cis-gcp-foundations-6-1-1

name	cis-gcp-foundations-6.1.1
description	Ensure That a MySQL Instance Does Not Allow Anyone To Connect With Administrative Privileges
category	cis-gcp-foundations
version	4.0.0
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["cis","gcp","cloud-sql","mysql"]
cis_id	6.1.1
cis_benchmark	CIS Google Cloud Platform Foundation Benchmark v4.0.0
tech_stack	["gcp"]
cwe_ids	[]
chains_with	[]
prerequisites	[]
severity_boost	{}

6.1.1 Ensure That a MySQL Instance Does Not Allow Anyone To Connect With Administrative Privileges (Manual)

Profile Applicability

• Level 1

Description

It is recommended to set a password for the administrative user (root by default) to prevent unauthorized access to the SQL database instances.

This recommendation is applicable only for MySQL Instances. PostgreSQL does not offer any setting for No Password from the cloud console.

Rationale

At the time of MySQL Instance creation, not providing an administrative password allows anyone to connect to the SQL database instance with administrative privileges. The root password should be set to ensure only authorized users have these privileges.

Impact

Connection strings for administrative clients need to be reconfigured to use a password.

Audit

From Google Cloud CLI

1. List All SQL database instances of type MySQL:

gcloud sql instances list --filter='DATABASE_VERSION:MYSQL*' --project <project_id> --format="(NAME,PRIMARY_ADDRESS)"

2. For every MySQL instance try to connect using the PRIMARY_ADDRESS, if available:

mysql -u root -h <mysql_instance_ip_address>

The command should return either an error message or a password prompt. Sample Error message:

ERROR 1045 (28000): Access denied for user 'root'@'<Instance_IP>' (using password: NO)

If a command produces the mysql> prompt, the MySQL instance allows anyone to connect with administrative privileges without needing a password.

Note: The No Password setting is exposed only at the time of MySQL instance creation. Once the instance is created, the Google Cloud Platform Console does not expose the set to confirm whether a password for an administrative user is set to a MySQL instance.

Remediation

From Google Cloud Console

1. Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Platform Console using https://console.cloud.google.com/sql/
2. Select the instance to open its Overview page.
3. Select Access Control > Users.
4. Click the More actions icon for the user to be updated.
5. Select Change password, specify a New password, and click OK.