Chainguard Container for jre-fips

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/jre-fips:latest

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

This is a base image containing both the OpenJDK JRE and the Bouncy Castle crypto libraries for FIPS.

When using the OpenJDK Chainguard Image for FIPS compliance, please make sure to read the security policy and adapt your code as needed. Follow these documents:

• Bouncy Castle FIPS Java API User Guide
• Bouncy Castle FIPS Java API Upgrade Guide

Note: In this document, the registry and repository path will be referred as cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION. Make sure to replace those with the correct path of where your image is located.

Available versions and variants

This image is currently available in the following versions and variants:

How are the java.policy and java.security files configured?

An updated version of the java.security configuration file is shipped under the default location ($JAVA_HOME/conf/security/java.security) in this image and is configured as described below:

• It excludes every default security provider except for the SUN provider, leaving only the following configuration:

  security.provider.1=org.bouncycastle.jcajce.provider.BouncyCastleFipsProvider C:DEFRND[SHA256];ENABLE{ALL};
  security.provider.2=org.bouncycastle.jsse.provider.BouncyCastleJsseProvider fips:BCFIPS
  security.provider.3=SUN

• It loads the java.policy file shipped under /usr/lib/jvm/jdk-fips-config/java.policy as an additional policy file, at position 2, leaving the policy configuration as:

  policy.url.1=file:${java.home}/conf/security/java.policy
  policy.url.2=file:/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-fips-config/java.policy

  The additional policy file is configured as described in the BCFIPS user manual:

  grant {
      permission java.lang.PropertyPermission "java.runtime.name", "read";
  
      permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "accessClassInPackage.sun.security.internal.spec";
      permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "getProtectionDomain";
      permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "accessDeclaredMembers";
  
      permission org.bouncycastle.crypto.CryptoServicesPermission "tlsAlgorithmsEnabled";
      permission org.bouncycastle.crypto.CryptoServicesPermission "exportKeys";
  };

• It configures the keystore.type as bcfks, in order for Keystores to be FIPS-compliant.

• It sets the algorithms for the KeyManagerFactory and TrustManagerFactory as PKIX:

  ssl.KeyManagerFactory.algorithm=PKIX
  ssl.TrustManagerFactory.algorithm=PKIX

• It sets BCFIPS to approved_only mode:

  org.bouncycastle.fips.approved_only=true

Using the provided Bouncy Castle libraries

Whenever possible ensure to use --module-path /usr/share/java/bouncycastle-fips, as that allows one to execute classes, jars, modules correctly with bouncycastle-fips JCA & JSSE providers available to the JRE.

There are many additional environment variables preset in the image that enable using CLASSPATH instead if desired.

TL;DR: FIPS configuration via environment variables is exported by default, but if the application requires more configuration these must be patched accordingly. All environment variables and/or command-line options must be configured before running the application. The Bouncy Castle APIs must be used in accordance with the Security Policy provided for compliance. See the Bouncy Castle Security Policy for more information.

This image ships with the following components:

• BouncyCastle libraries for FIPS, shipped under /usr/share/java/bouncycastle-fips:
  • bc-fips.jar
  • bctls-fips.jar
  • bcpkix-fips.jar
• Java security configurations tailored to work with Bouncy Castle FIPS as established in the [user guide] and described in the previous section:
  • $JAVA_HOME/conf/security/java.security
  • /usr/lib/jvm/jdk-fips-config/java.policy

This image ships with the following environment variables exported by default:

• JDK_JAVA_FIPS_OPTIONS="--add-exports java.base/sun.security.internal.spec=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports=java.base/sun.security.provider=ALL-UNNAMED"
• JAVA_FIPS_CLASSPATH=/usr/share/java/bouncycastle-fips/*
• JAVA_TRUSTSTORE_OPTIONS="-Djavax.net.ssl.trustStoreType=FIPS"

Warning: These variable values must not be changed. If you need to use custom CLASSPATH or other JDK options, make sure to include these variables in your new variable declarations. Ensure that JAVA_TRUSTSTORE_OPTIONS is part of your JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS variable when using this image as a base image.

In addition, the following environment variables are also exported by default and can be updated as needed:

• CLASSPATH=$JAVA_FIPS_CLASSPATH:.:./*
• JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS=$JDK_JAVA_FIPS_OPTIONS $JAVA_TRUSTSTORE_OPTIONS

When updating your classpath variable, make sure to keep the path to the bouncycastle-fips folder in your classpath, so the Bouncy Castle libraries are discoverable:

CLASSPATH="${JAVA_FIPS_CLASSPATH}:${CLASSPATH}"

When updating the JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS environment variable, make sure to specify the exports options required for Bouncy Castle to work properly:

JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS="${JDK_JAVA_FIPS_OPTIONS} ${JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS}"

If you need the use of the converted keystore, make sure to also add the JAVA_TRUSTSTORE_OPTIONS variable to your JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS:

JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS="${JAVA_TRUSTSTORE_OPTIONS} ${JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS}"

Alternatively, these can be also set as an argument to the JVM tools via the --class-path/-cp and -D options. Please note these arguments take precedence over the environment variables:

javac --class-path "${JAVA_FIPS_CLASSPATH}:." ${JDK_JAVAC_FIPS_OPTIONS} TestClass.java
java -cp "${JAVA_FIPS_CLASSPATH}:." ${JDK_JAVA_FIPS_OPTIONS} TestClass
jshell --class-path "${JAVA_FIPS_CLASSPATH}:." ${JDK_JAVAC_FIPS_OPTIONS}

Note: java -jar ignores classpath options. If your target application is a runnable jar, you will need to specify module-path to bouncycastle-fips

java --module-path /usr/share/java/bouncycastle-fips -jar myapp.jar

Checking the configuration is being loaded correctly

As part of the effort to build this image, a set of tests was created that validates that the BCFIPS and BCJSSE providers are in use.

Some of these tests are shipped in the image in /usr/lib/bcfips-policy-140-3. They validate that allowed algorithms are available, and dissallowed ones are blocked.

Using this as a base image

Java 21 JRE

To consume this image as a base image, add it in the FROM statement of your Dockerfile. In order for the predefined environment variables to be correctly consumed, java -jar must not be used, as it overrides CLASSPATH options. Instead, add your jars to the CLASSPATH and invoke the main class directly:

FROM cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/jre-fips:openjdk-21

ENV CLASSPATH="${JAVA_FIPS_CLASSPATH}:./*"

CMD ["MyApp"]

This can also be worked into a multistage build using the JDK FIPS variant for compiling your application:

FROM cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/jdk-fips:openjdk-21

WORKDIR /src
COPY MyClass.java .

RUN javac MyClass.java && \
    jar cvf my-app.jar *.class

FROM cgr.dev/ORGANIZATION/jre-fips:openjdk-21

WORKDIR /jars
COPY --from=builder /src/my-app.jar .

ENV CLASSPATH="${JAVA_FIPS_CLASSPATH}:/jars/*"
CMD ["MyApp"]

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.

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