The Photon operating system must implement NIST FIPS-validated cryptography for the following: to provision digital signatures, generate cryptographic hashes, and protect unclassified information requiring confidentiality and cryptographic protection in accordance with applicable federal laws, Executive Orders, directives, policies, regulations, and standards.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-256589	PHTN-30-000240	SV-256589r887441_rule		Medium

Description
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 because this provides assurance they have been tested and validated.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance Photon OS Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-12-01

Details

Check Text ( C-60264r887439_chk )
At the command line, run the following command: # cat /proc/sys/crypto/fips_enabled If a value of "1" is not returned, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-60207r887440_fix)
Navigate to and open: /boot/grub2/grub.cfg Locate the kernel command line, which will start with "linux", and add "fips=1" to the end. For example: linux /$photon_linux audit=1 root=$rootpartition $photon_cmdline coredump_filter=0x37 consoleblank=0 $systemd_cmdline fips=1 Reboot the system for the change to take effect. Note: The "fipsify" package must be installed for FIPS mode to work properly.