FIPS enabled Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel fails to boot with "Error initializing NSS" message

Solution Unverified - Updated -

Issue

  • The system fails to boot with the following message after nss-3.14 package installation:

    Red Hat nash version 5.1.19.6 starting
Error initializing NSS.
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.9
  • nss-3.14.3-6.el5_9
  • mkinitrd-5.1.19.6-80 or earlier.
  • Systems configured with the fips=1 kernel boot parameter.

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