Hi Tomas, Thanks for your answers! So based on your answers: 1. Since Vanilla OpenSSH doesn't call FIPS_mode_set() function, it should work just fine even if the OpenSSL libcrypto.so library has already been changed to the FIPS version. Is that correct? 2. Looks like there is no such a flag in OpenSSH source to allow you rebuild it and turn it into FIPS compliant mode, is that correct? In that case is there a way to re-build OpenSSH server and client (somehow in both the RedHat and Ubuntu, the OpenSSH is split into two (openssh-server and openssl-client) packages, so that the non-FIPS compliant functions can be disabled? Thanks. On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 12:39 AM, Tomas Kuthan <tomas.kuthan@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On 12/ 4/15 03:26 AM, security veteran wrote: > >> Hi All: >> >> I tried to rebuild openssl with the FIPS modules, and then install the new >> openssl libs (lib crypto.so to be specific) on my Ubuntu 12.04 box. >> >> After that I noticed it seemed to break OpenSSH: I couldn't login to the >> box using ssh, and couldn't run the client command like ssh-keygen either. >> >> My questions are: >> >> 1. Does OpenSSH support FIPS mode? >> >> 2. Or does OpenSSH support with OpenSSL FIPS modules? >> >> 3. Is there a way to re-compile OpenSSH by turning on/off some flags to >> make it FIPS complaint? >> >> 4. Does the RedHat OpenSSH FIPS modules ( >> http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/140sp/140sp1791.pdf) >> also open sourced to the OpenSSH community? >> > > Hi security veteran, > > vanilla OpenSSH doesn't support running OpenSSL in FIPS-140 mode. Some > downstream providers patch OpenSSH they deliver with their distributions > with changes to enable FIPS-140 mode. > > In general, an application that wants to run a FIPS-140 capable OpenSSL > library in FIPS-140 mode, needs to call FIPS_mode_set() first. Otherwise it > runs OpenSSL in default mode with non-FIPS algorithms available. From my > experience this works, but is not FIPS-140 compliant. > > User Guide for the OpenSSL FIPS Object Module v2.0 [1]: > >> 2.6 >> FIPS Mode of Operation >> Applications that utilize FIPS mode must call the FIPS_mode_set() >> function. After successful >> FIPS mode initialization, the non-FIPS algorithms will be disabled by >> default. >> The FIPS Object Module together with a compatible version of the OpenSSL >> product can be used >> in the generation of both FIPS mode and conventional applications. In >> this sense, the combination >> of the FIPS Object Module and the usual OpenSSL libraries constitutes a >> “FIPS capable API”, and >> provide both FIP approved algorithms and non-FIPS algorithms. >> > > Vanilla OpenSSH obviously doesn't call FIPS_mode_set(). If switching > underlying OpenSSL libcrypto to FIPS-140 capable instance precludes you > from running ssh, most probably there is something wrong with the FIPS-140 > capable OpenSSL you built. > > Tomas > > [1] https://openssl.org/docs/fips/UserGuide-2.0.pdf > > > _______________________________________________ > openssh-unix-dev mailing list > openssh-unix-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx > https://lists.mindrot.org/mailman/listinfo/openssh-unix-dev > _______________________________________________ openssh-unix-dev mailing list openssh-unix-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx https://lists.mindrot.org/mailman/listinfo/openssh-unix-dev
