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← Back to PostgreSQL 9.x Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-214101

CAT II (Medium)

PostgreSQL must be able to generate audit records when security objects are accessed.

Rule ID

SV-214101r961791_rule

STIG

PostgreSQL 9.x Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V2R5

CCIs

CCI-000172

Discussion

Changes to the security configuration must be tracked. This requirement applies to situations where security data is retrieved or modified via data manipulation operations, as opposed to via specialized security functionality. In an SQL environment, types of access include, but are not necessarily limited to: CREATE SELECT INSERT UPDATE DELETE PREPARE EXECUTE ALTER DROP

Check Content

First, as the database administrator, verify pgaudit is enabled by running the following SQL:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ psql -c "SHOW shared_preload_libraries"

If the output does not contain pgaudit, this is a finding.

Next, verify that role, read, write, and ddl auditing are enabled:

$ psql -c "SHOW pgaudit.log"

If the output does not contain role, read, write, and ddl, this is a finding.

Fix Text

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.

Using pgaudit PostgreSQL can be configured to audit these requests. See supplementary content APPENDIX-B for documentation on installing pgaudit. 

With pgaudit installed the following configurations can be made: 

$ sudo su - postgres 
$ vi ${PGDATA?}/postgresql.conf 

Add the following parameters (or edit existing parameters): 

pgaudit.log='ddl, role, read, write' 

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