OpenSSH FIPS 140-2 support using OpenSSL FIPS modules?

[Jakub Jelen]

On 01/28/2016 03:12 AM, security veteran wrote:
> I have one question regarding the FIPS patch in
> http://pkgs.fedoraproject.org/cgit/openssh.git/tree/openssh-6.7p1-fips.patch
> :
>
> I assume somewhere from within the OpenSSH code it should invoke
> FIPS_set_mode API, but all I saw was FIPS_mode().
> Does FIPS_mode() serve the same purposes as  FIPS_set_mode()?
FIPS_mode() is openssl function [1]. As manual page says, it determines 
if the FIPS mode is enabled. The other function FIPS_mode_set() [2] is 
used to modify FIPS status (enables/disables).

Openssh itself should not change the FIPS mode. It should behave 
according to the system setup (FIPS mode should be set up system-wide).
> Also the patch is for OpenSSH 7.0. Is there a patch for OpenSSH 6.6?
You should be able to go back in the git history to 6.6 version or put 
hands on CentOS patches [3], where we use 6.6 version.

[1] https://wiki.openssl.org/index.php/FIPS_mode%28%29
[2] https://wiki.openssl.org/index.php/FIPS_mode_set%28%29
[3] 
https://git.centos.org/blob/rpms!openssh/6745269c7b486c1c096ca27e0c1aa97fe8b03c60/SOURCES!openssh-6.6p1-fips.patch;jsessionid=f8qjnilsd281oo2uwua8fm17

Regards,

-- 
Jakub Jelen
Associate Software Engineer
Security Technologies
Red Hat