The Azure SQL Managed Instance default [sa] account must be disabled.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-276317 | SRG-APP-000033-DB-000084 | MSQL-D0-016200 | SV-276317r1150033_rule | 2025-10-07 | 1 |
Description
Azure SQL Managed Instance [sa] account has special privileges required to administer the database. The [sa] account is a well-known account and is likely to be targeted by attackers and thus more prone to providing unauthorized access to the database.
This [sa] default account is administrative and could lead to catastrophic consequences, including the complete loss of control over Azure SQL Managed Instance. If the [sa] default account is not disabled, an attacker could gain access through the account. Azure SQL Managed Instance by default disables the [sa] account at creation.
Some applications that run on Azure SQL Managed Instance require the [sa] account to be enabled for the application to function properly. These applications that require the [sa] account to be enabled are usually legacy systems.
ℹ️ Check
Check Azure SQL Managed Instance settings to determine if the [sa] account has been disabled by executing the following query:
USE master;
GO
SELECT name, is_disabled
FROM sys.sql_logins
WHERE principal_id = 1;
GO
The "name" column contains the current name of the [sa] database server account.
If the "is_disabled" column is not set to "1", this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Modify the enabled flag of Azure SQL Managed Instance's [sa] account by running the following script:
USE master;
GO
ALTER LOGIN [sa] DISABLE;
GO