EPAS-00-004600 - The EDB Postgres Advanced Server must enforce authorized access to all PKI private keys stored/used by the EDB Postgres Advanced Server.

Information

The DOD standard for authentication is DOD-approved PKI certificates. PKI certificate-based authentication is performed by requiring the certificate holder to cryptographically prove possession of the corresponding private key.

If the private key is stolen, an attacker can use the private key(s) to impersonate the certificate holder. In cases where the DBMS-stored private keys are used to authenticate the DBMS to the system's clients, loss of the corresponding private keys would allow an attacker to successfully perform undetected man-in-the-middle attacks against the DBMS system and its clients.

Both the holder of a digital certificate and the issuing authority must take careful measures to protect the corresponding private key. Private keys should always be generated and protected in FIPS 140-2 or 140-3 validated cryptographic modules.

All access to the private key(s) of the DBMS must be restricted to authorized and authenticated users. If unauthorized users have access to one or more of the DBMS's private keys, an attacker could gain access to the key(s) and use them to impersonate the database on the network or otherwise perform unauthorized actions.

Solution

Run these commands:

> chown enterprisedb <postgresql data directory>/server.key'

> chgrp enterprisedb <postgresql data directory>/server.key

> chmod 600 <postgresql data directory>/server.key

The default path for the postgresql data directory is /var/lib/edb/as<version>/data (PGDATA), but this will vary according to local circumstances.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_EPAS_V2R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-5(2)(b), CAT|I, CCI|CCI-000186, Rule-ID|SV-259250r961041_rule, STIG-ID|EPAS-00-004600, Vuln-ID|V-259250

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: cc79a297cbd5f8af04be6361777070ce8e2cdd879e483c08fe624e4b5a8a9139