SQL Server must allow only the ISSM (or individuals or roles appointed by the ISSM) to select which auditable events are to be audited.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-79073	SQL6-D0-000700	SV-93779r1_rule		Medium

Description
Without the capability to restrict which roles and individuals can select which events are audited, unauthorized personnel may be able to prevent or interfere with the auditing of critical events. Suppression of auditing could permit an adversary to evade detection. Misconfigured audits can degrade the system's performance by overwhelming the audit log. Misconfigured audits may also make it more difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.

Description

Without the capability to restrict which roles and individuals can select which events are audited, unauthorized personnel may be able to prevent or interfere with the auditing of critical events. Suppression of auditing could permit an adversary to evade detection. Misconfigured audits can degrade the system's performance by overwhelming the audit log. Misconfigured audits may also make it more difficult to establish, correlate, and investigate the events relating to an incident or identify those responsible for one.

STIG	Date
MS SQL Server 2016 Database Security Technical Implementation Guide	2018-09-18

Details

Check Text ( C-78663r1_chk )
Obtain the list of approved audit maintainers from the system documentation. Review the database roles and individual users that have the following role memberships, all of which enable the ability to create and maintain audit specifications. db_owner Review the database roles and individual users that have the following permissions, all of which enable the ability to create and maintain audit definitions. ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT CONTROL Use the following query to determine the roles and users that have the listed permissions: SELECT DP.Name AS 'Database Principal', DbPerm.permission_name AS 'Granted Permission', R.name AS 'Role' FROM sys.database_principals DP LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.database_permissions DbPerm ON DP.principal_id = DbPerm.grantee_principal_id LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.database_role_members DRM ON DP.principal_id = DRM.member_principal_id INNER JOIN sys.database_principals R ON DRM.role_principal_id = R.principal_id WHERE DbPerm.permission_name IN ('CONTROL','ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT') OR R.name IN ('db_owner') If any of the roles or users returned have permissions that are not documented, or the documented audit maintainers do not have permissions, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-78663r1_chk )

Obtain the list of approved audit maintainers from the system documentation.

Review the database roles and individual users that have the following role memberships, all of which enable the ability to create and maintain audit specifications.

db_owner

Review the database roles and individual users that have the following permissions, all of which enable the ability to create and maintain audit definitions.

ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT
CONTROL

Use the following query to determine the roles and users that have the listed permissions:

SELECT DP.Name AS 'Database Principal', DbPerm.permission_name AS 'Granted Permission', R.name AS 'Role'
FROM sys.database_principals DP
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.database_permissions DbPerm ON DP.principal_id = DbPerm.grantee_principal_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.database_role_members DRM ON DP.principal_id = DRM.member_principal_id
INNER JOIN sys.database_principals R ON DRM.role_principal_id = R.principal_id
WHERE DbPerm.permission_name IN ('CONTROL','ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT')
OR R.name IN ('db_owner')

If any of the roles or users returned have permissions that are not documented, or the documented audit maintainers do not have permissions, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-85825r1_fix)
Create a database role specifically for audit maintainers, and give it permission to maintain audits, without granting it unnecessary permissions (The role name used here is an example; other names may be used.): CREATE ROLE DATABASE_AUDIT_MAINTAINERS; GO GRANT ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT TO DATABASE_AUDIT_MAINTAINERS; GO Use REVOKE and/or DENY and/or ALTER ROLE ... DROP MEMBER ... statements to remove the ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT permission from all users. Then, for each authorized database user, run the statement: ALTER ROLE DATABASE_AUDIT_MAINTAINERS ADD MEMBER; GO Use REVOKE and/or DENY and/or ALTER SERVER ROLE ... DROP MEMBER ... statements to remove CONTROL DATABASE permission from logins that do not need it.

Fix Text (F-85825r1_fix)

Create a database role specifically for audit maintainers, and give it permission to maintain audits, without granting it unnecessary permissions (The role name used here is an example; other names may be used.):

CREATE ROLE DATABASE_AUDIT_MAINTAINERS;
GO

GRANT ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT TO DATABASE_AUDIT_MAINTAINERS;
GO

Use REVOKE and/or DENY and/or ALTER ROLE ... DROP MEMBER ... statements to remove the ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT permission from all users. Then, for each authorized database user, run the statement:

ALTER ROLE DATABASE_AUDIT_MAINTAINERS ADD MEMBER;
GO

Use REVOKE and/or DENY and/or ALTER SERVER ROLE ... DROP MEMBER ... statements to remove CONTROL DATABASE permission from logins that do not need it.