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FIPS Userspace POST?

Hello!

When booting in verbose, i notice:

5/12/12 7:28:04.000 PM kernel[0]: Running kernel space in FIPS MODE

5/12/12 7:28:04.000 PM kernel[0]: corecrypto.kext FIPS integrity POST test passed!

5/12/12 7:28:04.000 PM kernel[0]: corecrypto.kext FIPS AES CBC POST test passed!

5/12/12 7:28:04.000 PM kernel[0]: corecrypto.kext FIPS TDES CBC POST test passed!

5/12/12 7:28:04.000 PM kernel[0]: corecrypto.kext FIPS SHA POST test passed!

5/12/12 7:28:04.000 PM kernel[0]: corecrypto.kext FIPS HMAC POST test passed!

5/12/12 7:28:04.000 PM kernel[0]: corecrypto.kext FIPS ECDSA POST test passed!

5/12/12 7:28:04.000 PM kernel[0]: corecrypto.kext FIPS DRBG POST test passed!

5/12/12 7:28:04.000 PM kernel[0]: corecrypto.kext FIPS POST passed!

Is it normal?

Andrei

MacBook Air Mid 2009, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on May 12, 2012 9:33 AM

Best reply

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Posted on May 12, 2012 9:41 AM

It means that you, or your IT administrator, installed the Apple FIPS Cryptographic Module.

View in context

43 replies

Jun 8, 2012 4:21 AM in response to andreigherghe

Pre-release Mountain Lion (10.8) creeping into the 10.7 Lion area is the likeliest cause of confusion around the origin of the FIPS-related software ;-)

Jun 8, 2012 4:22 AM in response to Graham Perrin

Oh 🙂

So Mountain Lion has FIPS included?

Jun 8, 2012 4:26 AM in response to andreigherghe

Gentle hint: you need to use the private areas provided by Apple (not this 10.7 area) for questions relating to 10.8.

Jun 8, 2012 4:29 AM in response to Graham Perrin

Ok. Thanks!

Sep 29, 2012 11:41 AM in response to andreigherghe

I'm not sure if my situation is related to yours, but I just instlled GPGTools and upon the next reboot noticed the same "FIPS Userspace POST" messages in verbose mode. Also, the startup/boot seemd to take 2-3 time as long a normal. However it finished booting correctly and running fine ever since. Does anyone know if GPGTools linstalls something that would cause the FIPS messages? I know nothing about FIPS, and a brief google search didn't turn up anything that would indicate that it does.

Oct 7, 2012 8:25 AM in response to bradsmith74

Mountain Lion: How to set up and maintain a FIPS-enabled system

Dec 28, 2012 9:37 AM in response to Linc Davis

and if these files are mysteriously absent - and the boot still hangs for an hour on FIPS User Space Post?

Dec 28, 2012 3:53 PM in response to drdanaviv

No mystery.

It's possible, likely that:

* you see lines relating to FIPS

* there is no problem with FIPS

* you do not see a line for the thing that is problematic.

Equally possible, considering some earlier posts: inappropriate removal of a file may cause problems.

Dec 28, 2012 3:50 PM in response to Linc Davis

No. Those lines appear on systems without that installation.

Dec 28, 2012 4:14 PM in response to Graham Perrin

I have 2 Macbooks running ML - both with same FIPS issue... It cannot be a hardware issue on *both* machines that causes the machines to hang at boot up... HAS to be weird software conflict...

Dec 28, 2012 4:25 PM in response to drdanaviv

I didn't mention hardware on this page.

Seeing a normal line relating to FIPS does not equate to a problem with FIPS.

Does anything within the line indicate a problem?

Again, consider the possibility that something subsequent to the FIPS line is problematic.

Try safe mode, and so on.

Long standing bugs with Apple Support Communities (I'm nearly always sent to the wrong page) make it unnecessarily difficult for me to follow topics so I'll give my apologies and unsubscribe. Good luck, folks …

Apr 3, 2013 8:37 PM in response to Graham Perrin

removing CleanMyMac and/or istat pro did the trick

cavenewt

Level 2

355 points

Oct 14, 2013 10:32 AM in response to andreigherghe

I/O errors usually means there's something wrong with your drive, like a hardware failure.

FIPS Userspace POST?