Use Only FIPS 140-2 Validated Ciphers

An XCCDF Rule

Description

Limit the ciphers to those algorithms which are FIPS-approved. Counter (CTR) mode is also preferred over cipher-block chaining (CBC) mode. The following line in /etc/ssh/sshd_config demonstrates use of FIPS-approved ciphers:

Ciphers aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc

The man page sshd_config(5) contains a list of supported ciphers. The rule is parametrized to use the following ciphers: .

warning alert: Warning

The system needs to be rebooted for these changes to take effect.

warning alert: Regulatory Warning

System Crypto Modules must be provided by a vendor that undergoes FIPS-140 certifications. FIPS-140 is applicable to all Federal agencies that use cryptographic-based security systems to protect sensitive information in computer and telecommunication systems (including voice systems) as defined in Section 5131 of the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996, Public Law 104-106. This standard shall be used in designing and implementing cryptographic modules that Federal departments and agencies operate or are operated for them under contract. See https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/FIPS/NIST.FIPS.140-2.pdf To meet this, the system has to have cryptographic software provided by a vendor that has undergone this certification. This means providing documentation, test results, design information, and independent third party review by an accredited lab. While open source software is capable of meeting this, it does not meet FIPS-140 unless the vendor submits to this process.

Rationale

Unapproved mechanisms that are used for authentication to the cryptographic module are not verified and therefore cannot be relied upon to provide confidentiality or integrity, and system data may be compromised.
Operating systems utilizing encryption are required to use FIPS-compliant mechanisms for authenticating to cryptographic modules.
FIPS 140-2 is the current standard for validating that mechanisms used to access cryptographic modules utilize authentication that meets industry and government requirements. For government systems, this allows Security Levels 1, 2, 3, or 4 for use on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_sshd_use_approved_ciphers
Severity: Medium
References: 1 11 12 14 15 16 18 3 5 6 8 9

5.5.6

APO11.04 APO13.01 BAI03.05 BAI10.01 BAI10.02 BAI10.03 BAI10.05 DSS01.04 DSS05.02 DSS05.03 DSS05.04 DSS05.05 DSS05.07 DSS05.10 DSS06.03 DSS06.06 DSS06.10 MEA02.01

3.1.13 3.13.11 3.13.8

CCI-000068 CCI-000366 CCI-000803 CCI-000877 CCI-002890 CCI-003123

164.308(b)(1) 164.308(b)(2) 164.312(e)(1) 164.312(e)(2)(i) 164.312(e)(2)(ii) 164.314(b)(2)(i)

4.3.3.2.2 4.3.3.3.9 4.3.3.5.1 4.3.3.5.2 4.3.3.5.3 4.3.3.5.4 4.3.3.5.5 4.3.3.5.6 4.3.3.5.7 4.3.3.5.8 4.3.3.6.1 4.3.3.6.2 4.3.3.6.3 4.3.3.6.4 4.3.3.6.5 4.3.3.6.6 4.3.3.6.7 4.3.3.6.8 4.3.3.6.9 4.3.3.7.1 4.3.3.7.2 4.3.3.7.3 4.3.3.7.4 4.3.4.3.2 4.3.4.3.3 4.3.4.4.7 4.4.2.1 4.4.2.2 4.4.2.4

SR 1.1 SR 1.10 SR 1.11 SR 1.12 SR 1.13 SR 1.2 SR 1.3 SR 1.4 SR 1.5 SR 1.6 SR 1.7 SR 1.8 SR 1.9 SR 2.1 SR 2.10 SR 2.11 SR 2.12 SR 2.2 SR 2.3 SR 2.4 SR 2.5 SR 2.6 SR 2.7 SR 2.8 SR 2.9 SR 3.1 SR 3.5 SR 3.8 SR 4.1 SR 4.3 SR 5.1 SR 5.2 SR 5.3 SR 7.1 SR 7.6

A.11.2.6 A.12.1.2 A.12.4.1 A.12.4.2 A.12.4.3 A.12.4.4 A.12.5.1 A.12.6.2 A.12.7.1 A.13.1.1 A.13.2.1 A.14.1.3 A.14.2.2 A.14.2.3 A.14.2.4 A.18.1.4 A.6.1.2 A.6.2.1 A.6.2.2 A.7.1.1 A.9.1.2 A.9.2.1 A.9.2.2 A.9.2.3 A.9.2.4 A.9.2.6 A.9.3.1 A.9.4.1 A.9.4.2 A.9.4.3 A.9.4.4 A.9.4.5

AC-17(2) AC-17(a) CM-6(a) IA-5(1)(c) MA-4(6) SC-12(2) SC-12(3) SC-13

PR.AC-1 PR.AC-3 PR.AC-4 PR.AC-6 PR.AC-7 PR.IP-1 PR.PT-1 PR.PT-3 PR.PT-4

2.2.7

SRG-OS-000033-GPOS-00014 SRG-OS-000120-GPOS-00061 SRG-OS-000125-GPOS-00065 SRG-OS-000250-GPOS-00093 SRG-OS-000393-GPOS-00173 SRG-OS-000394-GPOS-00174

CCE-81032-5

4.2.6
Updated: about 1 year ago

- name: XCCDF Value sshd_approved_ciphers # promote to variable
  set_fact:
    sshd_approved_ciphers: !!str <xccdf-1.2:sub xmlns:xccdf-1.2="http://checklists.nist.gov/xccdf/1.2" idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_sshd_approved_ciphers" use="legacy"/>
  tags:
    - always
- name: Use Only FIPS 140-2 Validated Ciphers
  block:

  - name: Check for duplicate values
    lineinfile:
      path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
      create: true
      regexp: (?i)^\s*Ciphers\s+
      state: absent
    check_mode: true
    changed_when: false
    register: dupes

  - name: Deduplicate values from /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    lineinfile:
      path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
      create: true
      regexp: (?i)^\s*Ciphers\s+
      state: absent
    when: dupes.found is defined and dupes.found > 1

  - name: Insert correct line to /etc/ssh/sshd_config
    lineinfile:
      path: /etc/ssh/sshd_config
      create: true
      regexp: (?i)^\s*Ciphers\s+
      line: Ciphers {{ sshd_approved_ciphers }}
      state: present
      insertbefore: BOF
      validate: /usr/sbin/sshd -t -f %s
  when: ansible_virtualization_type not in ["docker", "lxc", "openvz", "podman", "container"]
  tags:
  - CCE-81032-5
  - CJIS-5.5.6
  - NIST-800-171-3.1.13
  - NIST-800-171-3.13.11
  - NIST-800-171-3.13.8
  - NIST-800-53-AC-17(2)
  - NIST-800-53-AC-17(a)
  - NIST-800-53-CM-6(a)
  - NIST-800-53-IA-5(1)(c)
  - NIST-800-53-MA-4(6)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-12(2)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-12(3)
  - NIST-800-53-SC-13
  - PCI-DSSv4-2.2.7
  - low_complexity
  - low_disruption
  - medium_severity
  - no_reboot_needed
  - restrict_strategy
  - sshd_use_approved_ciphers

# Remediation is applicable only in certain platforms
if [ ! -f /.dockerenv ] && [ ! -f /run/.containerenv ]; then

sshd_approved_ciphers='<xccdf-1.2:sub xmlns:xccdf-1.2="http://checklists.nist.gov/xccdf/1.2" idref="xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_value_sshd_approved_ciphers" use="legacy"/>'

# Strip any search characters in the key arg so that the key can be replaced without
# adding any search characters to the config file.
stripped_key=$(sed 's/[\^=\$,;+]*//g' <<< "^Ciphers")

# shellcheck disable=SC2059
printf -v formatted_output "%s %s" "$stripped_key" "$sshd_approved_ciphers"

# If the key exists, change it. Otherwise, add it to the config_file.
# We search for the key string followed by a word boundary (matched by \>),
# so if we search for 'setting', 'setting2' won't match.
if LC_ALL=C grep -q -m 1 -i -e "^Ciphers\\>" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"; then
    escaped_formatted_output=$(sed -e 's|/|\\/|g' <<< "$formatted_output")
    LC_ALL=C sed -i --follow-symlinks "s/^Ciphers\\>.*/$escaped_formatted_output/gi" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
else
    if [[ -s "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" ]] && [[ -n "$(tail -c 1 -- "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" || true)" ]]; then
        LC_ALL=C sed -i --follow-symlinks '$a'\\ "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
    fi
    cce="CCE-81032-5"
    printf '# Per %s: Set %s in %s\n' "${cce}" "${formatted_output}" "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" >> "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
    printf '%s\n' "$formatted_output" >> "/etc/ssh/sshd_config"
fi

else
    >&2 echo 'Remediation is not applicable, nothing was done'
fi

Use Only FIPS 140-2 Validated Ciphers

Description

Rationale

Remediation - Ansible

Remediation - Shell Script