PostgreSQL must invalidate session identifiers upon user logout or other session termination.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-73037	PGS9-00-010600	SV-87689r2_rule		Medium

Description
Captured sessions can be reused in "replay" attacks. This requirement limits the ability of adversaries to capture and continue to employ previously valid session IDs. This requirement focuses on communications protection for PostgreSQL session rather than for the network packet. The intent of this control is to establish grounds for confidence at each end of a communications session in the ongoing identity of the other party and in the validity of the information being transmitted. Session IDs are tokens generated by PostgreSQLs to uniquely identify a user's (or process's) session. DBMSs will make access decisions and execute logic based on the session ID. Unique session IDs help to reduce predictability of said identifiers. Unique session IDs address man-in-the-middle attacks, including session hijacking or insertion of false information into a session. If the attacker is unable to identify or guess the session information related to pending application traffic, they will have more difficulty in hijacking the session or otherwise manipulating valid sessions. When a user logs out, or when any other session termination event occurs, PostgreSQL must terminate the user session(s) to minimize the potential for sessions to be hijacked.

Description

Captured sessions can be reused in "replay" attacks. This requirement limits the ability of adversaries to capture and continue to employ previously valid session IDs. This requirement focuses on communications protection for PostgreSQL session rather than for the network packet. The intent of this control is to establish grounds for confidence at each end of a communications session in the ongoing identity of the other party and in the validity of the information being transmitted. Session IDs are tokens generated by PostgreSQLs to uniquely identify a user's (or process's) session. DBMSs will make access decisions and execute logic based on the session ID. Unique session IDs help to reduce predictability of said identifiers. Unique session IDs address man-in-the-middle attacks, including session hijacking or insertion of false information into a session. If the attacker is unable to identify or guess the session information related to pending application traffic, they will have more difficulty in hijacking the session or otherwise manipulating valid sessions. When a user logs out, or when any other session termination event occurs, PostgreSQL must terminate the user session(s) to minimize the potential for sessions to be hijacked.

STIG	Date
PostgreSQL 9.x Security Technical Implementation Guide	2020-03-23

Details

Check Text ( C-73169r1_chk )
As the database administrator (shown here as "postgres"), run the following SQL: $ sudo su - postgres $ psql -c "SHOW tcp_keepalives_idle" $ psql -c "SHOW tcp_keepalives_interval" $ psql -c "SHOW tcp_keepalives_count" $ psql -c "SHOW statement_timeout" If these settings are not set, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-79483r2_fix)
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. As the database administrator (shown here as "postgres"), edit postgresql.conf: $ sudo su - postgres $ vi $PGDATA/postgresql.conf Set the following parameters to organizational requirements: statement_timeout = 10000 #milliseconds tcp_keepalives_idle = 10 # seconds tcp_keepalives_interval = 10 # seconds tcp_keepalives_count = 10 Now, as the system administrator, restart the server with the new configuration: # SYSTEMD SERVER ONLY $ sudo systemctl restart postgresql-${PGVER?} # INITD SERVER ONLY $ sudo service postgresql-${PGVER?} restart

Fix Text (F-79483r2_fix)

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.

As the database administrator (shown here as "postgres"), edit postgresql.conf:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ vi $PGDATA/postgresql.conf

Set the following parameters to organizational requirements:

statement_timeout = 10000 #milliseconds
tcp_keepalives_idle = 10 # seconds
tcp_keepalives_interval = 10 # seconds
tcp_keepalives_count = 10

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

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

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