postgresql/src/backend/libpq
Peter Eisentraut 3a0e385048 Log details for client certificate failures
Currently, debugging client certificate verification failures is
mostly limited to looking at the TLS alert code on the client side.
For simple deployments, sometimes it's enough to see "sslv3 alert
certificate revoked" and know exactly what needs to be fixed, but if
you add any more complexity (multiple CA layers, misconfigured CA
certificates, etc.), trying to debug what happened based on the TLS
alert alone can be an exercise in frustration.

Luckily, the server has more information about exactly what failed in
the chain, and we already have the requisite callback implemented as a
stub.  We fill that in, collect the data, and pass the constructed
error message back to the main code via a static variable.  This lets
us add our error details directly to the final "could not accept SSL
connection" log message, as opposed to issuing intermediate LOGs.

It ends up looking like

    LOG:  connection received: host=localhost port=43112
    LOG:  could not accept SSL connection: certificate verify failed
    DETAIL:  Client certificate verification failed at depth 1: unable to get local issuer certificate.
            Failed certificate data (unverified): subject "/CN=Test CA for PostgreSQL SSL regression test client certs", serial number 2315134995201656577, issuer "/CN=Test root CA for PostgreSQL SSL regression test suite".

The length of the Subject and Issuer strings is limited to prevent
malicious client certs from spamming the logs.  In case the truncation
makes things ambiguous, the certificate's serial number is also
logged.

Author: Jacob Champion <pchampion@vmware.com>
Discussion: https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/d13c4a5787c2a3f83705124f0391e0738c796751.camel@vmware.com
2022-07-15 17:04:48 +02:00
..
Makefile Refactor SASL code with a generic interface for its mechanisms 2021-07-07 10:55:15 +09:00
README.SSL Move EDH support to common files 2018-01-23 07:11:38 -05:00
auth-sasl.c Improve error handling of cryptohash computations 2022-01-11 09:55:16 +09:00
auth-scram.c Improve error handling of HMAC computations 2022-01-13 16:17:21 +09:00
auth.c Remove redundant null pointer checks before free() 2022-07-03 11:47:15 +02:00
be-fsstubs.c Prevent write operations on large objects in read-only transactions 2022-07-04 15:48:52 +09:00
be-gssapi-common.c Update copyright for 2022 2022-01-07 19:04:57 -05:00
be-secure-common.c Remove misguided SSL key file ownership check in libpq. 2022-05-26 14:14:05 -04:00
be-secure-gssapi.c Update copyright for 2022 2022-01-07 19:04:57 -05:00
be-secure-openssl.c Log details for client certificate failures 2022-07-15 17:04:48 +02:00
be-secure.c Update copyright for 2022 2022-01-07 19:04:57 -05:00
crypt.c Improve error handling of cryptohash computations 2022-01-11 09:55:16 +09:00
hba.c Remove extraneous blank lines before block-closing braces 2022-04-13 19:16:02 +02:00
ifaddr.c Remove HP-UX port. 2022-07-08 14:05:05 +12:00
pg_hba.conf.sample pg_hba.conf.sample: Reword connection type section 2021-04-29 07:00:20 +02:00
pg_ident.conf.sample
pqcomm.c Pre-beta mechanical code beautification. 2022-05-12 15:17:30 -04:00
pqformat.c Update copyright for 2022 2022-01-07 19:04:57 -05:00
pqmq.c Update copyright for 2022 2022-01-07 19:04:57 -05:00
pqsignal.c Update copyright for 2022 2022-01-07 19:04:57 -05:00

README.SSL

src/backend/libpq/README.SSL

SSL
===

>From the servers perspective:


  Receives StartupPacket
           |
           |
 (Is SSL_NEGOTIATE_CODE?) -----------  Normal startup
           |                  No
           |
           | Yes
           |
           |
 (Server compiled with USE_SSL?) ------- Send 'N'
           |                       No        |
           |                                 |
           | Yes                         Normal startup
           |
           |
        Send 'S'
           |
           |
      Establish SSL
           |
           |
      Normal startup





>From the clients perspective (v6.6 client _with_ SSL):


      Connect
         |
         |
  Send packet with SSL_NEGOTIATE_CODE
         |
         |
  Receive single char  ------- 'S' -------- Establish SSL
         |                                       |
         | '<else>'                              |
         |                                  Normal startup
         |
         |
   Is it 'E' for error  ------------------- Retry connection
         |                  Yes             without SSL
         | No
         |
   Is it 'N' for normal ------------------- Normal startup
         |                  Yes
         |
   Fail with unknown

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ephemeral DH
============

Since the server static private key ($DataDir/server.key) will
normally be stored unencrypted so that the database backend can
restart automatically, it is important that we select an algorithm
that continues to provide confidentiality even if the attacker has the
server's private key.  Ephemeral DH (EDH) keys provide this and more
(Perfect Forward Secrecy aka PFS).

N.B., the static private key should still be protected to the largest
extent possible, to minimize the risk of impersonations.

Another benefit of EDH is that it allows the backend and clients to
use DSA keys.  DSA keys can only provide digital signatures, not
encryption, and are often acceptable in jurisdictions where RSA keys
are unacceptable.

The downside to EDH is that it makes it impossible to use ssldump(1)
if there's a problem establishing an SSL session.  In this case you'll
need to temporarily disable EDH (see initialize_dh()).