Clickhouse Security Basics

---
name: clickhouse-security-basics
description: |
  Secure ClickHouse with user management, network restrictions, TLS, and audit logging.
  Use when hardening a ClickHouse deployment, creating restricted users,
  or configuring network-level access controls.
  Trigger: "clickhouse security", "clickhouse user management", "secure clickhouse",
  "clickhouse TLS", "clickhouse access control", "clickhouse firewall".
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Grep
version: 1.0.0
license: MIT
author: Jeremy Longshore <jeremy@intentsolutions.io>
tags: [saas, database, analytics, clickhouse, olap]
compatible-with: claude-code
---

# 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)

```sql
-- 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

```sql
-- 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

```sql
-- 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

```xml
<!-- 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
-- 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

```xml
<!-- 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

```sql
-- 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

```typescript
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](https://clickhouse.com/docs/operations/access-rights)
- [GRANT Statement](https://clickhouse.com/docs/sql-reference/statements/grant)
- [Row Policies](https://clickhouse.com/docs/knowledgebase/row-column-policy)
- [ClickHouse Cloud Access Management](https://clickhouse.com/docs/cloud/security/cloud-access-management/overview)

## Next Steps

For production deployment, see `clickhouse-prod-checklist`.