Re: SCRAM with channel binding downgrade attack - Mailing list pgsql-hackers

From Magnus Hagander
Subject Re: SCRAM with channel binding downgrade attack
Date
Msg-id CABUevEzFXErYgXtz5W=WM_Esevt-f6dcGjVLOOvH_Hq=LCnavw@mail.gmail.com
Whole thread Raw
In response to Re: SCRAM with channel binding downgrade attack  (Peter Eisentraut <peter.eisentraut@2ndquadrant.com>)
List pgsql-hackers


On Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 10:04 AM, Peter Eisentraut <peter.eisentraut@2ndquadrant.com> wrote:
On 6/28/18 09:35, Magnus Hagander wrote:
> No, we absolutely still have SCRAM channel binding.
>
> *libpq* has no way to *enforce* it, meaning it always acts like our
> default SSL config which is "use it if available but if it's not then
> silently accept the downgrade". From a security perspective, it's just
> as bad as our default ssl config, but unlike ssl you can't configure a
> requirement in 11.

Isn't this similar to what happened whenever we added a new or better
password method?  A MITM that didn't want to bother cracking MD5 could
just alter the stream and request "password" authentication.  Same with
MD5->SCRAM, SCRAM->SCRAM+CB, and even a hypothetical future change in
the SCRAM hashing method.  Clearly, we need a more comprehensive
solution for this.

That is sort of the gist of the discussion, yes. It is.

So if you just enabled scram channel binding, an attacker could just turn off scram completely.

That's why we need a solution that covers the full problem, which is why it needs to be thought of as one problem so we don't end up with a fragmented solution.

--

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