The vRA PostgreSQL database must use UTC for log timestamps.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-89391	VRAU-PG-000300	SV-100041r1_rule		Medium

Description
If time stamps are not consistently applied and there is no common time reference, it is difficult to perform forensic analysis. Time stamps generated by the DBMS must include date and time. Time is commonly expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a modern continuation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or local time with an offset from UTC. Some DBMS products offer a data type called TIMESTAMP that is not a representation of date and time. Rather, it is a database state counter and does not correspond to calendar and clock time. This requirement does not refer to that meaning of TIMESTAMP.

Description

If time stamps are not consistently applied and there is no common time reference, it is difficult to perform forensic analysis. Time stamps generated by the DBMS must include date and time. Time is commonly expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a modern continuation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or local time with an offset from UTC. Some DBMS products offer a data type called TIMESTAMP that is not a representation of date and time. Rather, it is a database state counter and does not correspond to calendar and clock time. This requirement does not refer to that meaning of TIMESTAMP.

STIG	Date
VMW vRealize Automation 7.x PostgreSQL Security Technical Implementation Guide	2018-10-12

Details

Check Text ( C-89083r1_chk )
At the command prompt, execute the following command: # grep '^\s*log_timezone\b' /storage/db/pgdata/postgresql.conf If "log_timezone" is not "utc", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-96133r1_fix)
At the command prompt, execute the following commands: # /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/psql -U postgres -c "ALTER SYSTEM SET log_timezone TO 'UTC';" # /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/psql -U postgres -c "SELECT pg_reload_conf();"