ClickHouse Security Basics

Overview

Secure a ClickHouse deployment with SQL-based user management, network restrictions, TLS encryption, and query audit logging.

Prerequisites

• ClickHouse admin access
• CLICKHOUSE_DEFAULT_ACCESS_MANAGEMENT=1 for SQL-based user management
• For self-hosted: access to server config files

Instructions

Step 1: Create Restricted Users (SQL-Based RBAC)

-- Create a read-only analyst user
CREATE USER analyst
    IDENTIFIED WITH sha256_password BY 'strong-password-here'
    DEFAULT DATABASE analytics
    SETTINGS
        readonly = 1,                -- Read-only mode
        max_memory_usage = 5000000000,  -- 5GB per query
        max_execution_time = 60;     -- 60s timeout

GRANT SELECT ON analytics.* TO analyst;

-- Create an application user with insert permissions
CREATE USER app_writer
    IDENTIFIED WITH sha256_password BY 'another-strong-password'
    DEFAULT DATABASE analytics;

GRANT SELECT, INSERT ON analytics.* TO app_writer;
-- Explicitly deny destructive operations
REVOKE DROP, ALTER, CREATE ON *.* FROM app_writer;

-- Create an admin user
CREATE USER ch_admin
    IDENTIFIED WITH sha256_password BY 'admin-password'
    SETTINGS PROFILE 'default';

GRANT ALL ON *.* TO ch_admin WITH GRANT OPTION;

Step 2: Use Roles for Permission Groups

-- Create reusable roles
CREATE ROLE data_reader;
GRANT SELECT ON analytics.* TO data_reader;

CREATE ROLE data_writer;
GRANT SELECT, INSERT ON analytics.* TO data_writer;

CREATE ROLE schema_admin;
GRANT CREATE TABLE, ALTER TABLE, DROP TABLE ON analytics.* TO schema_admin;

-- Assign roles to users
GRANT data_reader TO analyst;
GRANT data_writer TO app_writer;
GRANT schema_admin, data_writer TO ch_admin;

-- Verify grants
SHOW GRANTS FOR analyst;
SHOW GRANTS FOR app_writer;

Step 3: Row-Level Security

-- Create a row policy: tenant users only see their own data
CREATE ROW POLICY tenant_isolation ON analytics.events
    FOR SELECT
    USING tenant_id = currentUser()  -- or a mapped value
    TO data_reader;

-- More practical: map users to tenant IDs via settings
CREATE USER tenant_42
    IDENTIFIED WITH sha256_password BY 'pass'
    SETTINGS custom_tenant_id = 42;

CREATE ROW POLICY tenant_filter ON analytics.events
    FOR SELECT
    USING tenant_id = getSetting('custom_tenant_id')
    TO tenant_42;

Step 4: Network Security

<!-- config.xml — restrict listen addresses -->
<listen_host>0.0.0.0</listen_host>  <!-- or specific IP -->

<!-- IP allowlist per user -->
<users>
    <app_writer>
        <networks>
            <ip>10.0.0.0/8</ip>          <!-- VPC only -->
            <ip>172.16.0.0/12</ip>
        </networks>
    </app_writer>
</users>

-- SQL-based network restriction (ClickHouse 22.6+)
CREATE USER app_writer
    IDENTIFIED WITH sha256_password BY 'pass'
    HOST IP '10.0.0.0/8', IP '172.16.0.0/12';

ClickHouse Cloud: Use the Cloud console IP Access List to restrict connections to specific IPs or CIDR ranges.

Step 5: TLS Configuration

<!-- config.xml — enable TLS for HTTPS (port 8443) -->
<https_port>8443</https_port>
<openSSL>
    <server>
        <certificateFile>/etc/clickhouse-server/server.crt</certificateFile>
        <privateKeyFile>/etc/clickhouse-server/server.key</privateKeyFile>
        <caConfig>/etc/clickhouse-server/ca.crt</caConfig>
        <verificationMode>strict</verificationMode>
    </server>
</openSSL>

Step 6: Audit Logging

-- Enable query logging (on by default)
-- All queries are logged to system.query_log

-- Check who ran what queries
SELECT
    event_time,
    user,
    client_hostname,
    query_kind,
    substring(query, 1, 200) AS query_preview,
    exception_code
FROM system.query_log
WHERE event_time >= now() - INTERVAL 1 HOUR
  AND user NOT IN ('default')  -- skip system queries
ORDER BY event_time DESC
LIMIT 50;

-- Track failed login attempts
SELECT
    event_time, user, client_hostname, exception
FROM system.query_log
WHERE exception_code = 516  -- AUTHENTICATION_FAILED
ORDER BY event_time DESC;

Step 7: Application Connection Security

import { createClient } from '@clickhouse/client';

// Production: always use TLS, minimal-privilege user
const client = createClient({
  url: 'https://your-host:8443',        // HTTPS, not HTTP
  username: 'app_writer',                // Not 'default'
  password: process.env.CH_PASSWORD!,    // From secret manager
  database: 'analytics',                 // Explicit database
  clickhouse_settings: {
    readonly: 0,                          // Matches user's permission level
  },
});

Security Checklist

• Default password changed or default user disabled
• Application users created with minimal privileges
• Roles used for permission groups
• TLS enabled for all connections (port 8443)
• IP allowlists configured (Cloud: console; self-hosted: config)
• Query logging enabled (system.query_log)
• Row policies for multi-tenant isolation (if needed)
• Secrets stored in environment variables or secret manager
• .env files in .gitignore

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
Authentication failed (516)	Wrong password or user	Verify credentials
ACCESS_DENIED (497)	Missing GRANT	SHOW GRANTS FOR user to diagnose
READONLY (164)	User in readonly mode	Grant write if needed
Not enough privileges	Row policy blocking	Check SHOW ROW POLICIES

Resources

• Access Control & Account Management
• GRANT Statement
• Row Policies
• ClickHouse Cloud Access Management

Next Steps

For production deployment, see clickhouse-prod-checklist.