Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2023 10:43:11 -0700
From: Nathan Bossart <nathandbossart@gmail.com>
To: Gurjeet Singh <gurjeet@singh.im>
Cc: pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org, tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us
Subject: Re: harmonize password reuse in vacuumdb, clusterdb, and reindexdb
Message-ID: <20230719174311.GA1186744@nathanxps13>
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On Wed, Jun 28, 2023 at 10:24:09PM -0700, Nathan Bossart wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 28, 2023 at 09:20:03PM -0700, Gurjeet Singh wrote:
>> The comment on top of connect_utils.c:connectDatabase() seems pertinent:
>> 
>>> (Callers should not pass
>>> * allow_password_reuse=true unless reconnecting to the same database+user
>>> * as before, else we might create password exposure hazards.)
>> 
>> The callers of {cluster|reindex}_one_database() (which in turn call
>> connectDatabase()) clearly pass different database names in successive
>> calls to these functions. So the patch seems to be in conflict with
>> the recommendation in the comment.
>> 
>> [ ... ]
> 
> The same commit that added this comment (ff402ae) also set the
> allow_password_reuse parameter to true in vacuumdb's connectDatabase()
> calls.  I found a message from the corresponding thread that provides some
> additional detail [0].  I wonder if this comment should instead recommend
> against using the allow_password_reuse flag unless reconnecting to the same
> host/port/user target.  Connecting to different databases with the same
> host/port/user information seems okay.  Maybe I am missing something... 

I added Tom here since it looks like he was the original author of this
comment.  Tom, do you have any concerns with updating the comment for
connectDatabase() in src/fe_utils/connect_utils.c like this?

-- 
Nathan Bossart
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