STIGQter: STIG Summary: Crunchy Data Postgres 16 Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 1 Release: 3 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

The audit information produced by PostgreSQL must be protected from unauthorized modification.

DISA Rule

SV-261876r1000978_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-261876

Group Title

SRG-APP-000119-DB-000060

Rule Version

CD16-00-002100

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-000163 - Protect audit information from unauthorized modification.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

To ensure logging is enabled, see the instructions in the supplementary content APPENDIX-C.

Note: The following instructions use the PGDATA environment variable. Refer to APPENDIX-F for instructions on configuring PGDATA and APPENDIX-I for instructions on configuring PGLOG.

#### stderr Logging

With stderr logging enabled, as the database owner (shown here as "postgres"), set the following parameter in postgresql.conf:

$ vi ${PGDATA?}/postgresql.conf
log_file_mode = 0600

To change the owner and permissions of the log files, run the following:

$ chown postgres:postgres ${PGDATA?}/${PGLOG?}
$ chmod 0700 ${PGDATA?}/${PGLOG?}
$ chmod 600 ${PGDATA?}/${PGLOG?}/*.log

#### syslog Logging

If PostgreSQL is configured to use syslog for logging, the log files must be configured to be owned by root with 0600 permissions.

$ chown root:root <log directory name>/<log_filename>
$ chmod 0700 <log directory name>
$ chmod 0600 <log directory name>/*.log

Check Contents

Review locations of audit logs, both internal to the database and database audit logs located at the operating system level.

Verify there are appropriate controls and permissions to protect the audit information from unauthorized modification.

Note: The following instructions use the PGLOG environment variable. Refer to supplementary content APPENDIX-I for instructions on configuring PGLOG.

#### stderr Logging

If the PostgreSQL server is configured to use stderr for logging, the logs will be owned by the database owner (usually postgres user) with a default permissions level of 0600. The permissions can be configured in postgresql.conf.

To check the permissions for log files in postgresql.conf, as the database owner (shown here as "postgres"), run the following command:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ psql -c "show log_file_mode;"

If the permissions are not 0600, this is a finding.

As the database owner (shown here as "postgres"), list the permissions of the logs:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ ls -la ${PGLOG?}

If logs are not owned by the database owner (shown here as "postgres") and are not the same permissions as configured in postgresql.conf, this is a finding.

#### syslog Logging

If the PostgreSQL server is configured to use syslog for logging, consult the organization syslog setting for permissions and ownership of logs.

Vulnerability Number

V-261876

Documentable

False

Rule Version

CD16-00-002100

Severity Override Guidance

Review locations of audit logs, both internal to the database and database audit logs located at the operating system level.

Verify there are appropriate controls and permissions to protect the audit information from unauthorized modification.

Note: The following instructions use the PGLOG environment variable. Refer to supplementary content APPENDIX-I for instructions on configuring PGLOG.

#### stderr Logging

If the PostgreSQL server is configured to use stderr for logging, the logs will be owned by the database owner (usually postgres user) with a default permissions level of 0600. The permissions can be configured in postgresql.conf.

To check the permissions for log files in postgresql.conf, as the database owner (shown here as "postgres"), run the following command:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ psql -c "show log_file_mode;"

If the permissions are not 0600, this is a finding.

As the database owner (shown here as "postgres"), list the permissions of the logs:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ ls -la ${PGLOG?}

If logs are not owned by the database owner (shown here as "postgres") and are not the same permissions as configured in postgresql.conf, this is a finding.

#### syslog Logging

If the PostgreSQL server is configured to use syslog for logging, consult the organization syslog setting for permissions and ownership of logs.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5598