Use a separate random seed for SQL random()/setseed() functions.

Previously, the SQL random() function depended on libc's random(3),
and setseed() invoked srandom(3).  This results in interference between
these functions and backend-internal uses of random(3).  We'd never paid
too much mind to that, but in the wake of commit 88bdbd3f7 which added
log_statement_sample_rate, the interference arguably has a security
consequence: if log_statement_sample_rate is active then an unprivileged
user could probably control which if any of his SQL commands get logged,
by issuing setseed() at the right times.  That seems bad.

To fix this reliably, we need random() and setseed() to use their own
private random state variable.  Standard random(3) isn't amenable to such
usage, so let's switch to pg_erand48().  It's hard to say whether that's
more or less "random" than any particular platform's version of random(3),
but it does have a wider seed value and a longer period than are required
by POSIX, so we can hope that this isn't a big downgrade.  Also, we should
now have uniform behavior of random() across platforms, which is worth
something.

While at it, upgrade the per-process seed initialization method to use
pg_strong_random() if available, greatly reducing the predictability
of the initial seed value.  (I'll separately do something similar for
the internal uses of random().)

In addition to forestalling the possible security problem, this has a
benefit in the other direction, which is that we can now document
setseed() as guaranteeing a reproducible sequence of random() values.
Previously, because of the possibility of internal calls of random(3),
we could not promise any such thing.

Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/3859.1545849900@sss.pgh.pa.us
This commit is contained in:
Tom Lane 2018-12-29 17:33:27 -05:00
parent 1a4eba4e24
commit 6645ad6bdd
2 changed files with 52 additions and 12 deletions

View File

@ -1136,10 +1136,14 @@
</table>
<para>
The characteristics of the values returned by
<literal><function>random()</function></literal> depend
on the system implementation. It is not suitable for cryptographic
applications; see <xref linkend="pgcrypto"/> module for an alternative.
The <function>random()</function> function uses a simple linear
congruential algorithm. It is fast but not suitable for cryptographic
applications; see the <xref linkend="pgcrypto"/> module for a more
secure alternative.
If <function>setseed()</function> is called, the results of
subsequent <function>random()</function> calls in the current session are
repeatable by re-issuing <function>setseed()</function> with the same
argument.
</para>
<para>

View File

@ -22,10 +22,13 @@
#include "catalog/pg_type.h"
#include "common/int.h"
#include "libpq/pqformat.h"
#include "miscadmin.h"
#include "utils/array.h"
#include "utils/backend_random.h"
#include "utils/float.h"
#include "utils/fmgrprotos.h"
#include "utils/sortsupport.h"
#include "utils/timestamp.h"
/* Configurable GUC parameter */
@ -53,6 +56,10 @@ float8 degree_c_sixty = 60.0;
float8 degree_c_one_half = 0.5;
float8 degree_c_one = 1.0;
/* State for drandom() and setseed() */
static bool drandom_seed_set = false;
static unsigned short drandom_seed[3] = {0, 0, 0};
/* Local function prototypes */
static double sind_q1(double x);
static double cosd_q1(double x);
@ -2378,8 +2385,30 @@ drandom(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
{
float8 result;
/* result [0.0 - 1.0) */
result = (double) random() / ((double) MAX_RANDOM_VALUE + 1);
/* Initialize random seed, if not done yet in this process */
if (unlikely(!drandom_seed_set))
{
/*
* If possible, initialize the seed using high-quality random bits.
* Should that fail for some reason, we fall back on a lower-quality
* seed based on current time and PID.
*/
if (!pg_backend_random((char *) drandom_seed, sizeof(drandom_seed)))
{
TimestampTz now = GetCurrentTimestamp();
uint64 iseed;
/* Mix the PID with the most predictable bits of the timestamp */
iseed = (uint64) now ^ ((uint64) MyProcPid << 32);
drandom_seed[0] = (unsigned short) iseed;
drandom_seed[1] = (unsigned short) (iseed >> 16);
drandom_seed[2] = (unsigned short) (iseed >> 32);
}
drandom_seed_set = true;
}
/* pg_erand48 produces desired result range [0.0 - 1.0) */
result = pg_erand48(drandom_seed);
PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(result);
}
@ -2392,13 +2421,20 @@ Datum
setseed(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
{
float8 seed = PG_GETARG_FLOAT8(0);
int iseed;
uint64 iseed;
if (seed < -1 || seed > 1)
elog(ERROR, "setseed parameter %f out of range [-1,1]", seed);
if (seed < -1 || seed > 1 || isnan(seed))
ereport(ERROR,
(errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
errmsg("setseed parameter %g is out of allowed range [-1,1]",
seed)));
iseed = (int) (seed * MAX_RANDOM_VALUE);
srandom((unsigned int) iseed);
/* Use sign bit + 47 fractional bits to fill drandom_seed[] */
iseed = (int64) (seed * (float8) UINT64CONST(0x7FFFFFFFFFFF));
drandom_seed[0] = (unsigned short) iseed;
drandom_seed[1] = (unsigned short) (iseed >> 16);
drandom_seed[2] = (unsigned short) (iseed >> 32);
drandom_seed_set = true;
PG_RETURN_VOID();
}