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Secure and disable the SQL Server SA Account
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By: Thomas LaRock | Read Comments (3) | Related Tips: More > Security |
Problem
Ideally your SQL instance would be configured to only allow for Windows Authentication. There may be times when mixed mode authentication is necessary at which point you will should configure a method to rotate the ‘sa’ password on a regular basis. You want the new password to be random and secure from others. Not only do you not want anyone else to know the password, you don’t even want to know it yourself.
Solution
SQL Server has an undocumented system stored procedure named sp_SetAutoSAPasswordAndDisable. This procedure will do exactly as the name suggests: it will reset the password and then disable the 'sa' login.
The procedure takes no parameters, so the syntax for usage is as follows:
EXEC sp_SetAutoSAPasswordAndDisable GO
After completion you should see the standard message:
Command(s) completed successfully.
The actual code is as follows:
ALTER procedure [sys].[sp_SetAutoSAPasswordAndDisable]
as
-- can execute only as SysAdmin
if (not (is_srvrolemember('sysadmin') = 1)) -- Make sure that it is the SA executing this.
begin
raiserror(15247,-1,-1)
return(1)
end
-- Begin a transaction
BEGIN TRANSACTION
-- Disable Password Policy on the SA Login
ALTER LOGIN sa WITH CHECK_POLICY = OFF
IF @@ERROR <> 0
BEGIN
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION
RETURN (1)
END
-- Create a New Guid as the random password
declare @randompwd UNIQUEIDENTIFIER
declare @stmt nvarchar(4000)
SET @randompwd = newid()
SELECT @stmt = 'ALTER LOGIN sa WITH PASSWORD = ' + quotename(@randompwd, '''')
EXEC(@stmt)
IF @@ERROR <> 0
BEGIN
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION
RETURN (1)
END
-- Now set the policy back
ALTER LOGIN sa WITH CHECK_POLICY = ON
IF @@ERROR <> 0
BEGIN
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION
RETURN (1)
END
-- Now set the policy back
ALTER LOGIN sa DISABLE
IF @@ERROR <> 0
BEGIN
ROLLBACK TRANSACTION
RETURN (1)
END
-- Commit the transaction
COMMIT TRANSACTION
When you execute this stored procedure the password for the ‘sa’ login will be reset to a random GUID, and then be disabled. Auditors love this aspect because not only is the password secure, but so is the account itself.
If you need to roll your own solution to rotate the password for the ‘sa’ login, then the sp_SetAutoSAPasswordAndDisable stored procedure may be exactly what you are looking for.
Next Steps
- Execute the stored procedure against an instance where you want to have the password for the 'sa' login set to a random GUID and then disabled.
- Read more SQL Server security tips
Last Update: 5/14/2010
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Comments and Feedback:
| Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 10:28:36 AM - JimJ | Read The Tip |
|
I am not sure why you would want to create an sa password that can't be accessed. I find that I need SQL Server authentication when I am accessing a database (e.g. DSN) and I have not been joined to a network. In that case, the IP address\Instance Name and SQL Server authentication is what I have to use for the short interval to load the application and test appropriately. What other alternative should I use? |
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| Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - 3:48:45 PM - Tim Lehner | Read The Tip |
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@JimJ, I believe the idea is that you would create a different sysadmin account when installing SQL Server or at the earliest possible time, and use that new account (or other less-privileged accounts as appropriate) to perform admin duties. This allows you to safely disable sa and essentially defeat attacks against it. |
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| Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - 2:57:21 AM - VAhid | Read The Tip |
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Hello I have a database server that users are connected through to it but i dont know a user is that drop database on server i write a trigger and log history but again user can delete my database on server and trigger cant prevent that it
CREATE
Trigger [LogDB] onall server For
DROP_database,ALTER_database,ALTER_TABLE,DROP_TABLE,CREATE_DATABASE,Drop_Trigger
as
set
nocount on
'You must contact a DBA before dropping or altering tables!'
rollback
Declare
@CommandText nvarchar(2000), @ComputerName nvarchar(100), @ApplicationName nvarchar(100), @LogiName nvarchar(100), @LogDate DateTime SELECT
@CommandText =EVENTDATA().value
(
'(/EVENT_INSTANCE/TSQLCommand/CommandText)[1]','nvarchar(max)' )
select
@ComputerName =HostName, @ApplicationName =Program_name, @LogiName =suser_sname(), @LogDate =GetDate() from
sys.sysprocesseswhere spid= @@Spid
Insert
LogError.dbo.LogEvents
(
CommandText , ComputerName , ApplicationName , LogiName , LogDate
)
values
(
@CommandText , @ComputerName , @ApplicationName , @LogiName , @LogDate
)
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