The Service Master Key must be backed up, stored offline and off-site.
An XCCDF Rule
Description
<VulnDiscussion>Backup and recovery of the Service Master Key may be critical to the complete recovery of the database. Creating this backup should be one of the first administrative actions performed on the server. Not having this key can lead to loss of data during recovery.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>
- ID
- SV-213973r879642_rule
- Severity
- Medium
- References
- Updated
Remediation - Manual Procedure
Document and implement procedures to safely back up and store the Service Master Key. Include in the procedures methods to establish evidence of backup and storage, and careful, restricted access and restoration of the Service Master Key. Also, include provisions to store the key off-site.
BACKUP SERVICE MASTER KEY TO FILE = 'path_to_file'
ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = 'password';
As this requires a password, take care to ensure it is not exposed to unauthorized persons or stored as plain text.