Possible SSL improvements for a newcomer to tackle

From: Zeus Kronion <zkronion(at)gmail(dot)com>
To: pgsql-hackers(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Possible SSL improvements for a newcomer to tackle
Date: 2017-10-03 04:15:56
Message-ID: CAA0N8QjjvCz4AEUOY_zsYoEujuRPywhVdTXkZLwERhqBYY6UtQ@mail.gmail.com
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I previously made one minuscule contribution to the project two years ago.
I'm interested in doing some more, and I'm trying to figure out what to
focus on. Two SSL-related projects caught my attention:
1) Allow automatic selection of SSL client certificates from a certificate
store (https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/8766.1241799013@sss.pgh.pa.us).
It seems relatively straightforward to support an additional file format
for key-value pairs in postgresql.crt/.key, and I think this is something I
could take on if it's still desired.
2) I was surprised to learn the following from the docs:

> By default, PostgreSQL will not perform any verification of the server
certificate. This means that it is possible to spoof the server identity
(for example by modifying a DNS record or by taking over the server IP
address) without the client knowing. In order to prevent spoofing, SSL
certificate
verification must be used.

Is there a technical reason to perform no verification by default? Wouldn't
a safer default be desirable?

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