Deprecated and removed CipherSpecs

A list of deprecated CipherSpecs that you are able to use with IBM® MQ if necessary [MQ 9.4.4 Oct 2025] and a list of removed CipherSpecs that are no longer supported with IBM MQ.

Deprecated CipherSpecs

Deprecated CipherSpecs that you can use with IBM MQ TLS support are listed in the following table.

Table 1. Deprecated CipherSpecs you can re-enable for use with IBM MQ
Platform support¹	CipherSpec name	Hex code	Protocol used	Data integrity	Encryption algorithm (encryption bits)	FIPS²	Suite B	Update when deprecated
CipherSpecs for SSL 3.0
	`AES_SHA_US` ³ ¹⁴	002F	SSL 3.0	SHA-1	AES (128)	No	No	9.0.0.0
All	`DES_SHA_EXPORT` ³ ⁴ ⁵ ¹⁴	0009	SSL 3.0	SHA-1	DES (56)	No	No	9.0.0.0
	`DES_SHA_EXPORT1024` ³ ⁶ ¹⁴	0062	SSL 3.0	SHA-1	DES (56)	No	No	9.0.0.0
	`FIPS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA` ³ ¹⁴	FEFE	SSL 3.0	SHA-1	DES (56)	No⁷	No	9.0.0.0
	`FIPS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA` ³ ¹⁴	FEFF	SSL 3.0	SHA-1	3DES (168)	No⁸	No	9.0.0.1 and 9.0.1
All	`NULL_MD5` ³ ¹⁴	0001	SSL 3.0	MD5	None	No	No	9.0.0.1
All	`NULL_SHA` ³ ¹⁴	0002	SSL 3.0	SHA-1	None	No	No	9.0.0.1
All	`RC2_MD5_EXPORT` ³ ⁴ ⁵ ¹⁴	0006	SSL 3.0	MD5	RC2 (40)	No	No	9.0.0.0
All	`RC4_MD5_EXPORT` ⁴ ³ ¹⁴	0003	SSL 3.0	MD5	RC4 (40)	No	No	9.0.0.0
All	`RC4_MD5_US` ³ ¹⁴	0004	SSL 3.0	MD5	RC4 (128)	No	No	9.0.0.0
All	`RC4_SHA_US` ³ ⁵ ¹⁴	0005	SSL 3.0	SHA-1	RC4 (128)	No	No	9.0.0.0
	`RC4_56_SHA_EXPORT1024` ³ ⁶ ¹⁴	0064	SSL 3.0	SHA-1	RC4 (56)	No	No	9.0.0.0
All	`TRIPLE_DES_SHA_US` ³ ⁵ ¹⁴	000A	SSL 3.0	SHA-1	3DES (168)	No	No	9.0.0.1 and 9.0.1
CipherSpecs for TLS 1.0
	`TLS_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC2_40_MD5` ³ ¹⁴	0006	TLS 1.0	MD5	RC2 (40)	No	No	9.0.0.0
	`TLS_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5`³ ⁴ ¹⁴	0003	TLS 1.0	MD5	RC4 (40)	No	No	9.0.0.0
All	`TLS_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA` ³ ¹⁴	0009	TLS 1.0	SHA-1	DES (56)	No⁹	No	9.0.0.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_MD5` ³ ¹⁴	0001	TLS 1.0	MD5	None	No	No	9.0.0.1
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA` ³ ¹⁴	0002	TLS 1.0	SHA-1	None	No	No	9.0.0.1
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5` ³ ¹⁴	0004	TLS 1.0	MD5	RC4 (128)	No	No	9.0.0.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA` ¹⁰ ¹⁴	002F	TLS 1.0	SHA-1	AES (128)	No Yes	No	9.0.5
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA` ⁶ ¹⁰ ¹⁴	0035	TLS 1.0	SHA-1	AES (256)	No Yes	No	9.0.5
All	`TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA` ¹⁴	000A	TLS 1.0	SHA-1	3DES (168)	No Yes	No	9.0.0.1 and 9.0.1
CipherSpecs for TLS 1.2
	`ECDHE_ECDSA_NULL_SHA256` ³	C006	TLS 1.2	SHA-1	None	No	No	9.0.0.1
	`ECDHE_ECDSA_RC4_128_SHA256` ³ ¹⁴	C007	TLS 1.2	SHA-1	RC4 (128)	No	No	9.0.0.0
	`ECDHE_RSA_NULL_SHA256` ³	C010	TLS 1.2	SHA-1	None	No	No	9.0.0.1
	`ECDHE_RSA_RC4_128_SHA256` ³ ¹⁴	C011	TLS 1.2	SHA-1	RC4 (128)	No	No	9.0.0.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_NULL` ³ ¹⁴	0000	TLS 1.2	None	None	No	No	9.0.0.1
All	`TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA256` ³ ¹⁴	003B	TLS 1.2	SHA-256	None	No	No	9.0.0.1
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA256` ³ ¹⁴	0005	TLS 1.2	SHA-1	RC4 (128)	No	No	9.0.0.0
	`ECDHE_ECDSA_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA256` ¹⁴	C0008	TLS 1.2	SHA-1	3DES (168)	Yes	No	9.0.0.1 and 9.0.1
	`ECDHE_RSA_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA256` ¹⁴	C012	TLS 1.2	SHA-1	3DES (168)	Yes	No	9.0.0.1 and 9.0.1
All	`TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256`¹¹	003C	TLS 1.2	SHA-256	AES (128)	No Yes	No	9.4.1
All	`TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256` ¹¹ ¹²	003D	TLS 1.2	SHA-256	AES (256)	No Yes	No	9.4.1
All	`TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256` ¹¹ ¹³	009C	TLS 1.2	SHA-256 and AEAD GCM	AES (128)	No Yes	No	9.4.1
All	`TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384`¹¹ ¹² ¹³	009D	TLS 1.2	SHA-384 and AEAD GCM	AES (256)	No Yes	No	9.4.1
Notes: For a list of platforms covered by each platform icon, see Icons used in the product documentation. Specifies whether the CipherSpec is FIPS certified on a FIPS certified platform. See Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) for an explanation of FIPS. These CipherSpecs are disabled when TLS 1.3 is enabled (through the AllowTLSV13 property in the qm.ini). Queue managers created at IBM MQ for z/OS® 9.2.0 or later enable TLS 1.3 by default, which disables these CipherSpecs. You can enable these CipherSpecs, if required, by turning off TLS V1.3. This is done by adding AllowTLSV13=`FALSE` to the TransportSecurity stanza of the QMINI data set in the queue manager JCL. Queue managers migrated to IBM MQ for z/OS 9.2.0 from an earlier version don't have TLS 1.3 enabled by default, and therefore have these CipherSpecs enabled. The maximum handshake key size is 512 bits. If either of the certificates exchanged during the SSL handshake has a key size greater than 512 bits, a temporary 512-bit key is generated for use during the handshake. These CipherSpecs are no longer supported by IBM MQ classes for Java or IBM MQ classes for JMS. For more information, see SSL/TLS CipherSpecs and CipherSuites in IBM MQ classes for Java or SSL/TLS CipherSpecs and CipherSuites in IBM MQ classes for JMS. The handshake key size is 1024 bits. This CipherSpec was FIPS 140-2 certified before 19 May 2007. The name `FIPS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA` is historical and reflects the fact that this CipherSpec was previously (but is no longer) FIPS compliant. This CipherSpec is deprecated and its use is not recommended. The name `FIPS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA` is historical and reflects the fact that this CipherSpec was previously (but is no longer) FIPS compliant. The use of this CipherSpec is deprecated. This CipherSpec was FIPS 140-2 certified before 19 May 2007. Re-enabling just these CipherSpecs does not require the use of the CSQXWEAK DD statement. These CipherSpecs are not enabled on IBM i 7.4 systems that have System Value QSSLCSLCTL set to *OPSSYS. This CipherSpec cannot be used to secure a connection from the IBM MQ Explorer to a queue manager unless the appropriate unrestricted policy files are applied to the JRE used by the Explorer. Following a recommendation by GSKit, TLS 1.2 GCM CipherSpecs have a restriction which means that after 2ˆ24.5 TLS records are sent, using the same session key, the connection is terminated with message AMQ9288E. This GCM restriction is active, regardless of the FIPS mode being used. To prevent this error from happening, avoid using TLS 1.2 GCM Ciphers, enable secret key reset, or start your IBM MQ queue manager or client with the environment variable `GSK_ENFORCE_GCM_RESTRICTION=GSK_FALSE` set. For GSKit libraries, you must set this environment variable on both sides of the connection, and apply it to both client to queue manager connections and queue manager to queue manager connections. Note that this setting affects unmanaged .NET clients, but not Java or managed .NET clients. For more information, see AES-GCM cipher restriction. These CipherSpecs are removed at IBM MQ 9.4.4 on Multiplatforms and cannot be re-enabled.

Removed CipherSpecs

CipherSpecs that are removed and can no longer be used with IBM MQ for Multiplatforms TLS support are listed in the following table.

Table 2. CipherSpecs removed from IBM MQ
Platform	CipherSpec name	Hex code	Protocol used	Update when deprecated
CipherSpecs for SSL 3.0
	`AES_SHA_US`	002F	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`DES_SHA_EXPORT`	0009	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`DES_SHA_EXPORT1024`	0062	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`FIPS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA`	FEFE	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`FIPS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA`	FEFF	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`NULL_MD5`	0001	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`NULL_SHA`	0002	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`RC2_MD5_EXPORT`	0006	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`RC4_MD5_EXPORT`	0003	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`RC4_MD5_US`	0004	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`RC4_SHA_US`	0005	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`RC4_56_SHA_EXPORT1024`	0064	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
	`TRIPLE_DES_SHA_US`	000A	SSL 3.0	9.4.4.0
CipherSpecs for TLS 1.0
	`TLS_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC2_40_MD5`	0006	TLS 1.0	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5`	0003	TLS 1.0	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA`	0009	TLS 1.0	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_MD5`	0001	TLS 1.0	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA`	0002	TLS 1.0	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5`	0004	TLS 1.0	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA`	002F	TLS 1.0	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA`	0035	TLS 1.0	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA`	000A	TLS 1.0	9.4.4.0
CipherSpecs for TLS 1.2
	`ECDHE_ECDSA_RC4_128_SHA256`	C007	TLS 1.2	9.4.4.0
	`ECDHE_RSA_RC4_128_SHA256`	C011	TLS 1.2	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_NULL`	0000	TLS 1.2	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA256`	003B	TLS 1.2	9.4.4.0
	`TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA256`	0005	TLS 1.2	9.4.4.0
	`ECDHE_ECDSA_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA256`	C0008	TLS 1.2	9.4.4.0
	`ECDHE_RSA_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA256`	C012	TLS 1.2	9.4.4.0

Enabling deprecated CipherSpecs on IBM MQ for Multiplatforms

By default, you are not allowed to specify a deprecated or removed CipherSpec on a channel definition. If you attempt to specify a deprecated or removed CipherSpec on IBM MQ for Multiplatforms, you receive message AMQ8242: SSLCIPH definition wrong, and PCF returns MQRCCF_SSL_CIPHER_SPEC_ERROR.

You cannot start a channel with a deprecated or removed CipherSpec. If you attempt to do so with such a CipherSpec, the system returns MQCC_FAILED (2), together with a Reason of MQRC_SSL_INITIALIZATION_ERROR (2393) to the client.

You can re-enable one or more of the deprecated CipherSpecs for defining channels, at runtime on the server, by setting the environment variable AMQ_SSL_WEAK_CIPHER_ENABLE.

The AMQ_SSL_WEAK_CIPHER_ENABLE environment variable accepts:

A single CipherSpec name, or
A comma separated list of CipherSpec names to re-enable, or
The special value of ALL, representing all CipherSpecs.

Attention: Although ALL is a valid option, you should use it only in a specific situation that your enterprise requires, as re-enabling ALL CipherSpecs enables all insecure and weak CipherSpecs.

For example, if you want to re-enable TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256, set the following environment variable:

export AMQ_SSL_WEAK_CIPHER_ENABLE=TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256

or, alternatively change the SSL stanza in the qm.ini file, by setting:

SSL:
  AllowWeakCipherSpec=TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256

[MQ 9.4.4 Oct 2025] It is not possible to re-enable removed CipherSpecs.

Note: The SSL .ini stanza attributes AllowSSLV3 and AllowTLSV1 (as well as their environment variable counterparts AMQ_SSL_V3_ENABLE and AMQ_TLS_V1_ENABLE) will always be set as false internally regardless of their user setting.

Enabling deprecated CipherSpecs on z/OS

By default, you are not allowed to specify a deprecated CipherSpec on a channel definition. If you attempt to specify a deprecated CipherSpec on z/OS, you receive message CSQM102E, message CSQX616E, or CSQX674E.

Follow the instructions listed in this section if you receive any of these messages, and your enterprise needs to re-enable the use of weak CipherSpecs.

Attention: In the following instructions, for the dummy definition (DD) statements to take effect, SSLTASKS must be a non-zero value. If this requires a change to SSLTASKS you must recycle the channel initiator.

On IBM MQ for z/OS, the current method of controlling weak or broken CipherSpecs is as follows:

If you want to re-enable the use of weak CipherSpecs, you do so by adding a dummy data definition (DD) statement named CSQXWEAK to the channel initiator JCL. If specified on its own, this only enables weak CipherSpecs associated with the TLS 1.2 protocol; for example:
```
//CSQXWEAK DD DUMMY
```
Note: Not all deprecated CipherSpecs require the use of this DD statement, see note 10 in the preceding table.
If you want to re-enable the use of SSLv3 CipherSpecs, you do so by also adding a dummy DD statement named CSQXSSL3 to the channel initiator JCL. All SSLv3 CipherSpecs are considered Weak, so you must also specify CSQXWEAK:
```
//CSQXSSL3 DD DUMMY
```
If you want to re-enable the deprecated TLS V1 CipherSpecs, you do so by adding a dummy DD statement named TLS10ON (turn TLS V1.0 ON) to the channel initiator JCL. If specified on its own, this enables Strong CipherSpecs associated with the TLS 1.0 protocol:
```
//TLS10ON DD DUMMY
```
If specified with CSQXWEAK this also enables Weak CipherSpecs associated with TLS 1.0.
If you want to explicitly turn off the deprecated TLS V1 CipherSpecs, you do so by adding a dummy DD statement named TLS10OFF (turn TLS V1.0 OFF) to the channel initiator JCL; for example:
```
//TLS10OFF DD DUMMY
```

If you want to only negotiate with the listener using the cipher specifications listed on the System SSL default cipher specification list, you need to define the following DD statement in the CHINIT JCL:

JCL: //GSKDCIPS DD DUMMY

Important: For IBM MQ for z/OS 9.2.0 and later, the previously listed DD cards and the value of AllowTLSV13 are taken into account when displaying messages during channel initiator startup to indicate which protocols are enabled and which are not. So, even if one of the previously listed DD cards is specified, it could mean that, due to a combination of these settings, a certain protocol cannot be enabled with another protocol. For example, protocol SSL 3.0 is not allowed if TLS 1.3 is enabled.

There are alternative mechanisms that can be used to forcibly re-enable weak CipherSpecs, and SSLv3 support, if the Data Definition change is unsuitable. Contact IBM Service for further information.