How to enable custom cipher on Websphere applications server?

Is it possible to enable TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CCM cipher on Websphere ??

We might have a requirement to enable custom ciphers on Websphere application server . I have verified on the WAS console

SSL certificate and key management > Manage endpoint security configurations > Node01 > SSL configurations > SSLSettings > Quality of protection (QoP) settings

This configuration is applicable for both inbound and outbound connections.
I could see TLSv1.2 enabled Cipher suite groups (Custom ) is selected .On the list of ciphers i could not see TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CCM,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CCM ciphers . Other ciphers are available and since we use RSA signed certificate ECDSA ciphers are not applicable .

if we use ECDSA signed certificate then RSA ciphers are not applicable . Even if we select all the ciphers from the custom at the end Java applicable supported ciphers will be decided by the crypto policy on java security and TLS algorithm that are enabled and the type of certificate used

** Cipher suites that use AES_256 require the JCE Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files.

The jdk.tls.disabledAlgorithms system property takes precedence; a cipher suite can be in the default enabled list but be disabled by that system property.

To support RSA256 we need to download ibm unlimited strength jurisdiction policy files( jar files ) and copy to IBM jre/lib/security/

if you want to update your policy files, click on the following link to navigate to the download site:

https://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/systems/cloud/runtimes/java/security/jce_policy/

End of changes for service refresh 5 fix pack 20

Start of changes for service refresh 5 fix pack 10By default, the IBM SDK provides unlimited strength JCE jurisdiction policy files.

To use the limited jurisdiction policy files, set the property crypto.policy=limited in the java.security file

Start of changes for service refresh 5 fix pack 10The following policy files are included:
Unlimited jurisdiction policy files
jre/lib/security/policy/unlimited/US_export_policy.jar
jre/lib/security/policy/unlimited/local_policy.jar
Limited jurisdiction policy files
jre/lib/security/policy/limited/US_export_policy.jar
jre/lib/security/policy/limited/local_policy.jar

CCM Ciphers are not supported by Websphere application server . Have checked those ciphers are not supported. Websphere application server support ciphers based on java.

Please refer to the page : ##Cipher suites

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSYKE2_8.0.0/com.ibm.java.security.component.80.doc/security-component/jsse2Docs/ciphersuites.html

At the end of all configuration and restart of the Websphere service we need to verify what are the ciphers that are effected to the port .

Easy . Just see the below code snippet

Replace Server and port on the below snippet and run the for loop .It will list all the Protocols and ciphers supported by the port on the server
We can use the same snippet to get the ciphers and protocols from from remote server also
This can only run from Linux/Aix/Sol server


for v in ssl2 ssl3 tls1 tls1_1 tls1_2 tls1_3; do
   for c in $(openssl ciphers 'ALL:eNULL' | tr ':' ' '); do
     openssl s_client -connect SERVERIP:PORT -cipher $c -$v < /dev/null > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo $v:\t$c
  done
done


1) What is the difference between TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384  and SSL_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 from IBM Websphere prospective ?

—> TLS=SSL. So, those are the same.

2) Does WebSphere support below 2 Ciphers ? Currently i could not see CCM in any of the available ciphers on WebSPhere .

TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CCM RSA AES_256_CCM 

TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CCM RSA AES_128_CCM 

—> Java does Not support those 2 ciphers.

Please refer to the below pages :

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/sdk-java-technology/8?topic=suites-cipher

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/ibm-http-server/9.0.5?topic=options-ssl-cipher-specifications

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