About FIPS
The FIPS 140–2 Publication, Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules, details the U.S. government requirements for cryptographic modules. FIPS 140–2 specifies that a cryptographic module is a set of hardware, software, firmware, or some combination thereof that implements cryptographic functions or processes, including cryptographic algorithms and, optionally, key generation, and is contained within a defined cryptographic boundary.
FIPS specifies certain cryptographic algorithms as secure, and it identifies which algorithms should be used if a cryptographic module is to be called FIPS compliant.
FIPS Self-Tests
A cryptographic module must perform power-up self-tests and conditional self-tests to ensure that it is functioning properly.
Power-up self-tests run automatically after the device powers up. A device goes into FIPS mode only after all self-tests are successfully completed. If any self-test fails, the device logs a system message and moves into an error state.
The device uses a cryptographic algorithm known-answer test (KAT) to test FIPS mode for each FIPS 140-2-approved cryptographic function (encryption, decryption, authentication, and random number generation) implemented on the device. The device applies the algorithm to data for which the correct output is already known. It then compares the calculated output to the previously generated output. If the calculated output does not equal the known answer, the KAT fails.
Conditional self-tests run automatically when an applicable security function or operation is invoked. Unlike the power-up self-tests, conditional self-tests are executed each time their associated function is accessed.
Conditional self-tests include the following:
- Pair-wise consistency test
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This test is run when a public or private key-pair is generated.
- Continuous random number generator test
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This test is run when a random number is generated.
The Cisco TrustSec manager also runs a bypass test to ensure that encrypted text is never sent as plain text.
 Note |
A bypass test failure on CTS-enabled ports causes only those corresponding ports to be shut down. The bypass test might fail because of packet drops caused by data path congestion. In such cases, we recommend that you try bringing up the port again. |
FIPS Error State
When the system is booted up in FIPS mode, the FIPS power-up self-tests run on the supervisor and line card modules. If any of these bootup tests fail, the whole system is moved to the FIPS error state. In this state, as per the FIPS requirement, all cryptographic keys are deleted, and all line cards are shut down. This mode is exclusively meant for debugging purposes.
Once the switch is in the FIPS error state, any reload of a line card moves it to the failure state. To move the switch back to FIPS mode, it has to be rebooted. However, once the switch is in FIPS mode, any power-up self-test failure on a subsequent line card reload or insertion affects only that line card, and only the corresponding line card is moved to the failure state.
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