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Update encryption options doc for SCRAM-SHA-256 3+ messages / 3 participants [nested] [flat]
* Update encryption options doc for SCRAM-SHA-256 @ 2018-02-02 23:42 PG Doc comments form <[email protected]> 0 siblings, 1 reply; 3+ messages in thread From: PG Doc comments form @ 2018-02-02 23:42 UTC (permalink / raw) To: [email protected]; +Cc: [email protected] The following documentation comment has been logged on the website: Page: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/encryption-options.html Description: Section "18.8. Encryption Options" only mentions MD5 as the password storage encryption mechanism, although PostgreSQL 10 introduced the superior SHA256 - somebody looking at the docs would get a bad idea of PostgreSQL's capabilities... ^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 3+ messages in thread
* Re: Update encryption options doc for SCRAM-SHA-256 @ 2018-02-03 16:30 Peter Eisentraut <[email protected]> parent: PG Doc comments form <[email protected]> 0 siblings, 1 reply; 3+ messages in thread From: Peter Eisentraut @ 2018-02-03 16:30 UTC (permalink / raw) To: [email protected]; [email protected] On 2/2/18 18:42, PG Doc comments form wrote: > The following documentation comment has been logged on the website: > > Page: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/encryption-options.html > Description: > > Section "18.8. Encryption Options" only mentions MD5 as the password storage > encryption mechanism, although PostgreSQL 10 introduced the superior SHA256 > - somebody looking at the docs would get a bad idea of PostgreSQL's > capabilities... I propose the attached patch. I have combined the password storage and password transmission items, because I don't want to go into the details of how SCRAM works on the wire. -- Peter Eisentraut http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/ PostgreSQL Development, 24x7 Support, Remote DBA, Training & Services From 34eff9bd65ca051c3ba173476e3f9360ee0d51b9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Peter Eisentraut <[email protected]> Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2018 11:29:23 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] doc: Update mentions of MD5 in the documentation --- doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml | 34 +++++++++------------------------- 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml index d162acb2e8..71f02300c2 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml @@ -2023,16 +2023,18 @@ <title>Encryption Options</title> <variablelist> <varlistentry> - <term>Password Storage Encryption</term> + <term>Password Encryption</term> <listitem> <para> - By default, database user passwords are stored as MD5 hashes, so - the administrator cannot determine the actual password assigned - to the user. If MD5 encryption is used for client authentication, - the unencrypted password is never even temporarily present on the - server because the client MD5-encrypts it before being sent - across the network. + Database user passwords are stored as hashes (determined by the setting + <xref linkend="guc-password-encryption"/>), so the administrator cannot + determine the actual password assigned to the user. If SCRAM or MD5 + encryption is used for client authentication, the unencrypted password is + never even temporarily present on the server because the client encrypts + it before being sent across the network. SCRAM is preferred, because it + is an Internet standard and is more secure than the PostgreSQL-specific + MD5 authentication protocol. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> @@ -2086,24 +2088,6 @@ <title>Encryption Options</title> </listitem> </varlistentry> - <varlistentry> - <term>Encrypting Passwords Across A Network</term> - - <listitem> - <para> - The <literal>MD5</literal> authentication method double-encrypts the - password on the client before sending it to the server. It first - MD5-encrypts it based on the user name, and then encrypts it - based on a random salt sent by the server when the database - connection was made. It is this double-encrypted value that is - sent over the network to the server. Double-encryption not only - prevents the password from being discovered, it also prevents - another connection from using the same encrypted password to - connect to the database server at a later time. - </para> - </listitem> - </varlistentry> - <varlistentry> <term>Encrypting Data Across A Network</term> -- 2.16.1 Attachments: [text/plain] 0001-doc-Update-mentions-of-MD5-in-the-documentation.patch (2.6K, 2-0001-doc-Update-mentions-of-MD5-in-the-documentation.patch) download | inline diff: From 34eff9bd65ca051c3ba173476e3f9360ee0d51b9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Peter Eisentraut <[email protected]> Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2018 11:29:23 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] doc: Update mentions of MD5 in the documentation --- doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml | 34 +++++++++------------------------- 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml index d162acb2e8..71f02300c2 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml @@ -2023,16 +2023,18 @@ <title>Encryption Options</title> <variablelist> <varlistentry> - <term>Password Storage Encryption</term> + <term>Password Encryption</term> <listitem> <para> - By default, database user passwords are stored as MD5 hashes, so - the administrator cannot determine the actual password assigned - to the user. If MD5 encryption is used for client authentication, - the unencrypted password is never even temporarily present on the - server because the client MD5-encrypts it before being sent - across the network. + Database user passwords are stored as hashes (determined by the setting + <xref linkend="guc-password-encryption"/>), so the administrator cannot + determine the actual password assigned to the user. If SCRAM or MD5 + encryption is used for client authentication, the unencrypted password is + never even temporarily present on the server because the client encrypts + it before being sent across the network. SCRAM is preferred, because it + is an Internet standard and is more secure than the PostgreSQL-specific + MD5 authentication protocol. </para> </listitem> </varlistentry> @@ -2086,24 +2088,6 @@ <title>Encryption Options</title> </listitem> </varlistentry> - <varlistentry> - <term>Encrypting Passwords Across A Network</term> - - <listitem> - <para> - The <literal>MD5</literal> authentication method double-encrypts the - password on the client before sending it to the server. It first - MD5-encrypts it based on the user name, and then encrypts it - based on a random salt sent by the server when the database - connection was made. It is this double-encrypted value that is - sent over the network to the server. Double-encryption not only - prevents the password from being discovered, it also prevents - another connection from using the same encrypted password to - connect to the database server at a later time. - </para> - </listitem> - </varlistentry> - <varlistentry> <term>Encrypting Data Across A Network</term> -- 2.16.1 ^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 3+ messages in thread
* Re: Update encryption options doc for SCRAM-SHA-256 @ 2018-02-03 17:55 Shay Rojansky <[email protected]> parent: Peter Eisentraut <[email protected]> 0 siblings, 0 replies; 3+ messages in thread From: Shay Rojansky @ 2018-02-03 17:55 UTC (permalink / raw) To: Peter Eisentraut <[email protected]>; +Cc: [email protected] Thanks for your attention to this. I'm definitely not a cryptography expert, but it seems to me that the actual mechanisms (MD5, SHA-256) are more important than the protocols used to negotiate them (SASL, SCRAM). When some security expert unfamiliar with PostgreSQL goes over itss documentation to determine whether it's secure, I think it's important to make sure that the word SHA-256 is actually there. On Sat, Feb 3, 2018 at 8:30 AM, Peter Eisentraut < [email protected]> wrote: > On 2/2/18 18:42, PG Doc comments form wrote: > > The following documentation comment has been logged on the website: > > > > Page: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/encryption-options.html > > Description: > > > > Section "18.8. Encryption Options" only mentions MD5 as the password > storage > > encryption mechanism, although PostgreSQL 10 introduced the superior > SHA256 > > - somebody looking at the docs would get a bad idea of PostgreSQL's > > capabilities... > > I propose the attached patch. I have combined the password storage and > password transmission items, because I don't want to go into the details > of how SCRAM works on the wire. > > -- > Peter Eisentraut http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/ > PostgreSQL Development, 24x7 Support, Remote DBA, Training & Services > ^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 3+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2018-02-03 17:55 UTC | newest] Thread overview: 3+ messages (download: mbox mbox.gz follow: Atom feed) -- links below jump to the message on this page -- 2018-02-02 23:42 Update encryption options doc for SCRAM-SHA-256 PG Doc comments form <[email protected]> 2018-02-03 16:30 ` Peter Eisentraut <[email protected]> 2018-02-03 17:55 ` Shay Rojansky <[email protected]>
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