MS SQL Server 2014 Instance Security Technical Implementation Guide
Rules, Groups, and Values defined within the XCCDF Benchmark
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The SQL Server default account [sa] must be disabled.
SQL Server's [sa] account has special privileges required to administer the database. The [sa] account is a well-known SQL Server account and is likely to be targeted by attackers and thus more pro...Rule Medium Severity -
Access to xp_cmdshell must be disabled, unless specifically required and approved.
Information systems are capable of providing a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services, provided by default, may not be necessary to support essential organizatio...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must be configured to prohibit or restrict the use of unauthorized network protocols.
Information systems are capable of providing a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services, provided by default, may not be necessary to support essential organizatio...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must be configured to prohibit or restrict the use of unauthorized network ports.
Information systems are capable of providing a wide variety of functions and services. Some of the functions and services, provided by default, may not be necessary to support essential organizatio...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must uniquely identify and authenticate organizational users (or processes acting on behalf of organizational users).
To ensure accountability and prevent unauthorized SQL Server access, organizational users shall be identified and authenticated. Organizational users include organizational employees and individua...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must uniquely identify and authenticate non-organizational users (or processes acting on behalf of non-organizational users).
Non-organizational users include all information system users other than organizational users, which include organizational employees or individuals the organization deems to have equivalent status...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must be configured to separate user functionality (including user interface services) from database management functionality.
Information system management functionality includes functions necessary to administer databases, network components, workstations, or servers and typically requires privileged user access. The s...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must isolate security functions from nonsecurity functions.
An isolation boundary provides access control and protects the integrity of the hardware, software, and firmware that perform security functions. Security functions are defined as "the hardware, ...Rule Medium Severity -
Where SQL Server Audit is in use, SQL Server must generate audit records when unsuccessful attempts to retrieve privileges/permissions occur.
Under some circumstances, it may be useful to monitor who/what is reading privilege/permission/role information. Therefore, it must be possible to configure auditing to do this. DBMSs typically mak...Rule Medium Severity -
Where availability is paramount, the SQL Server must continue processing (preferably overwriting existing records, oldest first), in the event of lack of space for more Audit/Trace log records; and must keep processing after any failure of an Audit/Trace.
It is critical that when SQL Server is at risk of failing to process audit logs as required, it take action to mitigate the failure. Audit processing failures include: software/hardware errors; fai...Rule High Severity -
The role(s)/group(s) used to modify database structure (including but not necessarily limited to tables, indexes, storage, etc.) and logic modules (stored procedures, functions, triggers, links to software external to SQL Server, etc.) must be restricted to authorized users.
If SQL Server were to allow any user to make changes to database structure or logic, then those changes might be implemented without undergoing the appropriate testing and approvals that are part o...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must use NIST FIPS 140-2 or 140-3 validated cryptographic modules for cryptographic operations.
Use of weak or not validated cryptographic algorithms undermines the purposes of utilizing encryption and digital signatures to protect data. Weak algorithms can be easily broken and not validated ...Rule High Severity -
SQL Server must automatically terminate a user session after organization-defined conditions or trigger events requiring session disconnect.
This addresses the termination of user-initiated logical sessions in contrast to the termination of network connections that are associated with communications sessions (i.e., network disconnect). ...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must allocate audit record storage capacity in accordance with organization-defined audit record storage requirements.
In order to ensure sufficient storage capacity for the audit logs, SQL Server must be able to allocate audit record storage capacity. Although another requirement (SRG-APP-000515-DB-000318) mandate...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must prohibit user installation of logic modules (stored procedures, functions, triggers, views, etc.) without explicit privileged status.
Allowing regular users to install software, without explicit privileges, creates the risk that untested or potentially malicious software will be installed on the system. Explicit privileges (escal...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must implement and/or support cryptographic mechanisms preventing the unauthorized disclosure of organization-defined information at rest on organization-defined information system components.
DBMSs handling data requiring "data at rest" protections must employ cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure and modification of the information at rest. These cryptographic mec...Rule Medium Severity -
Software updates to SQL Server must be tested before being applied to production systems.
While it is important to apply SQL Server updates in a timely manner, it is also incumbent upon the database administrator and/or system administrator to ensure that their deployment will not inter...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must produce Trace or Audit records when security objects are accessed.
Changes to the security configuration must be tracked. This requirement applies to situations where security data is retrieved or modified via data manipulation operations, as opposed to via SQL ...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must generate Trace or Audit records when privileges/permissions are deleted.
Changes in the permissions, privileges, and roles granted to users and roles must be tracked. Without an audit trail, unauthorized elevation or restriction of privileges could go undetected. Elevat...Rule Medium Severity -
SQL Server must generate Trace or Audit records for all privileged activities or other system-level access.
Without tracking privileged activity, it would be difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one. System documentation...Rule Medium Severity
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