Virtualbox VM runs bridged but not NAT?

ulrich.lang 2020-04-03 08:27:38 UTC #1

Hello!

Thanks for all your great apps. I have the OpenProject VM (release from last week) running here. Works well in bridged mode on Virtualbox, but https doesn't work in NAT mode.

Chrome shows:

    This site can’t provide a secure connection [[[my public url]]] sent an invalid response.
    Try running Windows Network Diagnostics.
    ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR

Here is more information

bitnami@debian:~$ openssl s_client -connect[[[my domain name]]] -port [[[my public port]]]
CONNECTED(00000003)
140340468977920:error:1408F10B:SSL routines:ssl3_get_record:wrong version number:ssl/record/ssl3_record.c:332:
---
no peer certificate available
---
No client certificate CA names sent
---
SSL handshake has read 5 bytes and written 320 bytes
Verification: OK
---
New, (NONE), Cipher is (NONE)
Secure Renegotiation IS NOT supported
Compression: NONE
Expansion: NONE
No ALPN negotiated
Early data was not sent
Verify return code: 0 (ok)
---

Note that my public port is different from 443.

I've never had any issues like this with any VMs, and it is puzzling to me why it works in bridged but not in NAT mode. I would prefer to run it in NAT mode (seems more secure).

Any ideas what's wrong? Seems an issue with the apache config? I'm using Letsencrypt and have no cert errors in bridged mode.

Thanks!!

jota 2020-04-03 11:57:00 UTC #2

Hi @ulrich.lang,

I'm not really sure if there is anything wrong in Virtualbox with the certificate configuration. Please note that VirtualBox is in charge of redirecting the requests if your are in NAT mode and OpenSSL is throwing an error when you perform the test.

Well, Bridge mode allows you use the VM as another VM in your network. Using the NAT mode, VirtualBox is proxying the requests to the VM. There shouldn't be any difference in the security.

Happy to help!

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ulrich.lang 2020-04-03 15:58:50 UTC #3

Hi Jota,

Thanks - yes I am running a bunch of other VMs (incl. Bitnami VMs) in NAT mode with no problems. I've never seen a case where a VM worked in bridged but not NAT. The only thing that would be different is that there is maybe a default IP in Apache that gets confused in NAT with inside vs. outside ports and 10.2.0.15:443 vs. the host IP:[[[different port]]] vs. outside domain:port

Any ideas what could be wrong with this?

Thanks
Ulrich

ulrich.lang 2020-04-03 16:30:01 UTC #4

Hi Jota

By the way, my initial debugging maybe indicates that for some reason 443 returns HTTP and not HTTPS when run in NAT. It seems there is some redirecting going on and maybe something gets redirected wrong in the Apache config when in NAT mode...but at this point this is all speculation on my end.

Best
Ulrich

jota 2020-04-06 10:12:37 UTC #5

Hi @ulrich.lang,

This is weird, if you use https and the external port, VirtualBox should use https and the internal port when performing the redirection. There shouldn't be any change in the protocol to use.

ulrich.lang 2020-04-06 16:13:11 UTC #6

Can you replicate this issue on your end? My suspicion is that the Apache config is designed to only work in bridged mode. Maybe default gets confused in NAT since there is an extra layer...? this is speculation though

jota 2020-04-08 08:59:48 UTC #7

Hi @ulrich.lang,

If the connection and the SSL certificate work properly using the bridged mode, it should also work using NAT. There should be something in VirtualBox. Can you contact the VirtualBox team to know more about this?

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Community

Do not hesitate to write us back if you have any other questions.

system 2020-04-22 09:00:06 UTC #8

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