Chainguard Container for cassandra-fips

Cassandra is a free and open-source, distributed, wide-column store, NoSQL database.

Chainguard Containers are regularly-updated, secure-by-default container images.

Download this Container Image

For those with access, this container image is available on cgr.dev:

docker pull cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/cassandra-fips:latest

Be sure to replace the ORGANIZATION placeholder with the name used for your organization's private repository within the Chainguard Registry.

Disclaimer

This image is equipped with the essential components for Cassandra to operate in FIPS mode. However, it's important for users to ensure they use it in line with FIPS compliance standards.

This includes tasks such as keystore generation, configuration, and launching Cassandra with the correct configuration parameters. More guidance is provided in the sections below.

Compatibility Notes

This image is compatible with external Cassandra image. Additionally, it supports running Cassandra in a FIPS 140-3 complaint mode.

FIPS Support

This Image ships with a validated redistribution of the OpenSSL's FIPS provider module. For more on FIPS support in Chainguard Images, consult the guide on FIPS-enabled Chainguard Images on Chainguard Academy

Keystore

Cassandra running in FIPS mode requires a BCFKS compatible keystore to manage its TLS certificates.

Although Cassandra supports various keystore types, only BCKFS offers the capability to operate in approved (strict) mode under FIPS standards, ensuring only approved ciphers are used.

BCKFS Keystore creation

To create keystore in BCKFS format you can use keytool from this image like so:

docker run -v $(pwd):/tmp/keystore --entrypoint keytool cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/cassandra-fips \
  -v -keystore /tmp/keystore/server.keystore \
  -storetype bcfks \
  -providername BCFIPS \
  -alias "localhost" \
  -genkeypair -sigalg SHA512withRSA -keyalg RSA \
  -dname CN="localhost" \
  -storepass "<YOUR TLS KEYSTORE PASSWORD>" \
  -keypass "<YOUR TLS KEY PASSWORD, can be the same>"

To view the keystore:

docker run -v $(pwd):/tmp/keystore --entrypoint keytool cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/cassandra-fips \
  -v -keystore /tmp/keystore/server.keystore \
  -list \
  -storepass "<YOUR TLS KEYSTORE PASSWORD>"

Export CA certificate

To export a CA certificate from an existing keystore you can use keytool:

docker run -v "$(pwd):/tmp/keystore" --entrypoint keytool cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/cassandra-fips \
  -v \
  -keystore /tmp/keystore/server.keystore \
  -storetype bcfks \
  -providername BCFIPS \
  -alias "localhost" \
  -exportcert -rfc \
  -storepass "<YOUR TLS KEYSTORE PASSWORD>" | dos2unix > cassandra.crt

Create cqlshrc file

To connect to Cassandra with cqlsh you need to create a cqlshrc file with the following content:

cat <<EOF > cqlshrc.yaml
[ssl]
certfile = /etc/cassandra/ssl/cassandra.crt
validate = false
version = TLSv1.3
EOF

Create cassandra.yaml file

To use Cassandra in FIPS mode, cassandra.yaml needs to be configured to use FIPS enabled keystores and truststores.

Edit cassandra.yaml file and set the various keystore and truststore options to use store_type: BCFKS for the type. The following includes example server and client encryption options using the correct BCFKS keystore :

<details> <summary>cassandra.yaml</summary>

# extracted with egrep -v '((\W)+\#|^$|^#)' cassandra.yaml
server_encryption_options:
internode_encryption: all
enable_legacy_ssl_storage_port: false
keystore: /tmp/keystore/server.keystore
keystore_password: <YOUR KEYSTORE PASSWORD>
require_client_auth: false
truststore: /tmp/keystore/server.truststore
truststore_password: <YOUR TRUSTSTORE PASSWORD>
require_endpoint_verification: false
client_encryption_options:
enabled: true
keystore: /tmp/keystore/server.keystore
keystore_password: <YOUR KEYSTORE PASSWORD>
require_client_auth: false
protocol: TLS
store_type: BCFKS
transparent_data_encryption_options:
enabled: false
chunk_length_kb: 64
cipher: AES/CBC/PKCS5Padding
key_alias: testing:1
key_provider:
  - class_name: dev.chainguard.cassandra.util.BcFipsKeyProvider
    parameters:
      - keystore: /tmp/keystore/server.keystore
        keystore_password: <YOUR KEYSTORE PASSWORD>
        store_type: BCFKS
        key_password: <YOUR KEY PASSWORD>

</details>

Running with TLS enabled

Example of launching Cassandra with TLS enabled:

docker run --rm --name cassandra-fips \
  -v "$(pwd)/server.keystore:/tmp/keystore/server.keystore" \
  -v "$(pwd)/cassandra.yaml:/etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml" \
  -v "$(pwd)/cqlshrc.yaml:/home/cassandra/.cassandra/cqlshrc" \
  -v "$(pwd)/cassandra.crt:/etc/cassandra/ssl/cassandra.crt" \
  cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/cassandra-fips

Now, wait until the Startup complete message is shown in the logs. This means that Cassandra is ready to accept connections. You can now connect to it with cqlsh:

docker exec <CONTAINER_ID_OR_NAME> SSL_CERTFILE=etc/cassandra/ssl/cassandra.crt cqlsh --ssl localhost 9042 -e "DESCRIBE KEYSPACES"

system       system_distributed  system_traces  system_virtual_schema
system_auth  system_schema       system_views

FIPS validation

You'll see debug logs such as the below if Cassandra is running in FIPS mode:

BCFIPS health check OK

Additionally, you can check bcfips is enforcing minimum password lengths, by running the container with a non-compliant admin password, such as 1234:

Caused by: org.bouncycastle.crypto.fips.FipsUnapprovedOperationError:
password must be at least 112 bits

What are Chainguard Containers?

Chainguard Containers are minimal container images that are secure by default.

In many cases, the Chainguard Containers tagged as :latest contain only an open-source application and its runtime dependencies. These minimal container images typically do not contain a shell or package manager. Chainguard Containers are built with Wolfi, our Linux undistro designed to produce container images that meet the requirements of a more secure software supply chain.

The main features of Chainguard Containers include:

• Minimal design, without unnecessary software bloat
• Daily builds to ensure container images are up-to-date with available security patches
• High quality build-time SBOMs attesting to the provenance of all artifacts within the image
• Verifiable signatures provided by Sigstore
• Reproducible builds with Cosign and apko (read more about reproducibility)

For cases where you need container images with shells and package managers to build or debug, most Chainguard Containers come paired with a -dev variant.

Although the -dev container image variants have similar security features as their more minimal versions, they feature additional software that is typically not necessary in production environments. We recommend using multi-stage builds to leverage the -dev variants, copying application artifacts into a final minimal container that offers a reduced attack surface that won’t allow package installations or logins.

Learn More

To better understand how to work with Chainguard Containers, please visit Chainguard Academy and Chainguard Courses.

In addition to Containers, Chainguard offers VMs and Libraries. Contact Chainguard to access additional products.

Trademarks

This software listing is packaged by Chainguard. The trademarks set forth in this offering are owned by their respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement by such companies.