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Set the 'contained database authentication' database flag for Cloud SQL on the SQL Server instance to 'off' (Automated)
Profile Applicability
• Level 1
Description
Best practices recommend setting contained database authentication
database flag for Cloud SQL on the SQL Server instance to off
.
Rationale
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 to disable this flag. This recommendation is applicable to SQL Server database instances.
Impact
When contained database authentication
is off (0) for the instance, contained databases cannot be created, or attached to the Database Engine. Turning on logging will increase the required storage over time. Mismanaged logs may cause your storage costs to increase.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.
Audit
From Console:
- Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Console by visiting https://console.cloud.google.com/sql/instances.
- Select the instance to open its
Instance Overview
page - Ensure the database flag
contained database authentication
that has been set is listed under theDatabase flags
section.
From Command Line:
- Ensure the below command returns
off
for every Cloud SQL SQL Server database instance.
gcloud sql instances list --format=json | jq '.settings.databaseFlags[] | select(.name=="contained database authentication")|.value'
Remediation
From 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. - To set a flag that is new to the instance, click
Add item
, choose the flagcontained database authentication
from the drop-down menu, and set its value tooff
. - Click
Save
. - Confirm the changes under
Flags
on the Overview page.
From Command Line:
- Configure the
contained database authentication
database flag for every Cloud SQL on SQL Server database instance using the below command:
gcloud sql instances patch <instance_name> --database-flags "contained database authentication=off"
This command overwrites all database flags previously set. To keep those and add new ones, include the values for all flags to set on the instance; any flag not specifically included uses the default value. For flags that do not take a value, specify the flag name followed by an equals sign ("=").
References
https://cloud.google.com/sql/docs/sqlserver/flags
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/configure-windows/contained-database-authentication-server-configuration-option?view=sql-server-ver15
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/databases/security-best-practices-with-contained-databases?view=sql-server-ver15
Additional Information
This patch modifies database flag values, which may require you to restart your instance. The list of supported flags is on this page, along with details of which flags require a restart: https://cloud.google.com/sql/docs/sqlserver/flags.
Some database flag settings can affect instance availability or stability, and remove the instance from the Cloud SQL Service-Level Agreement (SLA). For information about these flags, see Operational Guidelines.
Configuring the preceding flag does not restart the Cloud SQL instance.