2 18.10. Secure TCP/IP Connections with GSSAPI Encryption #
6 PostgreSQL also has native support for using GSSAPI to encrypt
7 client/server communications for increased security. Support requires
8 that a GSSAPI implementation (such as MIT Kerberos) is installed on
9 both client and server systems, and that support in PostgreSQL is
10 enabled at build time (see Chapter 17).
12 18.10.1. Basic Setup #
14 The PostgreSQL server will listen for both normal and GSSAPI-encrypted
15 connections on the same TCP port, and will negotiate with any
16 connecting client whether to use GSSAPI for encryption (and for
17 authentication). By default, this decision is up to the client (which
18 means it can be downgraded by an attacker); see Section 20.1 about
19 setting up the server to require the use of GSSAPI for some or all
22 When using GSSAPI for encryption, it is common to use GSSAPI for
23 authentication as well, since the underlying mechanism will determine
24 both client and server identities (according to the GSSAPI
25 implementation) in any case. But this is not required; another
26 PostgreSQL authentication method can be chosen to perform additional
29 Other than configuration of the negotiation behavior, GSSAPI encryption
30 requires no setup beyond that which is necessary for GSSAPI
31 authentication. (For more information on configuring that, see