4.2.13 Ensure that hardware crypto cards/modules (HSM) are used to store SSL/TLS certificates

Information

Hardware security modules (HSMs) are hardened, tamper-resistant hardware devices that secure cryptographic processes by generating, protecting, and managing keys used for encrypting and decrypting data and creating digital signatures and certificates.

Using hardware security modules (HSM) to store and use certificates for the SSL/TLS communication provides greater security.

Solution

Configure the location attribute to the specific hardware crypto card configuration file. In addition configure the type attribute to PKCS11 Both these attributes are in the keyStore element used by the SSL configuration in ${server.config.dir}/configDropins/overrides/*.xml.

In this example, the HWCryto.cfg contains the hardware crypto configuration information.

<keyStore id="hwKeyStore"
location="${server.config.dir}/HWCrypto.cfg"
type="PKCS11"
fileBased="false"
provider="IBMPKCS11Impl"
...
/>

Impact:

Hardware crypto cards/modules are external devices that can store certificates that can be used for the SSL/TLS communications. They store and protect the cryptographic keys throughout their lifecycles. The use of these devices have to be weighed against the security requirements and the additional expenses this would entail.

The specific configuration needed to support depends on the crypto card and JDK. The following applies when using the IBM JDK and when the keyStore type is PKCS11.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/7724

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-12

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 57ca869b0ab17487e82db42ad3d009b36c44682fe0bffb233ab4df5c7a6de3dd