E Oracle Advanced Security FIPS 140-2 Settings

The cryptographic libraries for SSL included in Oracle Database 10g are designed to meet FIPS 140-2 Level 2 certification. Oracle Advanced Security makes use of these cryptographic libraries for SSL authentication. Please verify the current status of the certification at the Cryptographic Modules Validation Program Web site address:

http://csrc.nist.gov/cryptval/

The security policy, which would be available at the NIST site upon successful certification, includes requirements for secure configuration of the host operating system.

The following topics are covered in this appendix:

Configuring FIPS Parameter
Selecting Cipher Suites
Post-Installation Checks
Verifying FIPS Connections

E.1 Configuring FIPS Parameter

Oracle Advanced Security SSL adapter can be configured to run in FIPS mode by setting the SSLFIPS_140 parameter to TRUE in the fips.ora file.

SSLFIPS_140=TRUE

This parameter is set to FALSE by default. It must be set to TRUE on both the client and the server for FIPS mode operation.

Make sure that the fips.ora file is either located in the $ORACLE_HOME/ldap/admin directory, or is pointed to by the FIPS_HOME environment variable. This procedure can be repeated in any Oracle home for any database server or client.

Note:

The SSLFIPS_140 parameter replaces the SQLNET.SSLFIPS_140 parameter used in Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2). The parameter needs to be set in the fips.ora file, and not the sqlnet.ora file.

E.2 Selecting Cipher Suites

A cipher suite is a set of authentication, encryption and data integrity algorithms used for exchanging messages between network nodes. During an SSL handshake, for example, the two nodes negotiate to see as to which cipher suite they will use when transmitting messages back and forth.

Only the following cipher suites are approved for FIPS validation:

SSL_DH_anon_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
SSL_DH_anon_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA
SSL_DH_anon_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA
SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA
SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA
SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA

Oracle Advanced Security SSL cipher suites are automatically set to FIPS approved cipher suites. If you wish to configure specific cipher suites, you can do so by editing the SSL_CIPHER_SUITES parameter in the sqlnet.ora or the listener.ora file.

SSL_CIPHER_SUITES=(SSL_cipher_suite1[,SSL_cipher_suite2[,..]])

You can also use Oracle Net Manager to set this parameter on the server and the client.

E.3 Post-Installation Checks

After installation, the following permissions must be verified in the operating system:

Execute permissions must be set on all Oracle executable files so as to prevent execution of Oracle Cryptographic Libraries by users who are unauthorized to do so in accordance with the system security policy.
Read and write permissions must be set on all Oracle executable files so as to prevent accidental or deliberate reading or modification of Oracle Cryptographic Libraries by any user.

To comply with FIPS 140-2 Level 2 requirements, the security policy must include procedures to prevent unauthorized users from reading, modifying or executing Oracle Cryptographic Libraries processes and the memory they are using in the operating system.

E.4 Verifying FIPS Connections

To check if FIPS mode is enabled, tracing can be added to the sqlnet.ora file. FIPS self-test messages can be found in the trace file. Add the following lines to sqlnet.ora to enable tracing:

trace_directory_server=trace_dir
trace_file_server=trace_file
trace_level_server=trace_level

For example:

trace_directory=/private/oracle/owm
trace_file_server=fips_trace.trc
trace_level_server=6

Trace level 6 is the minimum trace level required to check the results of the FIPS self-tests.