WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment, Version 6.0.x     Operating Systems: AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Windows

Configuring Federal Information Processing Standard Java Secure Socket Extension files

Why and when to perform this task

In WebSphere Application Server, the Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) provider used is the IBMJSSE2 provider. This provider delegates encryption and signature functions to the Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) provider. Consequently, IBMJSSE2 does not need to be Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)-approved because it does not perform cryptography. However, the JCE provider requires FIPS-approval.
WebSphere Application Server provides a FIPS-approved IBMJCEFIPS provider that IBMJSSE2 can utilize. The IBMJCEFIPS provider that is shipped in WebSphere Application Server Version 6 supports the following SSL ciphers:
  • SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
  • SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
  • SSL_RSA_FIPS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
  • SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
  • SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
  • SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
  • SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA

Even though the IBMJSSEFIPS provider is still present, the run time does not use this provider. If IBMJSSEFIPS is specified as a contextProvider, WebSphere Application Server automatically defaults to the IBMJSSE2 provider (with the IBMJCEFIPS provider) for supporting FIPS in Version 6. When enabling FIPS in the server Global Security Panel, the run time always uses IBMJSSE2, despite the contextProvider that you specify for SSL (IBMJSSE, IBMJSSE2 or IBMJSSEFIPS). Also, because FIPS requires the SSL protocol be TLS, the run time always uses TLS when FIPS is enabled, regardless of the SSL protocol setting in the SSL repertoire. This simplifies the FIPS configuration in Version 6 because an administrator needs to enable only the FIPS flag in the Global Security Panel to enable all transports using SSL.

Steps for this task

  1. Click Security > Global Security.
  2. Select the Use the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) option and click OK. This option makes IBMJSSE2 and IBMJCEFIPS the active providers.
  3. If you have a Java client that must access enterprise beans, change the com.ibm.security.useFIPS property value from false to true in the profile_root/properties/sas.client.props file.
  4. If you have an administrative client using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) connector, modify the profile_root/properties/soap.client.props file. Set the following property:
    #com.ibm.ssl.contextProvider=IBMJSSE2
    com.ibm.ssl.contextProvider=IBMJSSEFIPS
    

    You are using an administrative client if you use the startServer.sh or stopServer.sh commands instead of the administrative console to start and stop the server.

    Note: Specifying IBMJSSEFIPS indicates that the client wants to be in FIPS mode, and the run time uses the IBMJSSE2 provider in combination with the IBMJCEFIPS provider.
  5. Edit the java.security file to insert the IBMJCEFIPS provider (com.ibm.crypto.fips.provider.IBMJCEFIPS) ahead of the IBMJCE provider, and also renumber the rest of the provider list.

    The IBMJCEFIPS provider must be in the java.security file provider list. The java.security file is located in the profile_root/properties directory. The java.security file looks like the following example after completing this step:

    security.provider.1=sun.security.provider.Sun
    security.provider.2=com.ibm.crypto.fips.provider.IBMJCEFIPS
    security.provider.3=com.ibm.crypto.provider.IBMJCE
    security.provider.4=com.ibm.jsse.IBMJSSEProvider
    security.provider.5=com.ibm.jsse2.IBMJSSEProvider2
    security.provider.6=com.ibm.security.jgss.IBMJGSSProvider
    security.provider.7=com.ibm.security.cert.IBMCertPath
    security.provider.8=com.ibm.i5os.jsse.JSSEProvider
    #security.provider.8=com.ibm.crypto.pkcs11.provider.IBMPKCS11
    

What to do next

After completing these steps, a FIPS-approved JSSE or JCE provider offers increased encryption capabilities. However, when you use FIPS-approved providers:
Note: When enabling FIPS, you cannot configure cryptographic token devices in the SSL repertoires. IBMJSSE2 must use IBMJCEFIPS when utilizing cryptographic services for FIPS.
The following are the FIPS 140-2 approved cryptographic providers:
  • IBMJCEFIPS (certificate 376)
  • IBMJSSEFIPS (certificate 409)
  • IBM Cryptography for C (ICC) (certificate 384)
The relevant certificates are listed on the NIST Web site: Cryptographic Module Validation Program FIPS 140-1 and FIPS 140-2 Pre-validation List
To unconfigure the FIPS provider, reverse the changes that you made in the previous steps. After you reverse the changes, verify that you have made the following changes to the sas.client.props, soap.client.props, and java.security files:
  • In the sas.client.props file, you must change the com.ibm.security.useFIPS value to false.
  • In the soap.client.props file, you must uncomment the com.ibm.ssl.contextProvider=IBMJSSE2 property and comment out the com.ibm.ssl.contextProvider=IBMJSSEFIPS property. These changes are shown in the following example:
    com.ibm.ssl.contextProvider=IBMJSSE2
    #com.ibm.ssl.contextProvider=IBMJSSEFIPS
    
  • In the java.security file, you must change the FIPS provider to a non-FIPS provider.
    If you are using the IBM SDK java.security file, you must change the first provider to a non-FIPS provider as shown in the following example:
    security.provider.1=com.ibm.crypto.fips.provider.IBMJCEFIPS
    #security.provider.1=com.ibm.crypto.provider.IBMJCE
    security.provider.2=com.ibm.jsse.IBMJSSEProvider
    security.provider.3=com.ibm.jsse2.IBMJSSEProvider2
    security.provider.4=com.ibm.security.jgss.IBMJGSSProvider
    security.provider.5=com.ibm.security.cert.IBMCertPath
    #security.provider.6=com.ibm.crypto.pkcs11.provider.IBMPKCS11
    If you are using the Sun JDK java.security file, you must change the third provider to a non-FIPS provider as shown in the following example:
    security.provider.1=com.ibm.security.jgss.IBMJGSSProvider
    security.provider.2=sun.security.provider.Sun
    security.provider.3=com.ibm.crypto.fips.provider.IBMJCEFIPS
    #security.provider.3=com.ibm.crypto.provider.IBMJCE
    security.provider.4=com.ibm.jsse.IBMJSSEProvider
    security.provider.5=com.ibm.jsse2.IBMJSSEProvider2
    security.provider.6=com.ibm.security.cert.IBMCertPath
    #security.provider.7=com.ibm.crypto.pkcs11.provider.IBMPKCS11



Related tasks
Configuring Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
Defining Secure Sockets Layer connections
Securing transports with JSSE and JCE programming interfaces

Related reference
Global security settings

Related information
Cryptographic Module Validation Program FIPS 140-1 and FIPS 140-2 Pre-validation List

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Last updated: Dec 11, 2005 4:07:15 PM CST
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