Bug ID 464923: Insufficient error information when netHSM is used without proper licensing

Last Modified: Apr 28, 2025

Affected Product(s):
BIG-IP LTM(all modules)

Known Affected Versions:
11.0.0, 11.1.0, 11.2.0, 11.2.1, 11.3.0, 11.4.0, 11.4.1, 11.5.0, 11.5.1, 11.5.1 HF1, 11.5.1 HF2, 11.5.1 HF3, 11.5.1 HF4, 11.5.1 HF5, 11.5.1 HF6, 11.5.1 HF7, 11.5.1 HF8, 11.5.1 HF9, 11.5.1 HF10, 11.5.1 HF11, 11.5.2, 11.5.2 HF1, 11.5.3, 11.5.3 HF1, 11.5.3 HF2, 11.5.4, 11.5.4 HF1, 11.5.4 HF2, 11.5.4 HF3, 11.5.4 HF4, 11.5.5, 11.5.6, 11.5.7, 11.5.8, 11.5.9, 11.5.10, 11.6.0, 11.6.0 HF1, 11.6.0 HF2, 11.6.0 HF3, 11.6.0 HF4, 11.6.0 HF5, 11.6.0 HF6, 11.6.0 HF7, 11.6.0 HF8, 11.6.1, 11.6.1 HF1, 11.6.1 HF2, 11.6.2, 11.6.2 HF1, 11.6.3, 11.6.3.1, 11.6.3.2, 11.6.3.3, 11.6.3.4, 11.6.4, 11.6.5, 11.6.5.1, 11.6.5.2, 11.6.5.3, 12.0.0, 12.0.0 HF1, 12.0.0 HF2, 12.0.0 HF3, 12.0.0 HF4, 12.1.0, 12.1.0 HF1, 12.1.0 HF2, 12.1.1, 12.1.1 HF1, 12.1.1 HF2, 12.1.2, 12.1.2 HF1, 12.1.2 HF2, 12.1.3, 12.1.3.1, 12.1.3.2, 12.1.3.3, 12.1.3.4, 12.1.3.5, 12.1.3.6, 12.1.3.7, 12.1.4, 12.1.4.1, 12.1.5, 12.1.5.1, 12.1.5.2, 12.1.5.3, 12.1.6

Fixed In:
13.0.0

Opened: May 29, 2014

Severity: 3-Major

Related Article: K22179700

Symptoms

Trying to use a netHSM key without the HSM license causes the SSL handshake to fail with the general error in sign server key exchange.

Impact

The system posts potentially confusing errors similar to the following (with ssl debug logs turned on): -- debug tmm3[28399]: 01260009:7: Connection error: ssl_hs_vfy_sign_srvkeyxchg:8309: sign_srvkeyxchg (80) -- info tmm3[28399]: 01260013:6: SSL Handshake failed for TCP 10.10.10.13:47804 -> 10.10.10.23:443

Conditions

This issue might occur when using netHSM without HSM licensing.

Workaround

License HSM. To determine whether this is the issue related to these messages, you can turn on tmm.verbose. Then, if netHSM is not licensed, you can find the following message at /var/log/tmm: notice No license for external HSM.

Fix Information

Now, if netHSM is not licensed, the system provides a clear error indicating that a license is needed.

Behavior Change

Guides & references

K10134038: F5 Bug Tracker Filter Names and Tips