mysql_config_editor feature suggestion

2017-03-21 23:03 GMT+01:00 Tom Ekberg <tekberg@uw.edu>:

I have been working with MySQL a bit (yes, I know, heresy) and encountered
a program called mysql_config_editor. In my opinion it does a better job of
local password management than using a ~/.pgpass file. Instead of assuming
that a mode of 600 will keep people from peeking at your password, it
encrypts the password, but keeps the other parameters like host, port and
user available for viewing as plaintext. You can read more about it here:

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/mysql-config-editor.html

The host, user, password values are grouped into what are called login
paths which are of the form:

[some_login_path]
host = localhost
user = localuser

Just like the config files you have no doubt seen before. The only way to
set a password is to use the command:

mysql_config_editor set --login-path=some_login_path --password

which will prompt the user to enter the password for the specified login
path. The password is never seen as plain text. There are other commands to
set, remove, print and reset values for a login path. The print command
that shows a password will display this instead:

password = *****

Adding a similar feature for PostgreSQL will also require a change to the
psql program to specify and handle --login-path used for authentication.
This may also be the case for some of the other pg_* utilities.

I think adding a feature like mysql_config_editor to PostgreSQL is an easy
way to set up multiple "personalities" for connecting to different
PostgreSQL servers. The password protection will deter the curious user
from gaining access to your data. It will not stop a determined hacker, but
the idea is to make it more difficult.

I'm wondering how it works. It stores the password encrypted in the
.mylogin.cnf file? and then the other tools can use the encrypted password
in this file to connect to the serveur without having to type a password?
In such a case, if I have access to this file, what prevents me to copy it
to another computer and connect without your authorization and without your
password? (which is exactly what you're afraid of with the .pgpass file)

Other than this mailing list, is there a way to make a feature request for
PostgreSQL?

This one is pretty good for this.

--
Guillaume.
http://blog.guillaume.lelarge.info
http://www.dalibo.com

On Mar 21, 2017, at 3:03 PM, Tom Ekberg <tekberg@uw.edu> wrote:

I have been working with MySQL a bit (yes, I know, heresy) and encountered a program called mysql_config_editor. In my opinion it does a better job of local password management than using a ~/.pgpass file. Instead of assuming that a mode of 600 will keep people from peeking at your password, it encrypts the password, but keeps the other parameters like host, port and user available for viewing as plaintext. You can read more about it here:

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/mysql-config-editor.html

The host, user, password values are grouped into what are called login paths which are of the form:

[some_login_path]
host = localhost
user = localuser

Looks rather like a postgresql service file. :)

Just like the config files you have no doubt seen before. The only way to set a password is to use the command:

mysql_config_editor set --login-path=some_login_path --password

which will prompt the user to enter the password for the specified login path. The password is never seen as plain text. There are other commands to set, remove, print and reset values for a login path. The print command that shows a password will display this instead:

password = *****

This seems like it'd give people a false sense of security. If someone can read that file, they can log in to that account. Obfuscating the password just makes naive users think they're secure when they're anything but, and means they're less likely to be careful about making that file unreadable and avoiding checking it into revision control and so on. It'd protect against shoulder-surfing, but it's not like you're going to have .pg_pass open in an editor too often.

A commandline tool for managing pgpass might be interesting, I guess. Though for local databases using peer authentication is likely better than saving passwords in a file.

Adding a similar feature for PostgreSQL will also require a change to the psql program to specify and handle --login-path used for authentication. This may also be the case for some of the other pg_* utilities.

I think adding a feature like mysql_config_editor to PostgreSQL is an easy way to set up multiple "personalities" for connecting to different PostgreSQL servers. The password protection will deter the curious user from gaining access to your data. It will not stop a determined hacker, but the idea is to make it more difficult.

Other than this mailing list, is there a way to make a feature request for PostgreSQL?

Cheers,
Steve

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On 03/21/2017 03:03 PM, Tom Ekberg wrote:

I have been working with MySQL a bit (yes, I know, heresy) and
encountered a program called mysql_config_editor. In my opinion it does
a better job of local password management than using a ~/.pgpass file.
Instead of assuming that a mode of 600 will keep people from peeking at
your password, it encrypts the password, but keeps the other parameters
like host, port and user available for viewing as plaintext. You can
read more about it here:

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/mysql-config-editor.html

The host, user, password values are grouped into what are called login
paths which are of the form:

[some_login_path]
host = localhost
user = localuser

Just like the config files you have no doubt seen before. The only way
to set a password is to use the command:

mysql_config_editor set --login-path=some_login_path --password

which will prompt the user to enter the password for the specified login
path. The password is never seen as plain text. There are other commands
to set, remove, print and reset values for a login path. The print
command that shows a password will display this instead:

password = *****

Adding a similar feature for PostgreSQL will also require a change to
the psql program to specify and handle --login-path used for
authentication. This may also be the case for some of the other pg_*
utilities.

Something like this?:

https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.6/static/libpq-pgservice.html

with:

https://git.postgresql.org/gitweb/?p=postgresql.git;a=commit;h=ba005f193d88a8404e81db3df223cf689d64d75e

https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/static/libpq-connect.html#libpq-connect-passfile

The only thing lacking is that the passwords are not actually encrypted
in the file. Though there are other methods available then the md5
password authentication:

https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/static/auth-methods.html

I think adding a feature like mysql_config_editor to PostgreSQL is an
easy way to set up multiple "personalities" for connecting to different
PostgreSQL servers. The password protection will deter the curious user
from gaining access to your data. It will not stop a determined hacker,
but the idea is to make it more difficult.

Other than this mailing list, is there a way to make a feature request
for PostgreSQL?

Tom Ekberg
Senior Computer Specialist, Lab Medicine
University of Washington Medical Center
1959 NE Pacific St, MS 357110
Seattle WA 98195
work: (206) 598-8544
email: tekberg@uw.edu

--
Adrian Klaver
adrian.klaver@aklaver.com

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