Configure Federal Information Processing Standard Java Secure Socket Extension files

 

Configure Federal Information Processing Standard Java Secure Socket Extension files

Use this topic to configure Federal Information Processing Standard Java Secure Socket Extension files.

About 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 Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) ciphers:

Even though the IBMJSSEFIPS provider is still present, the runtime 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 runtime always uses IBMJSSE2, despite the contextProvider that you specify for SSL (IBMJSSE, IBMJSSE2 or IBMJSSEFIPS). Also, because FIPS requires the SSL protocol to be TLS, the runtime always uses Transport Layer Security (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.

 

Procedure

  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. Accommodate Java clients 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. Accommodate administrative clients that use the 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 runtime uses the IBMJSSE2 provider in combination with the IBMJCEFIPS provider.

  5. Ensure that the

    java.security includes the provider.

    Edit the java.security file to insert the IBMJCEFIPS provider (com.ibm.crypto.fips.provider.IBMJCEFIPS) before the IBMJCE provider, and also renumber the other providers in 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 directory. The IBM SDK java.security file looks like the following example after completing this step:

    security.provider.1=com.ibm.crypto.fips.provider.IBMJCEFIPS
security.provider.2=com.ibm.crypto.provider.IBMJCE
security.provider.3=com.ibm.jsse.IBMJSSEProvider security.provider.4=com.ibm.jsse2.IBMJSSEProvider2
security.provider.5=com.ibm.security.jgss.IBMJGSSProvider security.provider.6=com.ibm.security.cert.IBMCertPath security.provider.7=com.ibm.i5os.jsse.JSSEProvider #security.provider.7=com.ibm.crypto.pkcs11.provider.IBMPKCS11
    If you are using the Sun JDK, 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.security.jgss.IBMJGSSProvider security.provider.3=com.ibm.crypto.fips.provider.IBMJCEFIPS
security.provider.4=com.ibm.crypto.provider.IBMJCE
security.provider.5=com.ibm.jsse.IBMJSSEProvider security.provider.6=com.ibm.jsse2.IBMJSSEProvider2
security.provider.7=com.ibm.security.cert.IBMCertPath #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 FIPS 140-2 approved cryptographic providers that are the only devices that are supported with the FIPS option:

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:




 

Related concepts


Secure transports with JSSE and JCE programming interfaces

 

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