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

PostgreSQL must record time stamps in audit records and application data that can be mapped to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), formerly Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

DISA Rule

SV-261921r1000994_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-261921

Group Title

SRG-APP-000374-DB-000322

Rule Version

CD16-00-007500

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

CCI-001890 - Record time stamps for audit records that use Coordinated Universal Time, have a fixed local time offset from Coordinated Universal Time, or that include the local time offset as part of the time stamp.

Weight

Fix Recommendation

Note: The following instructions use the PGDATA and PGVER environment variables. Refer to APPENDIX-F for instructions on configuring PGDATA and APPENDIX-H for PGVER.

To change log_timezone in postgresql.conf to use a different time zone for logs, as the database administrator (shown here as "postgres"), run the following:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ vi ${PGDATA?}/postgresql.conf
log_timezone='UTC'

Restart the database:

$ sudo systemctl reload postgresql-${PGVER?}

Check Contents

When a PostgreSQL cluster is initialized using initdb, the PostgreSQL cluster will be configured to use the same time zone as the target server.

As the database administrator (shown here as "postgres"), check the current log_timezone setting by running the following SQL:

$ sudo su - postgres
$ psql -c "SHOW log_timezone"

log_timezone
--------------
UTC
(1 row)

If log_timezone is not set to the desired time zone, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-261921

Documentable

False

Rule Version

CD16-00-007500

Severity Override Guidance

Check Content Reference

Target Key

5598