Re: BUG #4074: Using SESSION_USER or CURRENT_USER in a view definition is unsafe

Lars Olson wrote:
> Creating a view that depends on the value of SESSION_USER enables a
> minimally-privileged user to write a user-defined function that contains a
> trojan-horse to get arbitrary data from the base table.  Using CURRENT_USER
> instead still enables a similar vulnerability.
>
> To reproduce the problem, create three users, alice (base table owner), bob
> (attacker), and carol (other minimally-privileged user).  As Alice, create
> the following table and view:
> ...

This seems to be an instance of the general trojan-horse problem
discussed here:

http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-hackers/2008-01/msg00268.php

In a nutshell, it's just not safe to access a view or function owned by
a user you don't trust. :-(

--
   Heikki Linnakangas
   EnterpriseDB   http://www.enterprisedb.com