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V-259180

CAT II (Medium)

The vCenter PostgreSQL service must provide nonprivileged users with minimal error information.

Rule ID

SV-259180r935444_rule

STIG

VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance PostgreSQL Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-001312 CCI-001314

Discussion

Any DBMS or associated application providing too much information in error messages on the screen or printout risks compromising the data and security of the system. The structure and content of error messages need to contain the minimal amount of information. Databases can inadvertently provide a wealth of information to an attacker through improperly handled error messages. In addition to sensitive business or personal information, database errors can provide host names, IP addresses, usernames, and other system information not required for troubleshooting but very useful to someone targeting the system. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000266-DB-000162, SRG-APP-000267-DB-000163

Check Content

At the command prompt, run the following command:

# /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/psql -U postgres -A -t -c "SHOW client_min_messages;"

Expected result:

error

If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Fix Text

A script is included with vCenter to generate a PostgreSQL STIG configuration.

At the command prompt, run the following commands:

# chmod +x /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/vmw_vpg_config/vmw_vpg_config.py
# /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/vmw_vpg_config/vmw_vpg_config.py --action stig_enable --pg-data-dir /storage/db/vpostgres
# chmod -x /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/vmw_vpg_config/vmw_vpg_config.py

Restart the PostgreSQL service by running the following command:

# vmon-cli --restart vmware-vpostgres