Re: Encrypting pg_shadow passwords

pgman wrote:

: OK, I get you now.  Why not ask the client to do a crypt and compare
: that to pg_shadow.  [...]

You can't trust the client to do the one-way encryption, for then the
encrypted password becomes plaintext-equivalent - it defeats the
purpose.  (The SMB protocol apparently suffers or suffered from a
similar flaw.)


tgl wrote:

: What this discussion seems to come down to is whether we should take a
: backward step in one area of security (security against wire-sniffing)
: to take a forward step in another (not storing plaintext passwords).
: [...]

It seems to me that the two issues are orthogonal.  Authentication and
confidentiality are not mutually dependent or reinforcing, and thus
generally need separate mechanisms.


- FChE