[squid-users] ssl bump + never_direct

[Anthony Pankov]

Hello Alex,

Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 4:58:34 PM, you wrote:

> On 2026-01-27 06:46, Anthony Pankov wrote:

>> I'm wandering is it possible and what the logic will be if configure
>> squid for ssl bumping and to always go to  cache_peer (never direct)
>> at the same time?

> Squid does not support "TLS inside TLS" yet, resulting in the following three possible use cases/answers:

> Bugs notwithstanding, bumping client traffic while talking to a cache_peer

> * ... should be possible if that cache_peer listens for plain text HTTP connections (e.g., cache_peer is a Squid instance listening on an http_port). Just configure Squid to always go to that cache_peer (see never_direct directive documentation). When forwarding bumped traffic, Squid will send a plain text CONNECT request to that cache_peer (and forward TLS traffic inside that CONNECT tunnel).


Is it somehow possible to forward all bumped traffic to peer (never_direct)  as plain http?

Client - (tls) - Squid - (plain http) - Peer - (tls) - Origin

Is it possible to make frontline Squid a TLS terminator (light cacher)  while Peer will do heavy caching and Origin interaction?



> * ... may also be possible if that cache_peer is an originserver peer that listens for TLS connections (e.g., cache_peer is a Squid instance listening on an https_port in "accel" mode). I am not sure whether Squid has enough code to handle this configuration. Same never_direct configuration approach would apply here. When forwarding bumped traffic, Squid will open a TLS connection to that cache_peer.

> * ... is not possible if that cache_peer is a proxy that listens for TLS connections (e.g., cache_peer is a Squid instance listening on an https_port in the default forward proxy mode).


> HTH,

> Alex.
> P.S. "Peering support for SslBump" functionality was added in Squid v5, but you should use Squid v7+.

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-- 
Best regards,
Anthony