Add documentation of how trust roots settings affect validators

Sources/NIOSSL/Docs.docc/index.md

@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ SwiftNIO SSL        | Minimum Swift Version
 ### Articles
 
 - <doc:quantum-secure-tls>
+- <doc:trust-roots-behavior>
 
 ### Channel Handlers
 

Sources/NIOSSL/Docs.docc/trust-roots-behavior.md

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Trust Roots and Certificate Validation Behavior
+
+Understanding how ``TLSConfiguration/trustRoots`` and ``TLSConfiguration/additionalTrustRoots`` affect certificate validation across different platforms.
+
+## Overview
+
+SwiftNIO SSL provides two properties in ``TLSConfiguration`` for configuring certificate validation: ``TLSConfiguration/trustRoots`` and ``TLSConfiguration/additionalTrustRoots``. The behavior of these properties differs significantly between Apple platforms and other platforms, which can lead to unexpected certificate validation failures.
+
+This article explains the behavioral matrix and helps you choose the right configuration for your use case.
+
+## Certificate Validation Backends
+
+SwiftNIO SSL uses different certificate validation backends depending on your configuration:
+
+- **SecTrust** (Apple platforms only): The system's native certificate validator, which is stricter and follows Apple's certificate validation policies
+- **BoringSSL**: The embedded certificate validator, which is more permissive and consistent across platforms
+
+## Behavioral Matrix
+
+The choice of validation backend depends on your ``TLSConfiguration/trustRoots`` and ``TLSConfiguration/additionalTrustRoots`` settings:
+
+| Configuration | Apple Platforms | Other Platforms |
+|---------------|-----------------|-----------------|
+| `trustRoots = .default`, no additional trust roots | SecTrust with default settings | BoringSSL with system PEM files |
+| `trustRoots = nil`, no additional trust roots | SecTrust with default settings | BoringSSL with system PEM files |
+| `trustRoots = .file(_)`, no additional trust roots | BoringSSL with specified file | BoringSSL with specified file |
+| `trustRoots = .certificates(_)`, no additional trust roots | BoringSSL with specified certificates | BoringSSL with specified certificates |
+| `trustRoots = .default`, additional trust roots provided | SecTrust with additional roots via `SecTrustSetAnchorCertificates` | BoringSSL with system PEM files and additional roots |
+| `trustRoots = nil`, additional trust roots provided | SecTrust with additional roots via `SecTrustSetAnchorCertificates` | BoringSSL with system PEM files and additional roots |
+| `trustRoots = .file(_)`, additional trust roots provided | BoringSSL with specified file and additional roots | BoringSSL with specified file and additional roots |
+| `trustRoots = .certificates(_)`, additional trust roots provided | BoringSSL with specified certificates and additional roots | BoringSSL with specified certificates and additional roots |
+
+## Key Behavioral Differences
+
+**SecTrust:**
+- Used when `trustRoots` is `.default` or `nil` on Apple platforms
+- Enforces stricter certificate chain validation rules
+- May reject certificate chains that BoringSSL accepts
+- Behaves the same way that Safari and most other browsers do
+
+**BoringSSL:**
+- Used in all other cases, including on Apple platforms when `trustRoots` is `.file(_)` or `.certificates(_)`
+- More lenient about certificate formatting and extensions
+- Consistent behavior across all platforms
+
+## Debugging Certificate Issues
+
+When certificate validation fails, check the system logs for detailed error messages:
+
+```bash
+# macOS/iOS system logs often contain detailed certificate validation errors
+log show --predicate 'subsystem == "com.apple.security"' --last 1m
+```
+
+The error messages will help you understand whether the issue is with certificate formatting, missing extensions, or chain validation problems.
+
+## Topics
+
+### Related Configuration
+
+- ``TLSConfiguration/trustRoots``
+- ``TLSConfiguration/additionalTrustRoots``
+- ``TLSConfiguration/certificateVerification``
+- ``NIOSSLTrustRoots``
+- ``NIOSSLAdditionalTrustRoots``

Sources/NIOSSL/TLSConfiguration.swift

@@ -320,9 +320,16 @@ public struct TLSConfiguration {
     ///
     /// - NOTE: If a directory path is used here to load a directory of certificates into a configuration, then the
     ///         certificates in this directory must be formatted by `c_rehash` to create the rehash file format of `HHHHHHHH.D` with a symlink.
+    ///
+    /// - NOTE: The choice of trust roots affects which certificate validation backend is used. See <doc:trust-roots-behavior>
+    ///         for detailed information about platform-specific behavior differences.
     public var trustRoots: NIOSSLTrustRoots?
 
     /// Additional trust roots to use to validate certificates, used in addition to ``trustRoots``.
+    ///
+    /// - NOTE: The combination of ``trustRoots`` and ``additionalTrustRoots`` affects which certificate validation
+    ///         backend is used on Apple platforms. See <doc:trust-roots-behavior> for detailed information about
+    ///         platform-specific behavior differences.
     public var additionalTrustRoots: [NIOSSLAdditionalTrustRoots]
 
     /// The certificates to offer during negotiation. If not present, no certificates will be offered.