PGS9-00-007000 - PostgreSQL, when utilizing PKI-based authentication, must validate certificates by performing RFC 5280-compliant certification path validation.

Information

The DoD standard for authentication is DoD-approved PKI certificates.

A certificate's certification path is the path from the end entity certificate to a trusted root certification authority (CA). Certification path validation is necessary for a relying party to make an informed decision regarding acceptance of an end entity certificate. Certification path validation includes checks such as certificate issuer trust, time validity and revocation status for each certificate in the certification path. Revocation status information for CA and subject certificates in a certification path is commonly provided via certificate revocation lists (CRLs) or online certificate status protocol (OCSP) responses.

Database Management Systems that do not validate certificates by performing RFC 5280-compliant certification path validation are in danger of accepting certificates that are invalid and/or counterfeit. This could allow unauthorized access to the database.

Solution

Note: The following instructions use the PGDATA and PGVER environment variables. See supplementary content APPENDIX-F for instructions on configuring PGDATA and APPENDIX-H for PGVER.

To configure PostgreSQL to use SSL, see supplementary content APPENDIX-G.

To generate a Certificate Revocation List, see the official Red Hat Documentation: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Update_Infrastructure/2.1/html/Administration_Guide/chap-Red_Hat_Update_Infrastructure-Administration_Guide-Certification_Revocation_List_CRL.html

As the database administrator (shown here as 'postgres'), copy the CRL file into the data directory:

First, as the system administrator, copy the CRL file into the PostgreSQL Data Directory:

$ sudo cp root.crl ${PGDATA?}/root.crl

As the database administrator (shown here as 'postgres'), set the ssl_crl_file parameter to the filename of the CRL:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ vi ${PGDATA?}/postgresql.conf
ssl_crl_file = 'root.crl'

Next, in pg_hba.conf, require ssl authentication:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ vi ${PGDATA?}/pg_hba.conf
hostssl <database> <user> <address> cert clientcert=1

Now, as the system administrator, reload the server with the new configuration:

# SYSTEMD SERVER ONLY
$ sudo systemctl reload postgresql-${PGVER?}

# INITD SERVER ONLY
$ sudo service postgresql-${PGVER?} reload

Item Details

Audit Name: DISA STIG PostgreSQL 9.x on RHEL OS v2r5

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 79b9bfe8743fb2c1551d11e82b5ba8e9ad4db82fda22cba175588293bccf2232

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PGS9-00-007000 - PostgreSQL, when utilizing PKI-based authentication, must validate certificates by performing RFC 5280-compliant certification path validation.

Information

Solution

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Item Details