Cis Azure Database 9.2

9.2 Ensure that 'Public Network Access' is set to 'Disable' (Automated)

Profile Applicability

• Level 2

Description

Disabling public network access restricts the service from accessing public networks.

Rationale

A secure network architecture requires carefully constructed network segmentation. Public network access is overly permissive and introduces unintended vectors for threat activity.

Impact

Disabling 'Public Network Access' forces the requirement of the use of Private Endpoints for network connectivity which will require some additional consideration from a network architecture perspective and will introduce cost based on the inbound/outbound data being processed by the Private Endpoint.

Audit Procedure

Audit from Azure Portal

1. Go to SQL servers.
2. For each SQL server, under Security, click Networking.
3. Ensure that Public network access is set to Disable.

Audit from Azure CLI

List all SQL Servers and ensure publicNetworkAccess is not Enabled:

az sql server list --query "[].{name:name, resourceGroup:resourceGroup, publicNetworkAccess:publicNetworkAccess}"

Audit from PowerShell

List all SQL Servers and ensure PublicNetworkAccess is not Enabled:

Get-AzSqlServer | Select-Object -Property ServerName, ResourceGroupName, PublicNetworkAccess

Audit from Azure Policy

Policy ID: 1b8ca024-1d5c-4dec-8995-b1a932b41780 Name: 'Public network access on Azure SQL Database should be disabled'

Expected Result

Public network access should be set to Disable.

Remediation

Remediate from Azure Portal

1. Go to SQL servers.
2. For each SQL server, under Security, click Networking.
3. Set Public network access to Disable.
4. Click Save.

Remediate from Azure CLI

For each SQL server with publicNetworkAccess Enabled, set it to Disabled:

az sql server update -n <sqlServerName> -g <resourceGroup> --set publicNetworkAccess="Disabled"

Remediate from PowerShell

For each SQL server with PublicNetworkAccess Enabled, set it to Disabled:

Set-AzSqlServer -ServerName <sqlServerName> -ResourceGroupName <resourceGroup> -PublicNetworkAccess "Disabled"

Default Value

By default, Azure SQL Server's public network access is set to Disable.

References

1. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security/benchmark/azure/security-controls-v3-network-security#ns-2-secure-cloud-services-with-network-controls
2. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/connectivity-settings?view=azuresql&tabs=azure-portal#deny-public-network-access

Profile

• Level 2