OpenSSL fails to load private key in FIPS mode

[anmajumd]

Call to PEM_read_bio_PrivateKey function returns the following SSL Error in FIPS mode.

error:06080090:digital envelope routines:EVP_DigestInit_ex:disabled for fips
error:06065064:digital envelope routines:EVP_DecryptFinal_ex:bad decrypt
error:0906A065:PEM routines:PEM_do_header:bad decrypt

PEM_read_bio_PrivateKey would read the header in the private key and retrieve the encryption cipher, then it would try to generate the key using EVP_BytesToKey by passing MD5 as its second parameter. Since MD5 is hard-coded as the second parameter, any key file containing a header which specifies an encryption cipher would fail to be loaded in FIPS mode since MD5 is not allowed in FIPS mode.

Is this a known issue that has been resolved in a later release of OpenSSL.?


Thanks
Anamitra

[Dr. Stephen Henson]

Since MD5 is not allowed in FIPS mode you cannot read keys which use the
"traditional format" for encryption. You can use PKCS#8 format keys which can
use SHA1 or other digests: in fips mode PKCS#8 format is used by default.
Newer versions of OpenSSL also use PKCS#8 by default.

Steve.
--
Dr Stephen N. Henson. OpenSSL project core developer.
Commercial tech support now available see: http://www.openssl.org
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