Access to database files must be limited to relevant processes and to authorized, administrative users.
An XCCDF Rule
Description
<VulnDiscussion>Applications, including PostgreSQL, must prevent unauthorized and unintended information transfer via shared system resources. Permitting only DBMS processes and authorized, administrative users to have access to the files where the database resides helps ensure that those files are not shared inappropriately and are not open to backdoor access and manipulation.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>
- ID
- SV-214151r879649_rule
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation - Manual Procedure
Note: The following instructions use the PGDATA environment variable. See supplementary content APPENDIX-F for instructions on configuring PGDATA.
Configure the permissions granted by the operating system/file system on the database files, database log files, and database backup files so that only relevant system accounts and authorized system administrators and database administrators with a need to know are permitted to read/view these files.
Any files (for example: extra configuration files) created in PGDATA must be owned by the database administrator, with only owner permissions to read, write, and execute.