f6ac1be13a
* Begin restructuring FIPS documentation This creates a new FIPS category under Enterprise and copies the FIPS-specific seal wrap documentation into it. We leave the existing Seal Wrap page at the old path, but document that the FIPS-specific portions of it have moved. Signed-off-by: Alexander Scheel <alex.scheel@hashicorp.com> * Add initial FIPS 140-2 inside documentation This documents the new FIPS 140-2 Inside binary and how to use and validate it. This also documents which algorithms are certified for use in the BoringCrypto distribution. Signed-off-by: Alexander Scheel <alex.scheel@hashicorp.com> * Add notes about FIPS algorithm restrictions Signed-off-by: Alexander Scheel <alex.scheel@hashicorp.com>
83 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
83 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
---
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layout: docs
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page_title: Vault Enterprise Seal Wrap
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description: |-
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Vault Enterprise features a mechanism to wrap values with an extra layer of
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encryption for supporting seals.
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---
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# Seal Wrap
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-> **Note**: This feature requires [Vault Enterprise Plus](https://www.hashicorp.com/products/vault/).
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Vault Enterprise features a mechanism to wrap values with an extra layer of
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encryption for supporting [seals](/docs/configuration/seal). This adds an
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extra layer of protection and is useful in some compliance and regulatory
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environments, including FIPS 140-2 environments.
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To use this feature, you must have an active or trial license for Vault
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Enterprise Plus (HSMs). To start a trial, contact [HashiCorp
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sales](mailto:sales@hashicorp.com).
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## Enabling/Disabling
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Seal Wrap is enabled by default on supporting seals. This implies that the seal
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must be available throughout Vault's runtime. Most cloud-based seals should be
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quite reliable, but, for instance, if using an HSM in a non-HA setup a
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connection interruption to the HSM will result in issues with Vault
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functionality.
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To disable seal wrapping, set `disable_sealwrap = true` in Vault's
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[configuration file][configuration]. This will not affect auto-unsealing functionality; Vault's
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root key will still be protected by the seal wrapping mechanism. It will
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simply prevent other storage entries within Vault from being seal wrapped.
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_N.B._: This is a lazy downgrade; as keys are accessed or written their seal
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wrapping status will change. Similarly, if the flag is removed, it will be a
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lazy upgrade (which is the case when initially upgrading to a seal
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wrap-supporting version of Vault).
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## Activating Seal Wrapping
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For some values, seal wrapping is always enabled with a supporting seal. This
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includes the recovery key, any stored key shares, the root key, the keyring,
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and more; essentially, any Critical Security Parameter (CSP) within Vault's
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core. If upgrading from a version of Vault that did not support seal wrapping,
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the next time these values are read they will be seal-wrapped and stored.
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Backend mounts within Vault can also take advantage of seal wrapping. Seal
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wrapping can be activated at mount time for a given mount by mounting the
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backend with the `seal_wrap` configuration value set to `true`. (This value
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cannot currently be changed later.)
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A given backend's author can specify which values should be seal-wrapped by
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identifying where CSPs are stored. They may also choose to seal wrap all or none
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of their values.
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Note that it is often an order of magnitude or two slower to write to and read
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from HSMs or remote seals. However, values will be cached in memory
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un-seal-wrapped (but still encrypted by Vault's built-in cryptographic barrier)
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in Vault, which will mitigate this for read-heavy workloads.
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## Seal Wrap and Replication
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Seal wrapping takes place below the replication logic. As a result, it is
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transparent to replication. Replication will convey which values should be
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seal-wrapped, but it is up to the seal on the local cluster to implement it.
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In practice, this means that seal wrapping can be used without needing to have
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the replicated keys on both ends of the connection; each cluster can have
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distinct keys in an HSM or in KMS.
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In addition, it is possible to replicate from a Shamir-protected primary
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cluster to clusters that use HSMs when seal wrapping is required in downstream
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datacenters but not in the primary.
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## FIPS Status
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See the [FIPS-specific Seal Wrap documentation](/docs/enterprise/fips/sealwrap)
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for more information about using Seal Wrapping to achieve FIPS 140-2 compliance.
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Note that there are additional [FIPS considerations](/docs/enterprise/sealwrap#seal-wrap-and-replication)
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regarding Seal Wrap usage and Vault Replication.
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[configuration]: /docs/configuration
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