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What “FIPS support” meansWhen CockroachDB documentation refers to “FIPS support” or “FIPS-ready” deployments, this means CockroachDB can be configured to use FIPS 140-3-approved cryptographic algorithms and operate in accordance with a FIPS 140-3 cryptographic module’s Security Policy. It does not mean that CockroachDB itself is FIPS 140-3 validated.CockroachDB uses the frozen Go Cryptographic Module v1.0.0, which is FIPS 140-3 validated under CMVP Certificate #5247.

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Overview of FIPS-ready CockroachDB

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-3 is a U.S. government standard that specifies security requirements for cryptographic modules. FIPS 140-3 provides measurable security guidelines for protecting sensitive but unclassified information. The standard is applicable to all federal agencies that use cryptographic-based security systems to protect sensitive information in computer and telecommunication systems. U.S. and Canadian governments, as well as organizations working with them, may be subject to FIPS 140-3 requirements. The Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) validates cryptographic modules to FIPS 140-3 and other cryptography-based standards. When a cryptographic module or library has a FIPS 140-3 certificate, it has been tested and formally validated under the CMVP as meeting the requirements for FIPS 140-3. FIPS-ready CockroachDB binaries and Docker images are available for CockroachDB v23.1.0 and later. FIPS-ready CockroachDB runtimes run on Intel 64-bit Linux systems. Starting with v26.1, FIPS-ready CockroachDB binaries are built using Go’s native FIPS 140-3 support. The cryptographic operations are performed by Go’s built-in cryptographic modules, which are independent of the host operating system’s libraries. This represents a significant architectural change from previous versions (v25.4 and earlier), which used Red Hat’s golang-fips toolchain with OpenSSL.
Migration from FIPS 140-2 to FIPS 140-3Previous versions of CockroachDB (v25.4 and earlier) supported FIPS 140-2. Starting with v26.1, CockroachDB uses a cryptographic module designed for FIPS 140-3 support. Starting with v26.2, CockroachDB uses GOFIPS140=v1.0.0, the frozen module version that is FIPS 140-3 validated under CMVP Certificate #5247.FIPS 140-2 will transition to historical status on September 22, 2026, per NIST’s FIPS 140-3 Transition Effort.
For details about cryptographic algorithms and key lengths used by CockroachDB, refer to Details About Cryptographic Algorithms.

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FIPS-ready features

When you use a FIPS-ready CockroachDB runtime, Cockroach Labs has verified that cryptographic operations in the following contexts meet the requirements of FIPS 140-3:
When running a FIPS-ready runtime, Cockroach Labs recommends that you avoid using cryptographic operations that are not supported by FIPS 140-3. For example, generating an MD5 hash is not compatible with FIPS 140-3, because MD5 is not a FIPS-validated algorithm. Use algorithms and functions that do not comply with the standard at your own risk.
This page shows how to install and configure a FIPS-ready CockroachDB runtime using Go’s native FIPS 140-3 support.

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Performance considerations

When comparing performance of the same workload in a FIPS-ready CockroachDB runtime to a standard CockroachDB runtime, some performance difference may be observed. The amount of performance impact depends upon the workload, cluster configuration, query load, and other factors.

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Upgrading to a FIPS-ready CockroachDB runtime

Upgrading an existing CockroachDB cluster’s binaries in-place to be FIPS-ready is not supported.

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Operating system requirements

FIPS-ready CockroachDB uses Go’s native cryptographic module, which is independent of the host operating system’s libraries. The FIPS-ready binary can run on any Intel 64-bit Linux system. The FIPS-ready CockroachDB Docker images are based on Red Hat’s Universal Base Image 10. To use the FIPS-ready CockroachDB Docker image, skip directly to that section of this page.

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Extend Red Hat’s Universal Base Image 10 Docker image

If you do not want to use the FIPS-ready CockroachDB Docker image directly, you can create a custom Docker image based on Red Hat’s Universal Base Image 10:
  • The FIPS-ready binary includes the FIPS 140-3 Go Cryptographic Module and does not require additional system libraries to be installed.

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Download FIPS-ready runtimes

To download FIPS-ready CockroachDB runtimes, use the following links.

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Production releases

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Install the FIPS-ready CockroachDB runtime

After you download a FIPS-ready CockroachDB binary, install it in the same way as the standard binary. Refer to .
Upgrade from v25.4 or v26.1 FIPS to v26.2 or laterCockroachDB v26.1 and later use Go’s native FIPS cryptographic module, a significant architectural change from the OpenSSL-based approach used in v25.4 and earlier. FIPS support was Preview in v26.1, so deployments using FIPS on v25.4 or v26.1 should upgrade to v26.2 or a later version.Upgrading an existing CockroachDB cluster’s binary in-place from non-FIPS to FIPS is not supported. Instead, you can to a new FIPS-ready cluster.

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Verify that CockroachDB is FIPS-ready

To verify that the CockroachDB binary is FIPS-ready, use the cockroach version command and check for the FIPS enabled field:
This indicates that CockroachDB was built with Go’s native FIPS 140-3 support.
Change from previous versions: In v25.4 and earlier, FIPS-ready binaries showed fips appended to the Go version (e.g., go1.19.5fips). Starting with v26.1, FIPS status is indicated by the FIPS enabled: true field.

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Use the FIPS-ready CockroachDB Docker image

The FIPS-ready CockroachDB Docker image is based on Red Hat Universal Base Image 10 and includes the FIPS-ready CockroachDB binary.
  1. Go to Download FIPS-ready Runtimes and copy the name of a FIPS-ready Docker image tag. The image tag format is cockroachdb/cockroach:v26.2.0-fips (replace with the specific version).
  2. Pull the Docker image locally, create a new container that uses it, run the container, and attach to it. The following example gives the running container the name cockroachdb-fips-container. Replace with the name of the Docker image tag you copied.
  3. In the running container, verify that CockroachDB is FIPS-ready.
  4. To stop the container, use CTRL-C. To detach from the container but keep it running in the background, use the sequence CTRL+P+CTRL+Q.

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Details about cryptographic algorithms

This section provides more information about the cryptographic algorithms and key lengths used by FIPS-ready CockroachDB.

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Authentication

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Inter-node and node identity

Algorithm: TLS 1.3 (RFC 8446). Refer to .

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Client identity

Password authentication
Algorithm: bcrypt or scram-sha-256. Refer to .
Client certificates
Algorithm: TLS 1.3 (RFC 8446). Refer to .
GSSAPI / Kerberos
Not supported for FIPS-ready deployments.
SASL / SCRAM password authentication
Algorithm: scram-sha-256. Refer to .
JSON Web Tokens (JWTs)
Algorithms: Specified by the . Refer to .
DB Console authentication via OIDC
Algorithm: Specified by the identity provider (IdP) as part of the OIDC handshake process. Refer to .
HTTP API access via login tokens
Algorithm: sha256 (RFC 6234).

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Encryption

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In flight

Algorithm: TLS 1.3 (RFC 8446). Key sizes: Depends upon the cipher suite in use:
  • TLS 1.2:
    • tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
    • tls.TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
    • tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
    • tls.TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
    • If the COCKROACH_TLS_ENABLE_OLD_CIPHER_SUITES environment variable is set:
      • tls.TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
      • tls.TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
  • TLS 1.3:
    • TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
    • TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384

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At rest

Customer-managed backups
AWS
Default encryption provided by the AWS Encryption SDK.
GCP
Default encryption provided by Google Cloud.
Data Encryption at Rest (EAR)
Algorithm: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption, in counter (CTR) mode. Key sizes: The store key is specified by the user, and can be of length 16, 24, or 32 bytes (corresponding to AES-128, AES-192, or AES-256). Data keys are the same length as the store key.

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See also