Automatic CRL reload
Hello,
this is just a small wish / feature request.
The Apache httpd project dealt with a similar issue just a few months ago: https://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=14104 There's exactly the same problem in PostgreSQL. The documentation says:
"The files server.key, server.crt, root.crt, and root.crl are only examined during server start; so you must restart the server for changes in them to take effect." (http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/static/ssl-tcp.html)
This is perfectly fine for server.key, server.crt and root.crt. These files change quite rarely. However, root.crl usually chages once a month (which is the default in OpenSSL) or even more often when necessary. Restarting the server once a month is not an ideal solution.
With an expired CRL, SSL connections are refused without proper error messages. This is confusing. Despite the fact that root.crl is up-to-date and clients are configured properly, you will get this error message when the old CRL in memory expires:
Dec 25 05:37:41 charon postgres[28210]: [4-1] LOG: could not accept SSL connection: no certificate returned
It might be better to say something like "I can't validate the certificate with an expired CRL."
Presumably, pg_ctl restart fixed this problem.
It would be great if PostgreSQL could reload the CRL when necessary, just like Apache httpd does. Could this be appended to the 8.4 wishlist, please?
Best regards,
Andrej Podzimek
Andrej Podzimek wrote:
"The files server.key, server.crt, root.crt, and root.crl are only
examined during server start; so you must restart the server for
changes in them to take effect."
(http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/static/ssl-tcp.html)This is perfectly fine for server.key, server.crt and root.crt. These
files change quite rarely. However, root.crl usually chages once a
month (which is the default in OpenSSL) or even more often when
necessary.
I think the right solution here is to reload the CRL file on SIGHUP
(reload). Whoever changes the CRL file should send a signal.
I've had that on my TODO list for a while.
--
Alvaro Herrera http://www.CommandPrompt.com/
The PostgreSQL Company - Command Prompt, Inc.
Alvaro Herrera wrote:
Andrej Podzimek wrote:
"The files server.key, server.crt, root.crt, and root.crl are only
examined during server start; so you must restart the server for
changes in them to take effect."
(http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/static/ssl-tcp.html)This is perfectly fine for server.key, server.crt and root.crt. These
files change quite rarely. However, root.crl usually chages once a
month (which is the default in OpenSSL) or even more often when
necessary.I think the right solution here is to reload the CRL file on SIGHUP
(reload). Whoever changes the CRL file should send a signal.I've had that on my TODO list for a while.
Added to TODO:
Allow SSL CRL files to be re-read during configuration file reload,
rather than requiring a server restart
Unlike SSL CRT files, CRL (Certificate Revocation List) files are
updated frequently
* http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-general/2008-12/msg00832.php
--
Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> http://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB http://enterprisedb.com
+ If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +