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Note the FIPS-mode Keycloak keystore limitation for SAML keys - #9152
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Pull request overview
Updates the Keycloak SAML setup documentation to address a Keycloak FIPS-mode limitation where exporting SAML encryption keys as PKCS12/JKS isn’t available, and provides a local key generation workaround so admins can still configure Mattermost SAML encryption.
Changes:
- Adds a FIPS-mode note explaining why the existing “Export” flow can’t be completed and why BCFKS isn’t a practical extraction path.
- Documents a local
openssl req -x509 -newkey ...command to generate a keypair and instructs importing the certificate into Keycloak. - Guides readers to reuse the locally generated
.crt/.keyin the Mattermost configuration steps (skipping PKCS12 extraction).
Suppressed comments (1)
source/administration-guide/onboard/sso-saml-keycloak.rst:89
- Editor Evie (Friction): The FIPS-mode note tells readers to generate
saml-private.key/saml-public.crt, but then says to “upload both files in step 4” where the examples use different filenames. This mismatch is likely to slow admins down (they may assume they must rename files or that they generated the wrong outputs). Clarify that they should upload the locally generated files (optionally renaming to match the later examples) and skip the PKCS12 extraction commands.
As an alternative, generating the keypair locally with ``openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes`` and importing only the certificate into Keycloak avoids the keystore conversion entirely, and works on FIPS and non-FIPS servers alike. Keep ``-nodes`` if you take this route, because Mattermost can't read a passphrase-protected private key.
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Included review availability: Your plan includes up to 2 reviews per rolling hour; 1 remains after this review. 📝 WalkthroughWalkthroughThe Keycloak SAML guide updates request-signing guidance, adds FIPS-specific BCFKS-to-PKCS12 conversion steps, and documents local RSA certificate generation for FIPS and non-FIPS servers. ChangesKeycloak SAML setup guidance
Estimated code review effort: 1 (Trivial) | ~5 minutes Merge Risk: 🟡 Moderate · up to The FIPS setup guidance may misdirect supported deployments and can omit a prerequisite that prevents SAML authentication from working. The PR should not merge until these bounded documentation issues are corrected or explicitly accepted. 🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5✅ Passed checks (5 passed)
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Actionable comments posted: 4
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Inline comments:
In `@source/administration-guide/onboard/sso-saml-keycloak.rst`:
- Around line 83-89: Add a warning admonition beside the SAML
certificate-generation procedure explaining that saml-private.key is unencrypted
and must have restricted access; require protected transfer, protected
Mattermost config-directory backups, removal of unnecessary copies, and prohibit
committing or sharing the key.
- Around line 85-87: Update the SAML certificate setup instructions around the
OpenSSL generation command to include a success check using openssl x509 that
displays the certificate end date, document the 1095-day expiry, and instruct
administrators to replace the certificate in both Keycloak and Mattermost before
expiration.
- Around line 77-92: Separate the SAML setup into explicit Keycloak-generated
and locally generated keypair paths using numbered atomic steps. Make the Export
instructions and downloaded-key prerequisite conditional on the
Keycloak-generated path, while the FIPS/local path must end by explicitly
uploading saml-private.key and saml-public.crt in Mattermost and omit PKCS12
extraction. Update the surrounding steps so readers cannot combine procedures.
- Around line 81-91: Update the SAML Keycloak onboarding section before the
local keypair-generation alternative to document that FIPS-mode SAML requires an
available XMLDSig security provider, which may need explicit enablement on older
OpenJDK 17 configurations. Limit the compatibility claim to Java and Keycloak
configurations where this prerequisite is satisfied.
Apply the same fix in `@source/administration-guide/onboard/sso-saml-keycloak.rst`
around lines 79 - 80.
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Inline comments:
In `@source/administration-guide/onboard/sso-saml-keycloak.rst`:
- Around line 89-91: The local OpenSSL keypair command must explicitly write the
private key and certificate files required by step 4. Update the ``openssl req``
command in the alternative keypair instructions to include output options using
the expected filenames, such as ``mattermost.key`` and ``mattermost.crt``, while
preserving the existing FIPS-compatible flags.
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Combs7th
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Thanks for the submission, @ewwollesen! When you get a chance, can you help add the best dev reviewer for this PR? I'll give it my best novice nate editor review within the next couple days. |
Step 7 has admins export the SAML keypair from Keycloak as PKCS12. On a FIPS-mode Keycloak server the Archive Format list offers only BCFKS, so the documented values can't be selected. Adds a note covering the BCFKS to PKCS12 conversion with keytool -importkeystore and the Bouncy Castle FIPS provider. The converted keystore then feeds the existing extraction commands in step 4 of the Mattermost section unchanged, so the rest of the page still applies. Also records that keytool has no command to export a private key on its own -- the whole keystore has to be converted -- since that's where an admin is likely to stall, and documents local key generation as an alternative that skips the conversion. Verified against the server's own loader and against openssl itself: - tls.X509KeyPair (Enterprise saml/saml.go:711) rejects a passphrase- protected key with "tls: failed to parse private key", so -nodes is mandatory rather than stylistic, and it fails at login rather than at upload. - openssl req -x509 defaults to -days 30, so the note sets -days explicitly and says why. - Without -keyout and -out, openssl req writes the certificate to standard output and the key to the default_keyfile from openssl.cnf, so the command specifies both and reuses the mattermost.key and mattermost.crt filenames that step 4 already expects. - openssl pkcs12 -legacy is harmless against a modern PBES2 keystore (tested both ways), so step 4's existing commands work on keytool's output as well as on Keycloak's own export. Separately, rewords the request signing warning above it. It claimed "Mattermost does not support request signing with Keycloak", which contradicted step 4 of the Mattermost section setting Sign Request to true, and is false: SamlSettings.SignRequest drives SignAuthnRequests (Enterprise saml/saml.go:327) with its own algorithm and canonicalizer, and the SP metadata advertises AuthnRequestsSigned (sp_descriptor.go:43). The recommended settings are unchanged, since Sign Request true with Client signature required off works -- Keycloak just doesn't validate the signature. Only the rationale was wrong, so the warning now explains what enabling Client signature required would require instead. This is a stopgap. The page should move to local key generation as the only path, which also drops the openssl pkcs12 -legacy conversion in step 4, but that revamp needs new screenshots and a clean run-through on a live Keycloak instance. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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@Combs7th you should be good now. Thank you. This is admittedly a bit of a stop-gap until I can get time to set up a full FIPS enabled Keycloak environment and create more proper instructions. But there are some differences so I wanted to at least get them noted. |
Combs7th
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Thanks so much Wayne! LGTM. I think this one is ready for merge. |
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Summary
Step 7 of the Keycloak SSO page has admins export the SAML keypair from Keycloak as
PKCS12. On a FIPS-mode Keycloak server the Archive Format list offers onlyBCFKS, so the documented values can't be selected.This adds a note covering the
BCFKS→PKCS12conversion withkeytool -importkeystoreand the Bouncy Castle FIPS provider. The convertedkeystore.p12then feeds the existing extraction commands in step 4 of the Mattermost section unchanged, so the rest of the page still applies and the existing screenshots stay accurate.It also records that
keytoolhas no command to export a private key on its own — the whole keystore has to be converted — since that's where an admin is likely to stall, and documents local key generation as an alternative that skips the conversion.Also: the request-signing warning
The warning above the note claimed "Mattermost does not support request signing with Keycloak." That contradicted step 4 of the Mattermost section, which sets Sign Request to
true, and it's false:SamlSettings.SignRequestdrivesSignAuthnRequests(Enterprisesaml/saml.go:327) with its own algorithm and canonicalizer, and the SP metadata advertisesAuthnRequestsSigned(sp_descriptor.go:43).The recommended settings are unchanged.
Sign Request: truewithClient signature required: Offworks — Keycloak simply doesn't validate the signature. OnlySign Request: falsewithClient signature required: Onfails. So this was a wrong rationale, not a broken configuration, and the reword explains what enabling Client signature required would actually require.Verification
tls.X509KeyPair(Enterprisesaml/saml.go:711) rejects a passphrase-protected key withtls: failed to parse private key, so-nodesis mandatory rather than stylistic — and it fails at login time, not at upload.openssl req -x509defaults to-days 30. Omitting it hands the reader a certificate that expires in a month, so the note sets-daysexplicitly and says why.openssl pkcs12 -legacyis harmless against a modern PBES2 keystore: tested both ways against aPBES2, PBKDF2, AES-256-CBCPKCS12, and the extracted key matched the certificate either way. So step 4's existing commands work on keytool's output as well as on Keycloak's own export.saml-public.crt/saml-private.key(server/channels/app/saml.go:22-24) with no server-side extension check, so local filenames are cosmetic.I could not test the
keytoolconversion itself — no JRE on this machine (/usr/bin/keytoolis a macOS stub). That command is as reported from a live FIPS deployment.Deliberately a stopgap
The whole page should move to local key generation as the only path: it works in both FIPS and non-FIPS, it's the right ownership model (the SP's private key shouldn't originate on the IdP), and it deletes the
openssl pkcs12 ... -legacyconversion in step 4 — which only needs-legacybecause OpenSSL 3.x refuses Keycloak's own SHA-1/RC2-based PKCS12 PBE.That revamp needs new screenshots and a clean run-through on a live Keycloak instance, so it's held for now.
Spotted, not fixed
Left for the revamp:
admin.saml.publicCertificateFileTitle).SHA1. That's the key transport digest for assertion encryption, not signing, and SP 800-56B approves SHA-1 in RSA-OAEP, so it should be fine — but that's analysis, not a test on a live FIPS instance. Worth confirming during the run-through.Note for reviewers
I couldn't verify Keycloak's exact Archive Format import label (reported as Certificate PEM) against 26.4.0 without an instance, so the note refers to the encryption keys section by location rather than naming the dropdown value. Please confirm the wording matches the admin console.
Ticket link
n/a — reported via support.
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