Title

RHEL 9 cryptographic policy must not be overridden. (Cat I impact)

Discussion

Centralized cryptographic policies simplify applying secure ciphers across an operating system and the applications that run on that operating system. Use of weak or untested encryption algorithms undermines the purposes of using encryption to protect data. Satisfies: SRG-OS-000396-GPOS-00176, SRG-OS-000393-GPOS-00173, SRG-OS-000394-GPOS-00174

Check Content

Verify that RHEL 9 cryptographic policies are not overridden. Verify that the configured policy matches the generated policy with the following command: $ sudo update-crypto-policies --check The configured policy matches the generated policy If the returned message does not match the above, but instead matches the following, this is a finding: The configured policy does NOT match the generated policy List all of the crypto backends configured on the system with the following command: $ ls -l /etc/crypto-policies/back-ends/ lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 40 Nov 13 16:29 bind.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/bind.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 42 Nov 13 16:29 gnutls.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/gnutls.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 40 Nov 13 16:29 java.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/java.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 46 Nov 13 16:29 javasystem.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/javasystem.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 40 Nov 13 16:29 krb5.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/krb5.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 45 Nov 13 16:29 libreswan.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/libreswan.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 42 Nov 13 16:29 libssh.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/libssh.txt -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 398 Nov 13 16:29 nss.config lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 43 Nov 13 16:29 openssh.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/openssh.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 49 Nov 13 16:29 opensshserver.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/opensshserver.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 46 Nov 13 16:29 opensslcnf.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/opensslcnf.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 43 Nov 13 16:29 openssl.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/openssl.txt lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 48 Nov 13 16:29 openssl_fips.config -> /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS/openssl_fips.txt If the paths do not point to the respective files under /usr/share/crypto-policies/FIPS path, this is a finding. Note: nss.config should not be symlinked. Note: If there is an operational need to use a subpolicy that causes the links to the crypto backends to break, this is a finding, and exceptions will need to be made by the authorizing official (AO) and documented with the information system security officer (ISSO).

Fix Text

Configure RHEL 9 to correctly implement the systemwide cryptographic policies by reinstalling the crypto-policies package contents. Reinstall crypto-policies with the following command: $ sudo dnf -y reinstall crypto-policies Set the crypto-policy to FIPS with the following command: $ sudo update-crypto-policies --set FIPS Setting system policy to FIPS Note: Systemwide crypto policies are applied on application startup. It is recommended to restart the system for the change of policies to fully take place.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-258236r1101920_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-258236

Group Title: SRG-OS-000396-GPOS-00176

Expert Comments

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