Title

PostgreSQL must integrate with an organization-level authentication/access mechanism providing account management and automation for all users, groups, roles, and any other principals. (Cat I impact)

Discussion

Enterprise environments make account management for applications and databases challenging and complex. A manual process for account management functions adds the risk of a potential oversight or other error. Managing accounts for the same person in multiple places is inefficient and prone to problems with consistency and synchronization. A comprehensive application account management process that includes automation helps to ensure that accounts designated as requiring attention are consistently and promptly addressed. Examples include, but are not limited to, using automation to take action on multiple accounts designated as inactive, suspended, or terminated, or by disabling accounts located in non-centralized account stores, such as multiple servers. Account management functions can also include: assignment of group or role membership; identifying account type; specifying user access authorizations (i.e., privileges); account removal, update, or termination; and administrative alerts. The use of automated mechanisms can include, for example: using email or text messaging to notify account managers when users are terminated or transferred; using the information system to monitor account usage; and using automated telephone notification to report atypical system account usage. PostgreSQL must be configured to automatically utilize organization-level account management functions, and these functions must immediately enforce the organization's current account policy. Automation may be comprised of differing technologies that when placed together contain an overall mechanism supporting an organization's automated account management requirements.

Check Content

Note: The following instructions use the PGDATA environment variable. See supplementary content APPENDIX-F for instructions on configuring PGDATA. If all accounts are authenticated by the organization-level authentication/access mechanism, such as LDAP or Kerberos and not by PostgreSQL, this is not a finding. As the database administrator (shown here as "postgres"), review pg_hba.conf authentication file settings: $ sudo su - postgres $ cat ${PGDATA?}/pg_hba.conf All records must use an auth-method of gss, sspi, or ldap. For details on the specifics of these authentication methods see: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/auth-pg-hba-conf.html If there are any records with a different auth-method than gss, sspi, or ldap, review the system documentation for justification and approval of these records. If there are any records with a different auth-method than gss, sspi, or ldap, that are not documented and approved, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Note: The following instructions use the PGDATA environment variable. See supplementary content APPENDIX-F for instructions on configuring PGDATA. Integrate PostgreSQL security with an organization-level authentication/access mechanism providing account management for all users, groups, roles, and any other principals. As the database administrator (shown here as "postgres"), edit pg_hba.conf authentication file: $ sudo su - postgres $ vi ${PGDATA?}/pg_hba.conf For each PostgreSQL-managed account that is not documented and approved, either transfer it to management by the external mechanism, or document the need for it and obtain approval, as appropriate.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-214052r879522_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-214052

Group Title: SRG-APP-000023-DB-000001

Expert Comments

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