Re: pgAdmin4 4.8 Kubuntu issues

Dave,

Actually I thought I was being quite restrained in my assessment. With
version 4.8 the developers completely upended the end user experience.
From pgAdmin3 through all versions of pgAdmin4 *prior to the current one*,
the end user could start pgAdmin and then get to work creating connections,
modifying databases, running queries as their postgreSQL permissions
allowed. If they wanted to save a password, that was their choice (though
it didn't always work). Suddenly with pgAdmin4 4.8 they are *locked out* of
the application by a *required* Master Password. To make matters worse,
there is *no* simple or even well defined way to disable this change. The
*solution* is to dig through the documentation, then *rummage* around on
your file system (as the exact location varies by OS or distribution) for a
*sample* file (the config file isn't actually documented in the official
documentation). *Then* create a brand new file, make sure you include
the *magic
setting*, restart pgAdmin4 and you will *finally* get back to working the
way you did *before* you let pgAdmin4 update itself from 4.7 to 4.8.

The only situation I can envision (and perhaps I'm just not paranoid
enough) is if someone breaks into my computer, gets my login credentials,
gets the separate login credentials to the VPN I use to connect to the
corporate network, and *then* manages to start pgAdmin4 as myself to
connect to a postgreSQL database, that I've just happened to have had
pgAdmin4 save the password to and commit some sort of mischief with my
level of access.

So, to summarize an attacker would have had to:

1. hack my machine
2. hack into the corporate network through my VPN credentials (which
they would have to hack)
3. run pgAdmin4 *as* me
4. have relied on me having pgAdmin4 *save* my passwords.

The only thing I gain from the new *Master Password* requirement is that
*if* I had pgAdmin4 save my passwords, an attacker would have need to know
one more password to *unlock* pgAdmin4.

Unfortunately if I *don't* have pgAdmin4 save my passwords, I still have to
remember a *Master Password*. Why? Without step 4 above, it doesn't
actually provide anymore security.

To add insult to injury I (like *many* people currently using pgAdmin4)
have root access (or Administrator level credentials for those Windows
users) to my own machine. Which means it's possible for me to jump through
all of the hoops to disable the *Master Password *mechanism. So what did
not having a setting in the Preferences UI gain in terms of security? If
you wanted to restrict changing that setting to users with the required
level of access you could have simply gated it with a sudo/administrator
credentials dialog.

So basically what we have is a *major* UI change (users are literally
locked out of the application) caused by upgrading a minor version level
(4.7 to 4.8) with no simple way to revert the behavior all for a dubious
increase in security.

Yes, I think I have been quite restrained in my assessment.

Thanks,

rik.

On Wed, Jun 5, 2019 at 10:59 AM Dave Page <dpage(at)pgadmin(dot)org> wrote:

> Richard,
>
> On Wed, Jun 5, 2019 at 3:22 PM richard coleman <
> rcoleman(dot)ascentgl(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>
>> Dave,
>>
>> And where would *that* be? pgAdmin4 the executable and the shared
>> library is located in /usr/bin/. There are *no* entries in /etc/ for
>> pgAdmin4. There is a pgadmin4.db in /home/u/.pgadmin/ but *no* config
>> files of any kind there either.
>>
>
> I have no idea, I don't use Ubuntu or any of it's derivatives and don't
> know where it installs. Have you tried searching for config.py? That is
> *not* optional, and must exist.
>
>
>> So it's looking like the only way to actually *use *the current version
>> of pgAdmin4 is to create an undocumented file (the help page says you can
>> use config.py as a reference, but guess what? That file doesn't exist
>> either.) in an unknown location, and manually add the magic string;
>>
>> "*MASTER_PASSWORD_REQUIRED=False"*
>>
>>
> I think that's a little hyperbolic don't you? It works as intended, with
> no changes required if you set the password and re-enter it when you
> restart pgAdmin. You only need to modify anything if you want to change the
> behaviour.
>
> And to be clear; if config.py is not present on your system, then there is
> no way pgAdmin will even start, let alone work.
>
>
>>
>> I get *why* you added this feature, but I think it was implemented *completely
>> backwards*. Instead of making *every* end user jump through these
>> ridiculous hoops just to *continue* to use pgAdmin4 as they had been up
>> to this point, a better option would be to allow security conscious sys
>> admins to add the configuration:
>>
>> "*MASTER_PASSWORD_REQUIRED=True"*
>>
>> to a non-user writable configuration file. In that way the vast majority
>> of people running pgAdmin4 can continue to do so and the few that
>> wanted/needed the added security could do so as well.
>>
>
> That is not how security works. Without the master password feature, there
> are possible attack vectors in which a stored password could be accessed by
> third parties. We aim for secure by default; if you don't care about the
> risk, then you can actively choose to run in a less secure way.
>
>
>>
>>
>> So, now I'm using dBeaver as I *can't* disable the Master Password
>> dialog box and pgAdmin4 won't let me *do* anything.
>>
>> Any other thoughts? Anyone?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> rik.
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 5, 2019 at 10:03 AM Dave Page <dpage(at)pgadmin(dot)org> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jun 5, 2019 at 2:44 PM richard coleman <
>>> rcoleman(dot)ascentgl(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dave,
>>>>
>>>> Sorry, but after an e*xhaustive* search of the several terabytes on my
>>>> machine, there is *no* config_local.py file. Do you have any idea
>>>> where it's supposed to be located?
>>>>
>>>
>>> You need to create it if it doesn't exist, in the same directory as
>>> pgAdmin's config.py.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> rik.
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Jun 5, 2019 at 9:30 AM Dave Page <dpage(at)pgadmin(dot)org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Jun 5, 2019 at 1:16 PM richard coleman <
>>>>> rcoleman(dot)ascentgl(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Cherio,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am sorry to inform you, but there is *no* mention of "config_local.py"
>>>>>> on that page, nor any indication of where I would find it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.pgadmin.org/docs/pgadmin4/4.x/desktop_deployment.html#configuration
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> rik.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Jun 4, 2019 at 5:06 PM Cherio <cherio(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Put "MASTER_PASSWORD_REQUIRED = False" line into your
>>>>>>> "lib/python?.?/site-packages/pgadmin4/config_local.py". This is in the
>>>>>>> docs: https://www.pgadmin.org/docs/pgadmin4/dev/master_password.html
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Tue, Jun 4, 2019 at 4:41 PM richard coleman <
>>>>>>> rcoleman(dot)ascentgl(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> To whomever,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Running a newly update pgAdmin 4 version 4.8 on my Kubuntu box.
>>>>>>>> There are a couple of glaring issues.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> First: It keeps prompting to; "Set Master Password"
>>>>>>>> I don't want to set another password that I'll just end up
>>>>>>>> forgetting.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Second: When I click the "?" button on that dialog box it takes me
>>>>>>>> to this page:
>>>>>>>> "http://127.0.0.1:33681/help/help/master_password.html"
>>>>>>>> Which returns "404 Not Found"
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hopefully there is a simple solution to these issues.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> rik.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Dave Page
>>>>> Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
>>>>> Twitter: @pgsnake
>>>>>
>>>>> EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
>>>>> The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dave Page
>>> Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
>>> Twitter: @pgsnake
>>>
>>> EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
>>> The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company
>>>
>>
>
> --
> Dave Page
> Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
> Twitter: @pgsnake
>
> EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
> The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company
>