From 34eff9bd65ca051c3ba173476e3f9360ee0d51b9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Peter Eisentraut Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2018 11:29:23 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] doc: Update mentions of MD5 in the documentation --- doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml | 34 +++++++++------------------------- 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml index d162acb2e8..71f02300c2 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/runtime.sgml @@ -2023,16 +2023,18 @@ Encryption Options - Password Storage Encryption + Password Encryption - By default, database user passwords are stored as MD5 hashes, so - the administrator cannot determine the actual password assigned - to the user. If MD5 encryption is used for client authentication, - the unencrypted password is never even temporarily present on the - server because the client MD5-encrypts it before being sent - across the network. + Database user passwords are stored as hashes (determined by the setting + ), so the administrator cannot + determine the actual password assigned to the user. If SCRAM or MD5 + encryption is used for client authentication, the unencrypted password is + never even temporarily present on the server because the client encrypts + it before being sent across the network. SCRAM is preferred, because it + is an Internet standard and is more secure than the PostgreSQL-specific + MD5 authentication protocol. @@ -2086,24 +2088,6 @@ Encryption Options - - Encrypting Passwords Across A Network - - - - The MD5 authentication method double-encrypts the - password on the client before sending it to the server. It first - MD5-encrypts it based on the user name, and then encrypts it - based on a random salt sent by the server when the database - connection was made. It is this double-encrypted value that is - sent over the network to the server. Double-encryption not only - prevents the password from being discovered, it also prevents - another connection from using the same encrypted password to - connect to the database server at a later time. - - - - Encrypting Data Across A Network -- 2.16.1