Title

NixOS must implement NIST FIPS-validated cryptography for the following: to provision digital signatures, to generate cryptographic hashes, and to protect unclassified information requiring confidentiality and cryptographic protection in accordance with applicable federal laws, Executive Orders, directives, policies, regulations, and standards. (Cat I impact)

Discussion

Use of weak or untested encryption algorithms undermines the purposes of using encryption to protect data. The operating system must implement cryptographic modules adhering to the higher standards approved by the federal government since this provides assurance they have been tested and validated. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000478-GPOS-00223, SRG-OS-000396-GPOS-00176

Check Content

Verify NixOS is configured to operate in FIPS mode with the following command: $ grep fips /proc/cmdline BOOT_IMAGE=(hd0,msdos1)/nix/store/glc0midc78caq9sc7pzciymx4c3in7kn-linux-6.1.64/bzImage init=/nix/store/grl4baymr9q60mbcz3sidm4agckn3bx5-nixos-system-nixos-23.1.1.20231129.057f9ae/init audit=1 audit_backlog_limit=8192 fips=1 loglevel=4 If the "fips" entry does not equal "1" or is missing, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure NixOS to run in FIPS mode. Add "fips=1" to the kernel parameters by adding to the boot.kernelParams option in /etc/nixos/configuration.nix: boot.kernelParams = [ "fips=1" ]; Rebuild the NixOS configuration with the following command: $ sudo nixos-rebuild switch A reboot is required for the changes to take effect.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-268168r1039392_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-268168

Group Title: SRG-OS-000478-GPOS-00223

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.