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6.3.7 Ensure 'contained database authentication' Database Flag for Cloud SQL SQL Server Instance Is Set to 'off'

Information

A contained database includes all database settings and metadata required to define the database and has no configuration dependencies on the instance of the Database Engine where the database is installed. Users can connect to the database without authenticating a login at the Database Engine level. Isolating the database from the Database Engine makes it possible to easily move the database to another instance of SQL Server. Contained databases have some unique threats that should be understood and mitigated by SQL Server Database Engine administrators. Most of the threats are related to the USER WITH PASSWORD authentication process, which moves the authentication boundary from the Database Engine level to the database level, hence this is recommended not to enable this flag. This recommendation is applicable to SQL Server database instances.

When contained databases are enabled, database users with the ALTER ANY USER permission, such as members of the db_owner and db_accessadmin database roles, can grant access to databases and by doing so, grant access to the instance of SQL Server. This means that control over access to the server is no longer limited to members of the sysadmin and securityadmin fixed server role, and logins with the server level CONTROL SERVER and ALTER ANY LOGIN permission.

It is recommended to set contained database authentication database flag for Cloud SQL on the SQL Server instance to off

Solution

From Google Cloud Console

 - Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Console by visiting https://console.cloud.google.com/sql/instances .
 - Select the SQL Server instance for which you want to enable to database flag.
 - Click Edit
 - Scroll down to the Flags section.
 - If the flag contained database authentication is present and its value is set to 'on', then change it to 'off'.
 - Click Save
 - Confirm the changes under Flags on the Overview page.

From Google Cloud CLI

 - If any Cloud SQL for SQL Server instance has the database flag contained database authentication set to 'on', then change it to 'off' using the below command:

gcloud sql instances patch <INSTANCE_NAME> --database-flags "contained database authentication=off"

Note :This command will overwrite all database flags previously set. To keep those and add new ones, include the values for all flags to be set on the instance; any flag not specifically included is set to its default value. For flags that do not take a value, specify the flag name followed by an equals sign ("=").

Impact:

When contained database authentication is off (0) for the instance, contained databases cannot be created, or attached to the Database Engine. Setting custom flags via command line on certain instances will cause all omitted flags to be reset to defaults. This may cause you to lose custom flags and could result in unforeseen complications or instance restarts. Because of this, it is recommended you apply these flags changes during a period of low usage.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/17308

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL, MEDIA PROTECTION

References: 800-53|AC-3, 800-53|AC-5, 800-53|AC-6, 800-53|MP-2, CSCv7|14.6

Plugin: GCP

Control ID: 7c653259660531990dbdcf5c06ba75635e716629ca6f3e8a6059f5da7ad9e44e