projectcalico/calico
View on GitHubWhisker container fails to start if k8s node has FIPS mode enabled
Open
#10,564 opened on Jun 16, 2025
area/whiskerhelp wantedimpact/highkind/buglikelihood/low
Repository metrics
- Stars
- (7,292 stars)
- PR merge metrics
- (PR metrics pending)
Description
Expected Behavior
Whisker runs normally regardless of if k8s nodes have FIPS mode enabled or not.
Current Behavior
On FIPS enabled nodes, whisker (but not whisker-backend) crashes on startup with (regardless of Calico's FIPS settings):
crypto/fips/fips.c:154: OpenSSL internal error: FATAL FIPS SELFTEST FAILURE
Possible Solution
The issue is probably related to https://github.com/projectcalico/calico/issues/6180
Steps to Reproduce (for bugs)
- Create a k8s cluster where the k8s node image is FIPS enabled (ie.
crypto.fips_enabled = 1). There are different ways of doing things for each OS, but here is an example for Red Hat-related OSes: https://docs.redhat.com/en/documentation/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html/security_hardening/switching-rhel-to-fips-mode_security-hardening - Install calico via the calico/tigera-operator Helm chart with FIPS mode either enabled or disabled (this setting appears to be irrelevant, what matters is if the k8s node has FIPS enabled).
- The Whisker pod crashes with:
crypto/fips/fips.c:154: OpenSSL internal error: FATAL FIPS SELFTEST FAILURE.
Context
Just was testing upgrading Calico to 3.30.1 and Whisker installed itself by default (and couldn't start) from the calico/tigera-operator Helm chart.
Your Environment
- Calico version: 3.30.1
- Calico dataplane (iptables, windows etc.): iptables
- Orchestrator version: Kubernetes 1.32
- Operating System and version: Amazon Linux 2 (custom AMI with FIPS mode enabled)