4.2.2 Ensure that Vulnerability Assessment (VA) is enabled on a SQL server by setting a Storage Account

Information

Enable Vulnerability Assessment (VA) service scans for critical SQL servers and corresponding SQL databases.

Rationale:

Enabling Microsoft Defender for SQL server does not enables Vulnerability Assessment capability for individual SQL databases unless storage account is set to store the scanning data and reports.

The Vulnerability Assessment service scans databases for known security vulnerabilities and highlights deviations from best practices, such as misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and unprotected sensitive data. Results of the scan include actionable steps to resolve each issue and provide customized remediation scripts where applicable. Additionally, an assessment report can be customized by setting an acceptable baseline for permission configurations, feature configurations, and database settings.

Impact:

Enabling the Microsoft Defender for SQL features will incur additional costs for each SQL server.

Solution

From Azure Portal

Go to SQL servers

Select a server instance

Click on Security Center

Select Configure next to Enabled at subscription-level

In Section Vulnerability Assessment Settings, Click Select Storage account

Choose Storage Account (Existing or Create New). Click Ok

Click Save

From PowerShell
If not already, Enable Microsoft Defender for a SQL:

Set-AZSqlServerThreatDetectionPolicy -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name> -EmailAdmins $True

To enable ADS-VA service by setting Storage Account

Update-AzSqlServerVulnerabilityAssessmentSetting '
-ResourceGroupName '<resource group name>''
-ServerName '<Server Name>''
-StorageAccountName '<Storage Name from same subscription and same Location' '
-ScanResultsContainerName 'vulnerability-assessment' '
-RecurringScansInterval Weekly '
-EmailSubscriptionAdmins $true '
-NotificationEmail @('[email protected]' , '[email protected]')

Default Value:

By default, Microsoft Defender for SQL is not enabled for a SQL server. Enabling Microsoft Defender for SQL does not enable VA scanning by setting Storage Account automatically.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/10624