Secure schema information

The schema information and corresponding operation information is stored in system and system_schema keyspaces. By default when HCD Unified Authentication is enabled, roles are granted full access to the following tables.

System keyspace access permissions
Keyspace Table Default access

system

local

FULLNote

peers

FULLNote

size_estimates

Full

available_ranges

Full

sstable_activity

NONE

IndexInfo

NONE

built_views

NONE

views_builds_in_progress

NONE

batches

NONE

paxos

NONE

peer_events

NONE

range_xfers

NONE

compaction_history

NONE

transferred_ranges

NONE

prepared_statements

NONE

repairs

NONE

nodesync_checkpoints

NONE

system_schema

aggregates

Full

columns

Full

dropped_columns

Full

hidden_columns

Full

edges (Graph)

Full

functions

Full

indexes

Full

keyspaces

Full

tables

Full

triggers

Full

types

Full

vertices (Graph)

Full

views

Full

All roles have full access to the local and peers tables even if filtering is enabled.

By default, roles do NOT have access to data in the system_auth, system_traces, and system_distributed keyspaces. To allow access grant SELECT permission on the keyspace or table.

Example

The following uses an internal non-superuser account, martin.

  1. Create internal login role using cqlsh:

    CREATE ROLE martin WITH LOGIN = true AND PASSWORD = 'password';
  2. Login as martin:

    LOGIN martin
  3. Count the number of tables in system_schema.tables that martin can list:

    SELECT count(*) FROM system_schema.tables;

    The results is the number of tables that exist cluster-wide.

     count
    -------
        75
    
    (1 rows)

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