Skip to content
ATO Pathways
Log In
Overview
Search
Catalogs
SCAP
OSCAL
Catalogs
Profiles
Resources
Documents
Publishers
References
Knowledge Base
Platform Documentation
Compliance Dictionary
Platform Changelog
About
Catalogs
XCCDF
MS SQL Server 2016 Instance Security Technical Implementation Guide
SRG-APP-000001-DB-000031
SRG-APP-000001-DB-000031
An XCCDF Group - A logical subset of the XCCDF Benchmark
Details
Profiles
Prose
SRG-APP-000001-DB-000031
1 Rule
SQL Server must limit the number of concurrent sessions to an organization-defined number per user for all accounts and/or account types.
Medium Severity
Database management includes the ability to control the number of users and user sessions utilizing SQL Server. Unlimited concurrent connections to SQL Server could allow a successful denial-of-service (DoS) attack by exhausting connection resources; and a system can also fail or be degraded by an overload of legitimate users. Limiting the number of concurrent sessions is helpful in reducing these risks. This requirement addresses concurrent session control for a single account. It does not address concurrent sessions by a single user via multiple system accounts. The capability to limit the number of concurrent sessions per user must be configured in or added to SQL Server (for example, by use of a logon trigger), when this is technically feasible. Note that it is not sufficient to limit sessions via a web server or application server alone, because legitimate users and adversaries can potentially connect to SQL Server by other means. The organization will need to define the maximum number of concurrent sessions by account type, by account, or a combination thereof. In deciding on the appropriate number, it is important to consider the work requirements of the various types of users. For example, 2 might be an acceptable limit for general users accessing the database via an application; but 10 might be too few for a database administrator using a database management GUI tool, where each query tab and navigation pane may count as a separate session. (Sessions may also be referred to as connections or logons, which for the purposes of this requirement are synonyms.)