You can configure WebSphere® Application
Server to use the SP800-131 standard strict mode.
Before you begin
Read the "WebSphere Application
Server security standards configurations" topic for more background
information regarding security standards.
About this task
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Special Publications (SP) 800-131 standard strengthens algorithms
and increases the key lengths to improve security. The standard also
provides for a transition period to move to the new standard. The
transition period enables a user to run in a mixed environment of
settings not supported under the standard along with those that are
supported. The NIST SP800-131 standard requires that users be configured
for strict enforcement of the standard by a specific timeframe. See The
National Institute of Standards and Technology web site for
more details.
WebSphere Application
Server can be configured to run SP800-131 in a transition mode
or a strict mode. For instructions on how to configure
transition mode, read the topic "Transitioning WebSphere Application Server to the SP800-131
Security Standard".
To run in strict mode, there are several
changes necessary to the server configuration:
- Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) configuration must use the TLSv1.2
protocol.
- The com.ibm.jsse2.sp800-131 system property must be set to strict for
the JSSE to run in a strict SP800-131 mode.
- Certificates used for SSL communication must have a minimum length
of 2048, and for Elliptical Curve (EC) certificates they must have
a minimum length of 244.
- Certificates must be signed with a signature algorithm of SHA256,
SHA384, or SHA512.
- SP800-131 approved cipher suites must be used.
.
Procedure
- Click Security > SSL certificate and key management
> Manage FIPS To run in a strict SP800-131 mode, all
of the certificates used for SSL on the server must be converted to
certificates that comply with the SP800-131 requirements.
- To convert certificates, under Related Items, click Convert
Certificates.
- Select the radio button marked Strict, and choose
which signatureAlgorithm to use when creating the new certificates
from the pull-down box.
- Select the size of the certificate from the pull-down box
labeled New Certificate Key Size.
Note: If you choose
an Elliptical Curve signature algorithm, they require specific sizes;
you are not able to fill in a size. The correct size is used instead.
- If no certificates are displayed in the box labeled Certificates
that can not be converted, click Apply/Save.
- If certificates are displayed in the box labeled Certificates
that can not be converted, the server is unable to convert the
certificate for you. You must replace these certificates with ones
that meet SP800-131 requirements. Reasons why the server
can not convert a certificate for you include:
- The certificate was created by a Certificate Authority (CA)
- The certificate is in a read only keystore
Once certificates are converted to meet the SP800-131 specification,
perform the following steps to enable SP800-131 strict mode.
- Click SSL certificate and key management > Manage FIPS.
- Enable the radio button labeled Enable SP800-131.
- Enable the radio button labeled Strict.
- Click Apply/Save.
- Restart the servers and manually sync the nodes for the
SP800-131 strict mode to take effect.
When these changes
are applied, and the server is restarted, all of the SSL configuration
on the server are modified to use the TLSv1.2 protocol and the com.ibm.jsse2.sp800-131
system property is set to strict. The SSL configuration
uses the appropriate SSL ciphers for the standard.
There are
several wsadmin tasks that can be used to enable strict SP800-131
using scripting
- Check the status of certificates for the security standard by
using the listCertStatusForSecurityStandard task.
- Convert certificates for the security standard by using the convertCertForSecurityStandard
task.
- Enable the security standard by using the enableFips task.
- To see the security standard setting, use the getFipsInfo task.
- Once the server is configured for SP800-131 strict mode,
the ssl.client.props file must be modified so
that the admininstrative client is running in SP800-131 strict mode.
They are not able to make a SSL connection to the server without
the change.
Edit the
ssl.client.props file
by doing the following:
- Modify com.ibm.security.useFIPS to be set to true.
- Add com.ibm.websphere.security.FIPSLevel=SP800-131 just below
the useFips property.
- Change the com.ibm.ssl.protocol property to TLSv1.2.
What to do next
The SP800-131 standard strict mode requires that the SSL
connection use the TLSv1.2 protocol. For a browser to access the administrative
console or an application, the browser must support and first be configured
to use the TLSv1.2 protocol.
Avoid trouble: When enabling the security standards on a Network Deployment
version of the product, the node and deployment manager can be in
an incompatible protocol state. Since configuring the security standard
requires the server to be restarted, it is recommended that all node
agents and servers be stopped, leaving the deployment manager running.
Once the configuration changes are made through the console, restart
the deployment manager.
gotcha
Manually sync the nodes with syncNode,
and start the node agents and servers. To use syncNode, you might
need to update the ssl.client.props file to communicate
with the deployment manager.