Azure SQL Server Managed Instance must, for password-based authentication, require immediate selection of a new password upon account recovery.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-276276	SRG-APP-000855-DB-000240	MSQL-00-019500	SV-276276r1149737_rule	2025-10-07	1

Description
Password-based authentication applies to passwords regardless of whether they are used in single-factor or multifactor authentication. Long passwords or passphrases are preferable over shorter passwords. Enforced composition rules provide marginal security benefits while decreasing usability. However, organizations may choose to establish certain rules for password generation (e.g., minimum character length for long passwords) under certain circumstances and can enforce this requirement in IA-5(1)(h). Account recovery can occur, for example, in situations when a password is forgotten. Cryptographically protected passwords include salted one-way cryptographic hashes of passwords. The list of commonly used, compromised, or expected passwords includes passwords obtained from previous breach corpuses, dictionary words, and repetitive or sequential characters. The list includes context-specific words, such as the name of the service, username, and derivatives thereof.

Description

Password-based authentication applies to passwords regardless of whether they are used in single-factor or multifactor authentication. Long passwords or passphrases are preferable over shorter passwords. Enforced composition rules provide marginal security benefits while decreasing usability. However, organizations may choose to establish certain rules for password generation (e.g., minimum character length for long passwords) under certain circumstances and can enforce this requirement in IA-5(1)(h). Account recovery can occur, for example, in situations when a password is forgotten. Cryptographically protected passwords include salted one-way cryptographic hashes of passwords. The list of commonly used, compromised, or expected passwords includes passwords obtained from previous breach corpuses, dictionary words, and repetitive or sequential characters. The list includes context-specific words, such as the name of the service, username, and derivatives thereof.

ℹ️ Check
Determine whether Azure SQL Managed Instance is configured to use Entra-only authentication. Run this PowerShell command to determine whether Microsoft Entra-only authentication is enabled: Get-AzSqlInstanceActiveDirectoryOnlyAuthentication -InstanceName <myinstance> -ResourceGroupName <myresource> If "AzureADOnlyAuthentication" value is "True", this is not a finding. OR In a query interface such as the SSMS Transact-SQL editor, run the statement: SELECT CASE SERVERPROPERTY('IsExternalAuthenticationOnly') WHEN 1 THEN 'Entra-only Authentication' WHEN 0 THEN 'Entra and SQL Server Authentication' END as [Authentication Mode] If "Entra-only Authentication" is returned, this is not a finding. Otherwise, verify documentation exists requiring administrators to select "User must change password at next login" when a SQL login password has been reset. If documentation does not exist requiring the selection of a new password upon administrator password reset, this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Determine whether Azure SQL Managed Instance is configured to use Entra-only authentication. Run this PowerShell command to determine whether Microsoft Entra-only authentication is enabled: Get-AzSqlInstanceActiveDirectoryOnlyAuthentication -InstanceName <myinstance> -ResourceGroupName <myresource> If "AzureADOnlyAuthentication" value is "True", this is not a finding. OR In a query interface such as the SSMS Transact-SQL editor, run the statement: SELECT CASE SERVERPROPERTY('IsExternalAuthenticationOnly') WHEN 1 THEN 'Entra-only Authentication' WHEN 0 THEN 'Entra and SQL Server Authentication' END as [Authentication Mode] If "Entra-only Authentication" is returned, this is not a finding. Otherwise, verify documentation exists requiring administrators to select "User must change password at next login" when a SQL login password has been reset. If documentation does not exist requiring the selection of a new password upon administrator password reset, this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Create documentation to ensure administrators select "User must change password at next login" when a SQL login password is reset. OR Enable Entra-only Authentication. Refer to: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/authentication-azure-ad-only-authentication-tutorial?view=azuresql&tabs=azure-powershell