GET http://certificate.ca.com/certs/ca.cer
  • DNS: certificate.ca.com on the IP of the application server
  • my application server: here is the certificate
  • ...

However, I don't know much about networking. Is the DNS part possible?

  • Can I have clients use my local DNS without manual configuration?
  • How much confusion will customers have after reconnecting to the real internet?
  • Will a smartphone connect to WiFi that is not connected to the internet?
spread

I don't think the client can't connect to a TLS host because it doesn't have access to a CRL or OCSP server. So I'm 99% sure what you need to do is:

  • A server certificate signed by a widely trusted CA such as Let's Encrypt, along with a matching private key, installed on the local web server box.
  • A local DNS server that points the relevant hostname to the local server's IP address.
  • A DHCP server that provides IP addresses to client devices and tells client devices to use your DNS server.

DNS and DHCP are very lightweight operations, so they can easily run on the same box as an HTTPS server if needed.

Mobile Wi-Fi devices will most likely have DHCP enabled, and will most likely be able to use whatever DNS server the DHCP server tells them to use. So I don't think you need to worry about pointing to "8.8.8.8"/"8.8.4.4"/"1.1.1.1" on your local DNS server. However, I strongly recommend that you prototype your offline network before the event and test it with a variety of iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows devices (at least one of them).

When reconnected to the real internet, these devices shouldn't be completely confused.

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