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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
PostgreSQL Database Management System ===================================== This directory contains the source code distribution of the PostgreSQL database management system. PostgreSQL is an advanced object-relational database management system that supports an extended subset of the SQL standard, including transactions, foreign keys, subqueries, triggers, user-defined types and functions. This distribution also contains C language bindings. PostgreSQL has many language interfaces, many of which are listed here: https://www.postgresql.org/download See the file INSTALL for instructions on how to build and install PostgreSQL. That file also lists supported operating systems and hardware platforms and contains information regarding any other software packages that are required to build or run the PostgreSQL system. Copyright and license information can be found in the file COPYRIGHT. A comprehensive documentation set is included in this distribution; it can be read as described in the installation instructions. The latest version of this software may be obtained at https://www.postgresql.org/download/. For more information look at our web site located at https://www.postgresql.org/.