What is jsse.jar - Java Secure Socket Extension?

jsse.jar, Java Secure Socket Extension, is Java library that enables secure Internet communications. It provides a framework and an implementation for a Java version of the SSL and TLS protocols and includes functionality for data encryption, server authentication, message integrity, and optional client authentication. Using JSSE, developers can provide for the secure passage of data between a client and a server running any application protocol (such as HTTP, Telnet, or FTP) over TCP/IP.

By abstracting the complex underlying security algorithms and handshaking mechanisms, JSSE minimizes the risk of creating subtle but dangerous security vulnerabilities. Furthermore, it simplifies application development by serving as a building block that developers can integrate directly into their applications.

JSSE provides both an application programming interface (API) framework and an implementation of that API. The JSSE API supplements the core network and cryptographic services defined by the java.security and java.net packages by providing extended networking socket classes, trust managers, key managers, SSL contexts, and a socket factory framework for encapsulating socket creation behavior. Because the SSLSocket class is based on a blocking I/O model, the Java Development Kit (JDK) includes a nonblocking SSLEngine class to enable implementations to choose their own I/O methods.

The JSSE API is capable of supporting SSL versions 2.0 and 3.0 and TLS version 1.0. These security protocols encapsulate a normal bidirectional stream socket, and the JSSE API adds transparent support for authentication, encryption, and integrity protection. The JSSE implementation shipped with the JDK supports SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0. It does not implement SSL 2.0.

JSSE is a security component of the Java SE platform, and is based on the same design principles found elsewhere in the Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA) framework. This framework for cryptography-related security components allows them to have implementation independence and, whenever possible, algorithm independence. JSSE uses the cryptographic service providers defined by the JCA framework.

Versions of jsse.jar and their release dates:

jsse.jar 1.0.3 for J2SE 1.3.1    2006-09-25
jsse.jar included in J2SE 1.4    2002-02-06
jsse.jar included in Java SE 5	 2004-10-04
jsse.jar included in Java SE 6   2006-12-23
jsse.jar included in Java SE 7   2011-07-28
jsse.jar included in Java SE 8   2014-03-18

For more information, see Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) Reference Guide.

 

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