Thread

1. security question

   zuhans@iname.com <zuhans@iname.com> — 2004-05-11T18:09:46Z

   hello,
   
   i'm very new to postgres and have a fundamental question.
   how do i make a pg-db most secure?
   i feel, that pg_user e.g. ist something very dangerous - isn't it? if 
   someone hacks into a db, then he has lots of information at his/her 
   fingertips. is this so?
   
   what do i do to prevent my db from beeing hacked?
   
   greetings
   hans
   
   

2. Re: security question

   Bruno Wolff III <bruno@wolff.to> — 2004-05-11T18:32:40Z

   On Tue, May 11, 2004 at 20:09:46 +0200,
     "zuhans@iname.com" <zuhans@iname.com> wrote:
   > 
   > i'm very new to postgres and have a fundamental question.
   > how do i make a pg-db most secure?
   > i feel, that pg_user e.g. ist something very dangerous - isn't it? if 
   > someone hacks into a db, then he has lots of information at his/her 
   > fingertips. is this so?
   > 
   > what do i do to prevent my db from beeing hacked?
   
   If you don't need to provide direct access to the database from remote
   hosts, only allow connections using domain sockets.
   
   

3. Re: security question

   Mike Nolan <nolan@gw.tssi.com> — 2004-05-11T19:33:49Z

   > i'm very new to postgres and have a fundamental question.
   > how do i make a pg-db most secure?
   > i feel, that pg_user e.g. ist something very dangerous - isn't it? if 
   > someone hacks into a db, then he has lots of information at his/her 
   > fingertips. is this so?
   > 
   > what do i do to prevent my db from beeing hacked?
   
   If you want to make sure it is never hacked into, here are two
   suggestions:
   
   1.  Don't connect it to a computer network or phone line.
   2.  Don't turn it on.
   
   Seriously, most of the risks are NOT application or database-specific.  
   
   In other words, if a hacker can get to your computer, it almost definitely
   isn't postgreSQL's fault, and there may not be much you can do about it
   from a database perspective once the hacker gets in.  If the hacker can 
   get dba, sysadmin or root access, you're fully compromised.
   
   PostgreSQL has a number of security features in it to control access
   privileges for both local and remote (networked) users, as do most 
   major database platforms.  If you are a DBA, you need to be aware of 
   these, most of them are fairly well documented in the online manual 
   on postgresql.org.  Specifically read the sections on GRANT and
   on hba_conf.
   --
   Mike Nolan
   
   
   
   
   
   

4. Re: security question

   scott.marlowe <scott.marlowe@ihs.com> — 2004-05-11T20:00:11Z

   On Tue, 11 May 2004, zuhans@iname.com wrote:
   
   > hello,
   > 
   > i'm very new to postgres and have a fundamental question.
   > how do i make a pg-db most secure?
   > i feel, that pg_user e.g. ist something very dangerous - isn't it? if 
   > someone hacks into a db, then he has lots of information at his/her 
   > fingertips. is this so?
   > 
   > what do i do to prevent my db from beeing hacked?
   
   Hiding what is in pg_user (note the password field is blanked out) would 
   qualify as obscurity, not security.  Security is provided by things like 
   checking the connection libraries postgresql uses to make sure there are 
   no buffer overflows or that things that would let a user gain unauthorized 
   access are not in place.
   
   This topic comes up about once every three months, with someone thinking 
   that being able to see the database schema represents a security threat.
   
   obscurity <> security
   
   PostgreSQL is, as far as I've been able to ascertain, quite secure, as 
   long as you've configured it properly.  
   
   For instance, having authentication set to trust means that anyone can 
   become anyone else.  That's fine if you and two other dbas are the only 
   people who connect to the machine, but in an environment were hundreds of 
   users may be using the database cluster, you can't rely on trust anymore, 
   and have to go to md5 passwords or ident authentication.
   
   Forcing users to connect via SSL with md5 passwords is generally 
   considered the most secure method for connections.
   
   What a user can see of the rest of the database is not a security issue, 
   though in an environment with thousands of users, it could be a usability 
   issue, where someone has to look through hundreds and hundreds of tables 
   to find their own.
   
   Which is why seperate databases and / or schemas are often used.
   
   But in general, PostgreSQL is very well designed and quite secure.