| name | cis-gcp-foundations-6.3.1 |
| description | Ensure 'external scripts enabled' Database Flag for Cloud SQL SQL Server Instance Is Set to 'off' |
| category | cis-gcp-foundations |
| version | 4.0.0 |
| author | cyberstrike-official |
| tags | ["cis","gcp","cloud-sql","sql-server"] |
| cis_id | 6.3.1 |
| cis_benchmark | CIS Google Cloud Platform Foundation Benchmark v4.0.0 |
| tech_stack | ["gcp"] |
| cwe_ids | [] |
| chains_with | [] |
| prerequisites | [] |
| severity_boost | {} |
6.3.1 Ensure 'external scripts enabled' Database Flag for Cloud SQL SQL Server Instance Is Set to 'off' (Automated)
Profile Applicability
Description
It is recommended to set external scripts enabled database flag for Cloud SQL SQL Server instance to off.
Rationale
external scripts enabled enable the execution of scripts with certain remote language extensions. This property is OFF by default. When Advanced Analytics Services is installed, setup can optionally set this property to true. As the External Scripts Enabled feature allows scripts external to SQL such as files located in an R library to be executed, which could adversely affect the security of the system, hence this should be disabled. This recommendation is applicable to SQL Server database instances.
Impact
Setting custom flags via command line on certain instances will cause all omitted flags to be reset to defaults. This may cause you to lose custom flags and could result in unforeseen complications or instance restarts. Because of this, it is recommended you apply these flags changes during a period of low usage.
Audit
From Google Cloud Console
- Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Console by visiting https://console.cloud.google.com/sql/instances.
- Select the instance to open its
Instance Overview page.
- Ensure the database flag
external scripts enabled that has been set is listed under the Database flags section.
From Google Cloud CLI
- Ensure the below command returns
off for every Cloud SQL SQL Server database instance:
gcloud sql instances describe <INSTANCE_NAME> --format=json | jq '.settings.databaseFlags[] | select(.name=="external scripts enabled")|.value'
In the output, database flags are listed under the settings as the collection databaseFlags.
Remediation
From Google Cloud Console
- Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Console by visiting https://console.cloud.google.com/sql/instances.
- Select the SQL Server instance for which you want to enable to database flag.
- Click
Edit.
- Scroll down to the section.