FortressQL

Post-Quantum Cryptography for PostgreSQL

A hardened fork of PostgreSQL 17 with NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptography
integrated across TLS, authentication, transparent data encryption, replication, backups, and audit.

Admin Guide | Threat Model | Quick Start | Build from Source

Feature Status

Feature	Status	NIST Level	Algorithm
PQC TLS (hybrid key exchange)	Stable	Level 3	X25519MLKEM768
PQC Certificate Auth (pqc-cert)	Stable	Level 3	ML-DSA-65, SLH-DSA
PQC SCRAM-SHA-384 Auth	Stable	Level 3	SHA-384
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)	Stable	Level 3	AES-256-CTR + ML-KEM-768
WAL Signing	Stable	Level 3	ML-DSA-65
PQC-Encrypted Backups	Stable	Level 3	ML-KEM-768 + ML-DSA-65
Crypto Agility Engine	Stable	Level 3/5	Policy-driven
Hybrid Proof Logging	Stable	Level 3	Ed25519 + ML-DSA-65
pgcrypto_pqc Extension	Stable	Level 1-5	ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA

Quick Start

Get FortressQL running with PQC TLS in 5 minutes on Ubuntu 24.04.

# 1. Install dependencies
sudo apt install -y build-essential meson ninja-build cmake git \
    libssl-dev libreadline-dev zlib1g-dev flex bison pkg-config

# 2. Build and install liboqs
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs.git
cd liboqs && mkdir build && cd build
cmake -GNinja -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DOQS_BUILD_ONLY_LIB=ON ..
ninja && sudo ninja install && sudo ldconfig
cd ../..

# 3. Build FortressQL
cd sql-pqc
meson setup build -Dpqc=enabled -Dssl=openssl
meson compile -C build
sudo meson install -C build

# 4. Initialize and start
sudo -u postgres initdb -D /var/lib/fortressql/data
# Edit /var/lib/fortressql/data/postgresql.conf:
#   ssl = on
#   ssl_pqc_mode = 'hybrid'
#   ssl_cert_file = '/path/to/server.crt'
#   ssl_key_file = '/path/to/server.key'
sudo -u postgres pg_ctl -D /var/lib/fortressql/data start

# 5. Connect with PQC TLS
psql "host=localhost sslmode=require sslpqcgroups=X25519MLKEM768"

For production setup (TDE, WAL signing, authentication, key management), see the Administrator's Guide.

Why FortressQL?

Quantum computers threaten current cryptographic standards. The "harvest now, decrypt later" attack means data encrypted today with classical algorithms can be stored and decrypted once quantum computers mature. NIST has finalized three post-quantum cryptographic standards to address this threat.

FortressQL integrates these standards directly into PostgreSQL, providing quantum-resistant protection across every layer of the database stack.

For a detailed analysis of the threats FortressQL addresses (and does not address), see the Threat Model.

NIST PQC Algorithms

Algorithm	Standard	Purpose	Variants
ML-KEM	FIPS 203	Key Encapsulation	ML-KEM-512, ML-KEM-768, ML-KEM-1024
ML-DSA	FIPS 204	Digital Signatures	ML-DSA-44, ML-DSA-65, ML-DSA-87
SLH-DSA	FIPS 205	Hash-Based Signatures	12 variants (SHA-2 and SHAKE)

Features

PQC TLS Transport

Hybrid key exchange combining classical and post-quantum algorithms for defense-in-depth.

# postgresql.conf
ssl_pqc_mode = 'hybrid'                              # off | hybrid | pqc-only
ssl_pqc_groups = 'X25519MLKEM768:X25519:prime256v1'   # key exchange groups
ssl_pqc_sigalgs = 'mldsa65:ed25519'                   # certificate signature algorithms

# Client connection with PQC TLS
psql "host=localhost sslmode=require sslpqcgroups=X25519MLKEM768"

Monitor negotiated PQC groups via pg_stat_ssl:

SELECT pid, ssl_version, ssl_cipher, pqc_group FROM pg_stat_ssl;

PQC Authentication

Two new authentication methods in pg_hba.conf:

# PQC certificate authentication (ML-DSA / SLH-DSA certificates)
hostssl all all 0.0.0.0/0 pqc-cert

# SCRAM-SHA-384 (NIST Level 3 aligned)
hostssl all all 0.0.0.0/0 pqc-scram-sha-384

pqc-cert -- Verifies client certificates use post-quantum signature algorithms
pqc-scram-sha-384 -- SCRAM authentication with SHA-384 (48-byte keys)

pgcrypto_pqc Extension

SQL-callable PQC functions for application-level encryption:

CREATE EXTENSION pgcrypto_pqc;

-- Key Encapsulation (ML-KEM)
SELECT * FROM pqc_kem_keygen('ML-KEM-768');
SELECT * FROM pqc_kem_encapsulate(public_key, 'ML-KEM-768');
SELECT pqc_kem_decapsulate(ciphertext, secret_key, 'ML-KEM-768');

-- Digital Signatures (ML-DSA, SLH-DSA)
SELECT * FROM pqc_sig_keygen('ML-DSA-65');
SELECT pqc_sign('message'::bytea, secret_key, 'ML-DSA-65');
SELECT pqc_verify('message'::bytea, signature, public_key, 'ML-DSA-65');

-- Hybrid Encryption (ML-KEM + AES-256-GCM)
SELECT * FROM pqc_encrypt('sensitive data'::bytea, 'ML-KEM-768');
SELECT pqc_decrypt(encrypted_data, encapsulated_key, secret_key, 'ML-KEM-768');

-- Algorithm Discovery
SELECT * FROM pqc_algorithms();

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)

Encrypt heap pages, indexes, and WAL at rest using ML-KEM-derived keys with AES-256-CTR. No other PostgreSQL fork offers PQC-native encryption at rest.

# 1. Initialize the TDE master key (generates ML-KEM keypair)
export FORTRESSQL_KEM_SECRET_KEY=/etc/fortressql/kem_secret.key
pg_tde_master_key init --algorithm=ML-KEM-768 --data-dir=/var/lib/fortressql/data

# 2. Enable TDE in postgresql.conf
#   tde_enabled = on

Key hierarchy: Master Key (ML-KEM wrapped) -> Tablespace Keys (AES-256-GCM encrypted) -> Page IVs (HKDF derived)

-- Create an encryption key for a tablespace
CREATE ENCRYPTION KEY my_key ALGORITHM 'ML-KEM-768';
CREATE TABLESPACE secure_data LOCATION '/data/secure' ENCRYPTION KEY my_key;

-- All tables in the tablespace are transparently encrypted at rest
CREATE TABLE secrets (id int, data text) TABLESPACE secure_data;

Quantum-Safe WAL Signing

Every completed WAL segment is digitally signed with ML-DSA for tamper detection. Standbys verify signatures before applying WAL.

# postgresql.conf
wal_pqc_signing = on
wal_pqc_signing_algorithm = 'ML-DSA-65'
wal_pqc_key_path = '/etc/fortressql/wal_keys'
wal_pqc_verify_on_receive = on

PQC-Encrypted Backups

pg_dump and pg_restore support ML-KEM encrypted and ML-DSA signed backups:

# Create an encrypted + signed backup
pg_dump --pqc-encrypt --pqc-encrypt-key=recipient.pub \
        --pqc-sign --pqc-sign-key=signer.key \
        mydb > backup.dump

# Restore with decryption + signature verification
pg_restore --pqc-decrypt-key=recipient.key \
           --pqc-verify-key=signer.pub \
           backup.dump

Database Upgrades with TDE

FortressQL's pg_upgrade automatically migrates TDE encryption keys:

# Standard pg_upgrade — TDE keys are migrated automatically
pg_upgrade -b /old/bin -B /new/bin -d /old/data -D /new/data

# pg_upgrade detects TDE and copies master.key + master.pub
# with restrictive permissions (0600) and fsync for durability

No manual key copying is required. The upgrade process validates that the master key file was successfully transferred.

Base Backups with TDE

# Include TDE keys in backup (default)
pg_basebackup -D /backup/dir --tde-key-handling=include

# Exclude TDE keys (for less-secure storage locations)
pg_basebackup -D /backup/dir --tde-key-handling=exclude

# Verify TDE key presence without modifying
pg_basebackup -D /backup/dir --tde-key-handling=verify-only

Security note: Backups with --tde-key-handling=include contain cryptographic key material. Store them with the same security controls as your production database.

Crypto Agility Engine

One command to set the security posture across TLS, auth, encryption, and replication:

ALTER SYSTEM SET crypto_policy = 'fips-pqc-level3';
SELECT pg_reload_conf();

-- Cascades to:
--   password_encryption = 'scram-sha-384'
--   ssl_pqc_mode = 'hybrid'
--   ssl_pqc_groups = 'X25519MLKEM768:...'
--   ssl_pqc_sigalgs = 'mldsa65:mldsa87'

Available policies: legacy, transitional, fips-pqc-level3, fips-pqc-level5, custom

Batch-migrate existing credentials:

-- Report which users need credential upgrades
SELECT * FROM pqc_migrate_credentials('report');

-- Force password reset for all SHA-256 users
SELECT * FROM pqc_migrate_credentials('force-reset');

Monitor policy status:

SELECT * FROM pg_crypto_policy_status;

Hybrid Proof Logging

Tamper-evident audit log with dual classical (Ed25519) + PQC (ML-DSA) signatures and hash-chain integrity:

-- Initialize audit keys
SELECT pqc_audit_init_keys('Ed25519', 'ML-DSA-65');

-- Audit events are captured automatically for:
-- DDL (CREATE/ALTER/DROP ROLE), GRANT/REVOKE, ALTER SYSTEM
-- Enable via: SET pqc_audit.enabled = on;

-- Verify the entire audit chain
SELECT * FROM pqc_audit_verify_chain();

-- Manual dual-signing
SELECT * FROM pqc_audit_sign('important message'::bytea);

PQC Cluster Communication

Streaming replication inherits PQC TLS and WAL signing automatically:

# postgresql.conf on standby
primary_conninfo = 'host=primary sslmode=verify-full sslpqcmode=hybrid sslpqcgroups=X25519MLKEM768'

Architecture

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    FortressQL Server                          |
|                                                               |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|  |  Crypto Agility Engine                                  |  |
|  |  - crypto_policy = fips-pqc-level3 | level5 | custom    |  |
|  |  - Cascades to all layers below                         |  |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|                                                               |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|  |  PQC TLS Transport (OpenSSL 3.x + liboqs)               |  |
|  |  - Hybrid key exchange (X25519MLKEM768)                 |  |
|  |  - PQC certificate verification (ML-DSA, SLH-DSA)       |  |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|                                                               |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|  |  PQC Authentication                                     |  |
|  |  - pqc-cert (ML-DSA/SLH-DSA client certificates)        |  |
|  |  - pqc-scram-sha-384 (NIST Level 3)                     |  |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|                                                               |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|  |  Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)                      |  |
|  |  - AES-256-CTR page encryption (header cleartext)       |  |
|  |  - ML-KEM-768 master key wrapping                       |  |
|  |  - Per-tablespace data encryption keys                  |  |
|  |  - WAL encryption with XLP_ENCRYPTED flag               |  |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|                                                               |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|  |  Quantum-Safe Replication                               |  |
|  |  - ML-DSA signed WAL segments (.sig sidecar files)      |  |
|  |  - Signature verification on standbys                   |  |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|                                                               |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|  |  Hybrid Proof Logging                                   |  |
|  |  - Dual Ed25519 + ML-DSA signatures per audit entry     |  |
|  |  - SHA-384 hash chain for tamper evidence               |  |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|                                                               |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|  |  pgcrypto_pqc Extension + PQC Backups                   |  |
|  |  - SQL-callable KEM, signatures, hybrid encryption      |  |
|  |  - pg_dump --pqc-encrypt / --pqc-sign                   |  |
|  |  - Credential migration tooling                         |  |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|                                                               |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
|  |  PQC Abstraction Layer (liboqs)                         |  |
|  |  - Unified C API for ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA            |  |
|  |  - Secure memory management (explicit_bzero)            |  |
|  +--------------------------------------------------------+   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+

Building

Prerequisites

OpenSSL 3.0 or later (3.5+ recommended for native PQC support)
liboqs (Open Quantum Safe) -- required for PQC features
oqs-provider -- required for PQC TLS on OpenSSL < 3.5
meson 1.1+ and ninja -- build system
Standard PostgreSQL build dependencies (flex, bison, readline, zlib)

Build on Ubuntu 24.04

# Install dependencies
sudo apt install -y build-essential meson ninja-build cmake git pkg-config \
    flex bison libssl-dev libreadline-dev zlib1g-dev libxml2-dev \
    libxslt1-dev libicu-dev liblz4-dev libzstd-dev python3

# Build liboqs
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs.git
cd liboqs && mkdir build && cd build
cmake -GNinja -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DOQS_BUILD_ONLY_LIB=ON ..
ninja && sudo ninja install && sudo ldconfig
cd ../..

# Build oqs-provider (skip if OpenSSL >= 3.5)
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/oqs-provider.git
cd oqs-provider && mkdir build && cd build
cmake -GNinja -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local -Dliboqs_DIR=/usr/local/lib/cmake/liboqs ..
ninja && sudo ninja install
cd ../..

# Build FortressQL
cd sql-pqc
meson setup build -Dssl=openssl -Dpqc=enabled
meson compile -C build
sudo meson install -C build

For RHEL/Rocky 9 and detailed configuration, see the Administrator's Guide.

Build Options

Option	Values	Default	Description
`-Dpqc`	`enabled`, `disabled`, `auto`	`auto`	PQC support (auto-detects liboqs)
`-Dssl`	`openssl`	--	Required for TLS features
`-Dcassert`	`true`, `false`	`false`	Enable C assertion checks (testing only)

Run Tests

cd build
meson test --suite pqc --print-errorlogs    # PQC-specific tests
meson test --suite regress --print-errorlogs # Core regression tests

Compatibility

PQC disabled: Produces binaries identical to vanilla PostgreSQL 17
All PQC code is guarded by #ifdef USE_PQC compile flags
Hybrid-first defaults: Classical algorithms always included as fallback
Client compatibility: Non-PQC clients connect normally via classical TLS

Configuration Reference

Server (postgresql.conf)

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
Crypto Policy
`crypto_policy`	enum	`custom`	`legacy`, `transitional`, `fips-pqc-level3`, `fips-pqc-level5`, `custom`
PQC TLS
`ssl_pqc_mode`	enum	`hybrid`	`off`, `hybrid`, or `pqc-only`
`ssl_pqc_groups`	string	`X25519MLKEM768:X25519:prime256v1`	Key exchange groups
`ssl_pqc_sigalgs`	string	(empty)	TLS signature algorithms
Transparent Data Encryption
`tde_enabled`	bool	`off`	Enable TDE for data at rest
WAL Signing
`wal_pqc_signing`	bool	`off`	Enable ML-DSA signing of WAL segments
`wal_pqc_signing_algorithm`	string	`ML-DSA-65`	Signature algorithm for WAL
`wal_pqc_key_path`	string	(empty)	Path to WAL signing keypair
`wal_pqc_verify_on_receive`	bool	`on`	Verify WAL signatures on standbys
Audit
`pqc_audit.enabled`	bool	`off`	Enable hybrid proof logging
`pqc_audit.events`	string	`ddl,auth,policy,grant`	Event categories to audit

For detailed parameter descriptions, defaults, and recommended values, see the Administrator's Guide.

Client (connection string)

Parameter	Description
`sslpqcmode`	PQC mode: `off`, `hybrid`, `pqc-only`
`sslpqcgroups`	Key exchange groups (colon-separated)

pg_dump / pg_restore

Option	Description
`--pqc-encrypt`	Enable ML-KEM encrypted backup
`--pqc-encrypt-key=FILE`	Recipient's ML-KEM public key
`--pqc-encrypt-algorithm=ALG`	KEM algorithm (default: ML-KEM-768)
`--pqc-sign`	Enable ML-DSA signed backup
`--pqc-sign-key=FILE`	Signer's ML-DSA secret key
`--pqc-sign-algorithm=ALG`	Signature algorithm (default: ML-DSA-65)
`--pqc-decrypt-key=FILE`	Recipient's ML-KEM secret key (restore)
`--pqc-verify-key=FILE`	Signer's ML-DSA public key (restore)

Documentation

Administrator's Guide -- Installation, configuration, key management, backup, monitoring, and troubleshooting
Threat Model -- Threat landscape, protection matrix, scope boundaries, and compliance mapping (SOC 2, HIPAA, FedRAMP, CMMC)
Upgrade Guide -- Migration from PostgreSQL 17, version upgrades, and PQC feature enablement
Backup & Restore -- Backup procedures with TDE, key management, and disaster recovery
Security Posture -- Security audit status, validated components, and production recommendations

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. FortressQL follows the same development practices as PostgreSQL.

Getting Started

Fork the repository and create a feature branch
Build with assertions enabled: meson setup build -Dpqc=enabled -Dssl=openssl -Dcassert=true
Run the full test suite: meson test -C build --print-errorlogs
Submit a pull request with a clear description of the change

Guidelines

All PQC code must be guarded by #ifdef USE_PQC so that builds with -Dpqc=disabled produce vanilla PostgreSQL binaries
New PQC features must include regression tests in the pqc test suite
Follow PostgreSQL coding conventions (C99, tabs for indentation, comment style)
Cryptographic code must use the PQC abstraction layer (src/common/pqc/) rather than calling liboqs directly
Security-sensitive changes should include a brief threat analysis in the PR description
Sensitive key material must be zeroed after use with explicit_bzero()

Reporting Security Issues

If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it privately. Do not open a public issue. Send details to the maintainers via the process described in SECURITY.md.

License

FortressQL is released under the PostgreSQL License, the same permissive open-source license as PostgreSQL.

Acknowledgments

PostgreSQL -- The foundation
Open Quantum Safe (liboqs) -- PQC algorithm implementations
NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography -- Standards

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
config		config
contrib		contrib
doc		doc
docs		docs
src		src
.abi-compliance-history		.abi-compliance-history
.cirrus.star		.cirrus.star
.cirrus.tasks.yml		.cirrus.tasks.yml
.cirrus.yml		.cirrus.yml
.dir-locals.el		.dir-locals.el
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.git-blame-ignore-revs		.git-blame-ignore-revs
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
COPYRIGHT		COPYRIGHT
GNUmakefile.in		GNUmakefile.in
HISTORY		HISTORY
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
RELEASE.md		RELEASE.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
aclocal.m4		aclocal.m4
configure		configure
configure.ac		configure.ac
logo.svg		logo.svg
meson.build		meson.build
meson_options.txt		meson_options.txt

Latest commit

History

Folders and files

Repository files navigation

FortressQL

Feature Status

Quick Start

Why FortressQL?

NIST PQC Algorithms

Features

PQC TLS Transport

PQC Authentication

pgcrypto_pqc Extension

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)

Quantum-Safe WAL Signing

PQC-Encrypted Backups

Database Upgrades with TDE

Base Backups with TDE

Crypto Agility Engine

Hybrid Proof Logging

PQC Cluster Communication

Architecture

Building

Prerequisites

Build on Ubuntu 24.04

Build Options

Run Tests

Compatibility

Configuration Reference

Server (postgresql.conf)

Client (connection string)

pg_dump / pg_restore

Documentation

Contributing

Getting Started

Guidelines

Reporting Security Issues

License

Acknowledgments

About

Resources

Contributing

Security policy

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

Packages

Contributors

Languages