If DBMS authentication using passwords is employed, Azure SQL Managed Instance must enforce the DOD standards for password complexity and lifetime.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
high	V-276303	SRG-APP-000164-DB-000401	MSQL-D0-007900	SV-276303r1150104_rule	2025-10-07	1

Description
OS/enterprise authentication and identification must be used (SRG-APP-000023-DB-000001). Native DBMS authentication may be used only when circumstances make it unavoidable; and must be documented and AO-approved. The DOD standard for authentication is DOD-approved PKI certificates. Authentication based on User ID and Password may be used only when it is not possible to employ a PKI certificate and requires AO approval. In such cases, the DOD standards for password complexity and lifetime must be implemented. DBMS products that can inherit the rules for these from the operating system or access control program (e.g., Microsoft Active Directory or Microsoft Entra) must be configured to do so. For other DBMSs, the rules must be enforced using available configuration parameters or custom code. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000164-DB-000401, SRG-APP-000700-DB-000100

Description

OS/enterprise authentication and identification must be used (SRG-APP-000023-DB-000001). Native DBMS authentication may be used only when circumstances make it unavoidable; and must be documented and AO-approved. The DOD standard for authentication is DOD-approved PKI certificates. Authentication based on User ID and Password may be used only when it is not possible to employ a PKI certificate and requires AO approval. In such cases, the DOD standards for password complexity and lifetime must be implemented. DBMS products that can inherit the rules for these from the operating system or access control program (e.g., Microsoft Active Directory or Microsoft Entra) must be configured to do so. For other DBMSs, the rules must be enforced using available configuration parameters or custom code. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000164-DB-000401, SRG-APP-000700-DB-000100

ℹ️ Check
Check for use of SQL Authentication: SELECT CASE SERVERPROPERTY('IsIntegratedSecurityOnly') WHEN 1 THEN 'Windows Authentication' WHEN 0 THEN 'SQL Authentication' END as [Authentication Mode] If the returned value in the Authentication Mode column is "Windows Authentication", this is not a finding. Azure SQL Managed Instance must be configured to inherit password complexity and password lifetime rules from the operating system. Review Azure SQL Managed Instance to ensure logons are created with respect to the complexity settings and password lifetime rules by running the statement: SELECT [name], is_expiration_checked, is_policy_checked FROM sys.sql_logins WHERE is_disabled = 0 Review any accounts returned by the query other than the disabled SA account, ##MS_PolicyTsqlExecutionLogin##, and ##MS_PolicyEventProcessingLogin##. If any account does not have both "is_expiration_checked" and "is_policy_checked" equal to "1", this is a finding.

ℹ️ Check

Check for use of SQL Authentication: SELECT CASE SERVERPROPERTY('IsIntegratedSecurityOnly') WHEN 1 THEN 'Windows Authentication' WHEN 0 THEN 'SQL Authentication' END as [Authentication Mode] If the returned value in the Authentication Mode column is "Windows Authentication", this is not a finding. Azure SQL Managed Instance must be configured to inherit password complexity and password lifetime rules from the operating system. Review Azure SQL Managed Instance to ensure logons are created with respect to the complexity settings and password lifetime rules by running the statement: SELECT [name], is_expiration_checked, is_policy_checked FROM sys.sql_logins WHERE is_disabled = 0 Review any accounts returned by the query other than the disabled SA account, ##MS_PolicyTsqlExecutionLogin##, and ##MS_PolicyEventProcessingLogin##. If any account does not have both "is_expiration_checked" and "is_policy_checked" equal to "1", this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Ensure check of policy and expiration are enforced when SQL logins are created. Use the command below to set CHECK_EXPIRATION and CHECK_POLICY to on for any login found to be noncompliant: ALTER LOGIN [LoginnameHere] WITH CHECK_EXPIRATION=ON; ALTER LOGIN [LoginNameHere] WITH CHECK_POLICY=ON; New SQL authenticated logins must be created with CHECK_EXPIRATION and CHECK_POLICY set to ON. CREATE LOGIN [LoginNameHere] WITH PASSWORD = 'ComplexPasswordHere', CHECK_EXPIRATION = ON, CHECK_POLICY = ON;

✔️ Fix

Ensure check of policy and expiration are enforced when SQL logins are created. Use the command below to set CHECK_EXPIRATION and CHECK_POLICY to on for any login found to be noncompliant: ALTER LOGIN [LoginnameHere] WITH CHECK_EXPIRATION=ON; ALTER LOGIN [LoginNameHere] WITH CHECK_POLICY=ON; New SQL authenticated logins must be created with CHECK_EXPIRATION and CHECK_POLICY set to ON. CREATE LOGIN [LoginNameHere] WITH PASSWORD = 'ComplexPasswordHere', CHECK_EXPIRATION = ON, CHECK_POLICY = ON;