STIGQter STIGQter: STIG Summary: MS SQL Server 2014 Instance Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 1 Release: 10 Benchmark Date: 24 Apr 2020:

The audit information produced by SQL Server must be protected from unauthorized deletion.

DISA Rule

SV-82283r2_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-67793

Group Title

SRG-APP-000120-DB-000061

Rule Version

SQL4-00-013800

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Modify audit file permissions to meet the requirement to protect against unauthorized deletion.

Navigate to audit folder location(s) using a command prompt or Windows Explorer. Right-click on the file, click Properties.
On the Security tab, modify the security permissions to:
Administrator(read)
Users (none)
Audit Administrator(Full Control)
Auditors group (Read)
SQL Server Service SID OR Service Account (Full Control) [Notes 1, 2]
SQL Server SQL Agent Service SID OR Service Account, if SQL Server Agent is in use. (Read, Execute, Write) [Notes 1, 2]

-----

Note 1: It is highly advisable to use a separate account for each service. When installing SQL Server in single-server mode, you can opt to have these provisioned for you. These automatically-generated accounts are referred to as virtual accounts. Each virtual account has an equivalent Service SID, with the same name. The installer also creates an equivalent SQL Server login, also with the same name. Applying folder and file permissions to Service SIDs, rather than to domain accounts or local computer accounts, provides tighter control, because these permissions are available only to the specific service when it is running, and not in any other context. (However, when using failover clustering, a domain account must be specified at installation, rather than a virtual account.) For more on this topic, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143504(v=sql.120).aspx.

Note 2: Tips for adding a service SID/virtual account to a folder's permission list.
1) In Windows Explorer, right-click on the folder and select "Properties."
2) Select the "Security" tab
3) Click "Edit"
4) Click "Add"
5) Click "Locations"
6) Select the computer name
7) Search for the name
7.a) SQL Server Service
7.a.i) Type "NT SERVICE\MSSQL" and click "Check Names". (What you have just typed in is the first 16 characters of the name. At least one character must follow "NT SERVICE\"; you will be presented with a list of all matches. If you have typed in the full, correct name, step 7.a.ii is bypassed.)
7.a.ii) Select the "MSSQL$<instance name>" user and click OK
7.b) SQL Agent Service
7.b.i) Type "NT SERVICE\SQL" and click "Check Names"
7.b.ii) Select the "SQLAgent$<instance name>" user and click OK
8) Click OK
9) Permission like a normal user from here

Check Contents

Obtain the SQL Server audit file location(s) by running the following SQL script:
SELECT DISTINCT
LEFT(path, (LEN(path) - CHARINDEX('\',REVERSE(path)) + 1)) AS "Audit Path"
FROM sys.traces
UNION
SELECT log_file_path AS "Audit Path"
FROM sys.server_file_audits

For each audit, the path column will give the location of the file.

Verify that all audit files have the correct permissions by doing the following for each audit file: Navigate to audit folder location(s) using a command prompt or Windows Explorer.

Right-click the file/folder, click Properties. On the Security tab, verify that at most the following permissions are applied:
Administrator(read)
Users (none)
Audit Administrator (Full Control)
Auditors group (Read)
SQL Server Service SID OR Service Account (Full Control) [Notes 1, 2]
SQL Server SQL Agent Service SID OR Service Account, if SQL Server Agent is in use. (Read, Execute, Write) [Notes 1, 2]

If any less restrictive permissions are present and not specifically justified and approved in the system security plan, this is a finding.

If less restrictive permissions are present and specifically justified and approved in the system security plan, this is not a finding.

-----

Note 1: It is highly advisable to use a separate account for each service. When installing SQL Server in single-server mode, you can opt to have these provisioned for you. These automatically-generated accounts are referred to as virtual accounts. Each virtual account has an equivalent Service SID, with the same name. The installer also creates an equivalent SQL Server login, also with the same name. Applying folder and file permissions to Service SIDs, rather than to domain accounts or local computer accounts, provides tighter control, because these permissions are available only to the specific service when it is running, and not in any other context. (However, when using failover clustering, a domain account must be specified at installation, rather than a virtual account.) For more on this topic, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143504(v=sql.120).aspx.

Note 2: Tips for adding a service SID/virtual account to a folder's permission list.
1) In Windows Explorer, right-click on the folder and select "Properties."
2) Select the "Security" tab
3) Click "Edit"
4) Click "Add"
5) Click "Locations"
6) Select the computer name
7) Search for the name
7.a) SQL Server Service
7.a.i) Type "NT SERVICE\MSSQL" and click "Check Names". (What you have just typed in is the first 16 characters of the name. At least one character must follow "NT SERVICE\"; you will be presented with a list of all matches. If you have typed in the full, correct name, step 7.a.ii is bypassed.)
7.a.ii) Select the "MSSQL$<instance name>" user and click OK
7.b) SQL Agent Service
7.b.i) Type "NT SERVICE\SQL" and click "Check Names"
7.b.ii) Select the "SQLAgent$<instance name>" user and click OK
8) Click OK
9) Permission like a normal user from here

Vulnerability Number

V-67793

Documentable

False

Rule Version

SQL4-00-013800

Severity Override Guidance

Obtain the SQL Server audit file location(s) by running the following SQL script:
SELECT DISTINCT
LEFT(path, (LEN(path) - CHARINDEX('\',REVERSE(path)) + 1)) AS "Audit Path"
FROM sys.traces
UNION
SELECT log_file_path AS "Audit Path"
FROM sys.server_file_audits

For each audit, the path column will give the location of the file.

Verify that all audit files have the correct permissions by doing the following for each audit file: Navigate to audit folder location(s) using a command prompt or Windows Explorer.

Right-click the file/folder, click Properties. On the Security tab, verify that at most the following permissions are applied:
Administrator(read)
Users (none)
Audit Administrator (Full Control)
Auditors group (Read)
SQL Server Service SID OR Service Account (Full Control) [Notes 1, 2]
SQL Server SQL Agent Service SID OR Service Account, if SQL Server Agent is in use. (Read, Execute, Write) [Notes 1, 2]

If any less restrictive permissions are present and not specifically justified and approved in the system security plan, this is a finding.

If less restrictive permissions are present and specifically justified and approved in the system security plan, this is not a finding.

-----

Note 1: It is highly advisable to use a separate account for each service. When installing SQL Server in single-server mode, you can opt to have these provisioned for you. These automatically-generated accounts are referred to as virtual accounts. Each virtual account has an equivalent Service SID, with the same name. The installer also creates an equivalent SQL Server login, also with the same name. Applying folder and file permissions to Service SIDs, rather than to domain accounts or local computer accounts, provides tighter control, because these permissions are available only to the specific service when it is running, and not in any other context. (However, when using failover clustering, a domain account must be specified at installation, rather than a virtual account.) For more on this topic, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143504(v=sql.120).aspx.

Note 2: Tips for adding a service SID/virtual account to a folder's permission list.
1) In Windows Explorer, right-click on the folder and select "Properties."
2) Select the "Security" tab
3) Click "Edit"
4) Click "Add"
5) Click "Locations"
6) Select the computer name
7) Search for the name
7.a) SQL Server Service
7.a.i) Type "NT SERVICE\MSSQL" and click "Check Names". (What you have just typed in is the first 16 characters of the name. At least one character must follow "NT SERVICE\"; you will be presented with a list of all matches. If you have typed in the full, correct name, step 7.a.ii is bypassed.)
7.a.ii) Select the "MSSQL$<instance name>" user and click OK
7.b) SQL Agent Service
7.b.i) Type "NT SERVICE\SQL" and click "Check Names"
7.b.ii) Select the "SQLAgent$<instance name>" user and click OK
8) Click OK
9) Permission like a normal user from here

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

2639

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