cis-gcp-foundations-6-2-5

name	cis-gcp-foundations-6.2.5
description	Ensure That the 'Log_min_messages' Flag for a Cloud SQL PostgreSQL Instance Is Set at Minimum to 'Warning'
category	cis-gcp-foundations
version	4.0.0
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["cis","gcp","cloud-sql","postgresql"]
cis_id	6.2.5
cis_benchmark	CIS Google Cloud Platform Foundation Benchmark v4.0.0
tech_stack	["gcp"]
cwe_ids	[]
chains_with	[]
prerequisites	[]
severity_boost	{}

6.2.5 Ensure That the 'Log_min_messages' Flag for a Cloud SQL PostgreSQL Instance Is Set at Minimum to 'Warning' (Automated)

Profile Applicability

• Level 1

Description

The log_min_messages flag defines the minimum message severity level that is considered as an error statement. Messages for error statements are logged with the SQL statement. Valid values include (from lowest to highest severity) DEBUG5, DEBUG4, DEBUG3, DEBUG2, DEBUG1, INFO, NOTICE, WARNING, ERROR, LOG, FATAL, and PANIC. Each severity level includes the subsequent levels mentioned above. ERROR is considered the best practice setting. Changes should only be made in accordance with the organization's logging policy.

Rationale

Auditing helps in troubleshooting operational problems and also permits forensic analysis. If log_min_messages is not set to the correct value, messages may not be classified as error messages appropriately. Setting the threshold to 'Warning' will log messages for the most needed error messages.

This recommendation is applicable to PostgreSQL database instances.

Impact

Setting the threshold too low will might result in increased log storage size and length, making it difficult to find actual errors. Higher severity levels may cause errors needed to troubleshoot to not be logged. An organization will need to decide their own threshold for logging log_min_messages flag.

Note: To effectively turn off logging failing statements, set this parameter to PANIC.

Audit

From Google Cloud Console

1. Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Console by visiting https://console.cloud.google.com/sql/instances.
2. Select the instance to open its Instance Overview page.
3. Go to the Configuration card.
4. Under Database flags, check the value of log_min_messages flag is set to warning or higher (WARNING|ERROR|LOG|FATAL|PANIC).

From Google Cloud CLI

1. Use the below command for every Cloud SQL PostgreSQL database instance to verify that the value of log_min_messages is set to or higher.