Title

SharePoint must employ NSA-approved cryptography to protect classified information. (Cat I impact)

Discussion

Cryptography is only as strong as the encryption modules/algorithms employed to encrypt the data. Use of weak or untested encryption algorithms undermines the purposes of utilizing encryption to protect data. NSA has developed Type 1 algorithms for protecting classified information. The Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) National Information Assurance Glossary (CNSS Instruction No. 4009) defines Type 1 products as: "Cryptographic equipment, assembly or component classified or certified by NSA for encrypting and decrypting classified and sensitive national security information when appropriately keyed. Developed using established NSA business processes and containing NSA-approved algorithms used to protect systems requiring the most stringent protection mechanisms." NSA-approved cryptography is required to be used for classified information system processing.

Check Content

Review the SharePoint server configuration to ensure NSA-approved cryptography is employed to protect classified information. Open MMC. Click "File", "Add/Remove Snap-in", and "add Group Policy Object Editor". Enter a name for the Group Policy Object, or accept the default. Click "Finish". Click "OK". Navigate to Computer Policy >> Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Network >> SSL Configuration settings. Right-click "SSL Configuration Settings", click "SSL Cipher Suite Order", click "Edit". In the "SSL Cipher Suite Order" dialog box, if "Enabled" is not selected, this is a finding. Under Options, in the "SSL Cipher Suites" text box, verify the following text is displayed: TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384_P384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256_P384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256_P256,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P256,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P521,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P384,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P256,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA Click "OK". If any ciphers other than those listed above are present, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure SharePoint to employ NSA-approved cryptography to protect classified information. Open MMC. Click “File”, “Add/Remove Snap-in”, and “add Group Policy Object Editor”. Enter a name for the Group Policy Object, or accept the default. Click “Finish”. Click “OK”. Navigate to Computer Policy >> Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Network >> SSL Configuration settings. Right-click “SSL Configuration Settings”, click “SSL Cipher Suite Order”, and then click “Edit”. In the “SSL Cipher Suite Order” dialog box, select "Enabled" option. Under “Options”, in the “SSL Cipher Suites” text box, delete everything, and then copy and paste from the following text: TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384_P384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256_P384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256_P256,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P256,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P521,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P384,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P256,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA Click “OK”.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-74399r2_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-59969

Group Title:

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

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