Re: pl/pgsql enabled by default

Neil Conway <neilc(at)samurai(dot)com> writes:
> Users can already define SQL functions by default, which certainly
> provides "programmable features". I'm not quite sure what you mean by
> "user exits."

> I guess I'm missing how pl/pgsql is a fundamentally greater security risk.

plpgsql has control structures (loops, IF); SQL functions don't.
That makes for a fundamental difference in the power of the programming
language ... at least according to CS theory as I was taught it. Now
admittedly the "primitive statements" of SQL are a lot more powerful
than the primitive statements usually considered in programming language
theory, but I think there is still a pretty significant difference in
capability.

An example of why this could be interesting from a security standpoint
is that, given access to pg_shadow, it'd be pretty trivial to write
a plpgsql function that tries to break user passwords by brute force
(just generate possible passwords, hash them, and look for a match).
I don't see any way to do that in plain SQL, at least not without a
pre-existing SRF to generate the trial passwords for you.

regards, tom lane