SQL Server must generate audit records when successful and unsuccessful attempts to delete privileges/permissions occur.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
medium	V-214008	SRG-APP-000499-DB-000331	SQL6-D0-014200	SV-214008r961812_rule	2025-02-12	3

Description
Changes in the permissions, privileges, and roles granted to users and roles must be tracked. Without an audit trail, unauthorized elevation or restriction of privileges could go undetected. Elevated privileges give users access to information and functionality that they should not have; restricted privileges wrongly deny access to authorized users. In an SQL environment, deleting permissions is typically done via the REVOKE or DENY command. To aid in diagnosis, it is necessary to keep track of failed attempts in addition to the successful ones.

Description

Changes in the permissions, privileges, and roles granted to users and roles must be tracked. Without an audit trail, unauthorized elevation or restriction of privileges could go undetected. Elevated privileges give users access to information and functionality that they should not have; restricted privileges wrongly deny access to authorized users. In an SQL environment, deleting permissions is typically done via the REVOKE or DENY command. To aid in diagnosis, it is necessary to keep track of failed attempts in addition to the successful ones.

ℹ️ Check
Check that SQL Server Audit is being used for the STIG compliant audit. Determine if an audit is configured and started by executing the following query. If no records are returned, this is a finding. SELECT name AS 'Audit Name', status_desc AS 'Audit Status', audit_file_path AS 'Current Audit File' FROM sys.dm_server_audit_status Execute the following query to verify the required audit actions are included in the server audit specification: SELECT a.name AS 'AuditName', s.name AS 'SpecName', d.audit_action_name AS 'ActionName', d.audited_result AS 'Result' FROM sys.server_audit_specifications s JOIN sys.server_audits a ON s.audit_guid = a.audit_guid JOIN sys.server_audit_specification_details d ON s.server_specification_id = d.server_specification_id WHERE a.is_state_enabled = 1 AND d.audit_action_name IN ('DATABASE_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'DATABASE_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'DATABASE_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'DATABASE_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'DATABASE_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SCHEMA_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SCHEMA_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SERVER_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SERVER_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SERVER_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SERVER_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP') If the any of the following audit actions are not returned in an active audit, this is a finding. DATABASE_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP SCHEMA_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP SCHEMA_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP Reference: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280663.aspx

ℹ️ Check

Check that SQL Server Audit is being used for the STIG compliant audit. Determine if an audit is configured and started by executing the following query. If no records are returned, this is a finding. SELECT name AS 'Audit Name', status_desc AS 'Audit Status', audit_file_path AS 'Current Audit File' FROM sys.dm_server_audit_status Execute the following query to verify the required audit actions are included in the server audit specification: SELECT a.name AS 'AuditName', s.name AS 'SpecName', d.audit_action_name AS 'ActionName', d.audited_result AS 'Result' FROM sys.server_audit_specifications s JOIN sys.server_audits a ON s.audit_guid = a.audit_guid JOIN sys.server_audit_specification_details d ON s.server_specification_id = d.server_specification_id WHERE a.is_state_enabled = 1 AND d.audit_action_name IN ('DATABASE_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'DATABASE_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'DATABASE_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'DATABASE_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'DATABASE_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SCHEMA_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SCHEMA_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SERVER_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SERVER_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SERVER_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP' ,'SERVER_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP') If the any of the following audit actions are not returned in an active audit, this is a finding. DATABASE_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP SCHEMA_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP SCHEMA_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP Reference: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280663.aspx

✔️ Fix
Add the following events to the SQL Server Audit that is being used for the STIG compliant audit. DATABASE_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP SCHEMA_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP SCHEMA_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP See the supplemental file "SQL 2016 Audit.sql". Reference: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280663.aspx

✔️ Fix

Add the following events to the SQL Server Audit that is being used for the STIG compliant audit. DATABASE_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP DATABASE_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP SCHEMA_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP SCHEMA_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_OBJECT_OWNERSHIP_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_OBJECT_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_PERMISSION_CHANGE_GROUP SERVER_ROLE_MEMBER_CHANGE_GROUP See the supplemental file "SQL 2016 Audit.sql". Reference: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280663.aspx