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 <49cbab10-9354-f06e-bcea-6291b6398a28@2ndquadrant.com>
From: Shay Rojansky <roji@roji.org>
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2018 09:55:59 -0800
Message-ID: 
 <CADT4RqAGnex7B-eqv5ZzTaD6S22HcypzqsXa_GegRMo3343QGA@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Update encryption options doc for SCRAM-SHA-256
To: Peter Eisentraut <peter.eisentraut@2ndquadrant.com>
Cc: pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org
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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 <
peter.eisentraut@2ndquadrant.com> 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
>

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<div dir=3D"ltr">Thanks for your attention to this.<div><br></div><div>I=
9;m definitely not a cryptography expert, but it seems to me that the actua=
l mechanisms (MD5, SHA-256) are more important than the protocols used to n=
egotiate them (SASL, SCRAM). When some security expert unfamiliar with Post=
greSQL goes over itss documentation to determine whether it&#39;s secure, I=
 think it&#39;s important to make sure that the word SHA-256 is actually th=
ere.</div></div><div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">O=
n Sat, Feb 3, 2018 at 8:30 AM, Peter Eisentraut <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a hr=
ef=3D"mailto:peter.eisentraut@2ndquadrant.com" target=3D"_blank">peter.eise=
ntraut@2ndquadrant.com</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_=
quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1=
ex">On 2/2/18 18:42, PG Doc comments form wrote:<br>
&gt; The following documentation comment has been logged on the website:<br=
>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Page: <a href=3D"https://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/encryption-=
options.html" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://www.postgresql.o=
rg/<wbr>docs/10/static/encryption-<wbr>options.html</a><br>
&gt; Description:<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Section &quot;18.8. Encryption Options&quot; only mentions MD5 as the =
password storage<br>
&gt; encryption mechanism, although PostgreSQL 10 introduced the superior S=
HA256<br>
&gt; - somebody looking at the docs would get a bad idea of PostgreSQL&#39;=
s<br>
&gt; capabilities...<br>
<br>
I propose the attached patch.=C2=A0 I have combined the password storage an=
d<br>
password transmission items, because I don&#39;t want to go into the detail=
s<br>
of how SCRAM works on the wire.<br>
<span class=3D"HOEnZb"><font color=3D"#888888"><br>
--<br>
Peter Eisentraut=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 <a href=3D=
"http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">http://w=
ww.2ndQuadrant.com/</a><br>
PostgreSQL Development, 24x7 Support, Remote DBA, Training &amp; Services<b=
r>
</font></span></blockquote></div><br></div>

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