SQL Server must maintain the authenticity of communications sessions by guarding against man-in-the-middle attacks that guess at Session ID values.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-213971	SQL6-D0-009200	SV-213971r879639_rule		Medium

Description
One class of man-in-the-middle, or session hijacking, attack involves the adversary guessing at valid session identifiers based on patterns in identifiers already known. The preferred technique for thwarting guesses at Session IDs is the generation of unique session identifiers using a FIPS 140-2 or FIPS 140-3 approved random number generator. However, it is recognized that available DBMS products do not all implement the preferred technique yet may have other protections against session hijacking. Therefore, other techniques are acceptable, provided they are demonstrated to be effective.

Description

One class of man-in-the-middle, or session hijacking, attack involves the adversary guessing at valid session identifiers based on patterns in identifiers already known. The preferred technique for thwarting guesses at Session IDs is the generation of unique session identifiers using a FIPS 140-2 or FIPS 140-3 approved random number generator. However, it is recognized that available DBMS products do not all implement the preferred technique yet may have other protections against session hijacking. Therefore, other techniques are acceptable, provided they are demonstrated to be effective.

STIG	Date
MS SQL Server 2016 Instance Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-06-01

Details

Check Text ( C-15188r313696_chk )
Verify that Windows is configured to require the use of FIPS compliant algorithms. Click Start >> Type "Local Security Policy" >> Press Enter >> Expand "Local Policies" >> Select "Security Options" >> Locate "System Cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms for encryption, hashing, and signing." If the Security Setting for this option is "Disabled", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-15186r313697_fix)
Configure Windows to require the use of FIPS compliant algorithms. Click Start >> Type "Local Security Policy" >> Press Enter >> Expand "Local Policies" >> Select "Security Options" >> Locate "System Cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms for encryption, hashing, and signing." >> Change the Setting option to "Enabled" >> Restart Windows