2.1.5 Ensure that Unity Catalog is configured for Azure Databricks

Information

Unity Catalog is a centralized governance model for managing and securing data in Azure Databricks. It provides fine-grained access control to databases, tables, and views using Microsoft Entra ID identities. Unity Catalog also enhances data lineage, audit logging, and compliance monitoring, making it a critical component for security and governance.

- Enforces centralized access control policies and reduces data security risks.
- Enables identity-based authentication via Microsoft Entra ID.
- Improves compliance with industry regulations (e.g. GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2) by providing audit logs and access visibility.
- Prevents unauthorized data access through table-, row-, and column-level security (RLS & CLS).

NOTE: Nessus has not performed this check. Please review the benchmark to ensure target compliance.

Solution

Use the remediation procedure written in this article: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databricks/data-governance/unity-catalog/get-started.

Impact:

- Improperly configured permissions may lead to data exfiltration or unauthorized access.
- Unity Catalog requires structured governance policies to be effective and prevent overly permissive access.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/21611

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL

References: 800-53|AC-2(1), 800-53|AC-3, CSCv7|16.2

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