How to grant permissions to developers to grant permissions to users? - sql-server

Is there a way I can give developers permission to grant a user permissions over objects without giving them the option to create users or functions?
I'm trying to limit developers permissions, I recently found out that developers had db_owner permissions in dev and prod environments! So I'm doing my best to stop this madness.
Any good article about this matter?

You can make them members of the "db_securityadmin" database role

As said, if someone could hand out permissions, they could hand out permissions to themselves (or a dummy account). I'm not sure if there is a trick in SQL Server to provide "give user permissions less then me".
The way I would do it is with stored procedures.
Create a stored procedure that gives a specified user a specific right or set of rights (those rights are the ones that regular users are allowed to have). Then give the developers execute access to this stored procedure. In effect you use stored procedures to create a limited version of GRANT, while keeping the full GRANT command to yourself.

If someone can give someone else permissions, he can also give himself the permission to do what he wants. So what is this good for? Probably I don't understand your situation.

Owners of objects can grant permissions on those objects. Provided your developers don't need to grant things like CREATE TABLE rights, you might be able to give them ownership of the objects that you want them to grant permission on.

As Stefan said, giving them grant permissions would effectively give them all permissions, since if they want to do something all they have to do is grant themselves the permissions to do it.
Rather than considering the developers the enemy, though, you may want to consider giving the developers a second user account that's used to administer the database. It's pretty common not to give developers ANY permissions to production, at least on their development account.

Setting permission on objects like stored procedures can be accomplished with "GRANT EXECUTE ON . to ;
However, you may also want to grant security rights at both the login and user level. You will want to determine and grant ONLY the necessary rights for the objects that require access (such as execution). Consider use of the "EXECUTE AS" capability which enables impersonation of another user to validate permissions that are required to execute the code WITHOUT having to grant all of the necessary rights to all of the underlying objects (e.g. tables). The EXECUTE AS can be added to stored procs, functions, triggers, etc.
Add to the code as follows right within the Stored Procedure: CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.MyProcedure WITH EXECUTE AS OWNER
In this case you are impersonating the owner of the module being called. You can also impersonate SELF, OR the user creating or altering the module OR... imperonate CALLER , which will enable to module to take on the permissionsof the current user, OR... impersonate OWNER, which will take on the permission of the owner of the procedure being called OR... impersonate 'user_name', which will impersonate a specific user OR... impersonate 'login_name' with will impersonate a specific login.
MOST of the time, you will only need to grant EXECUTE rights to stored procs and then rights are granted to all objects referenced within the stored proc.
In this way, you DO NO need to give implicit rights (example: to update data or call additional procs). Ownership chaining handles this for you. This is especially helpful for dynamic sql or if you need to create elevated security tasks such as CREATE TABLE. EXECUTE AS is a handy tool to consider for these.
This example may help clarify all of this:
Create a user called NoPrivUser with public access to a database (e.g. dbadb)
USE [master] GO CREATE LOGIN [NoPrivUser] WITH PASSWORD=N'ABC5%', DEFAULT_DATABASE=[dbadb], CHECK_EXPIRATION=ON, CHECK_POLICY=ON GO USE [DBAdb] GO CREATE USER [NoPrivUser] FOR LOGIN [NoPrivUser] GO
NOTE: CREATOR OR OWNER OF THIS PROCEDURE WILL REQUIRE CREATE TABLE RIGHTS within the target database.
use DBAdb go CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.MyProcedure WITH EXECUTE AS OWNER AS IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.objects WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID(N'[dbo].MyTable') AND type in (N'U')) CREATE TABLE MyTable (PKid int, column1 char(10)) INSERT INTO MyTable VALUES (1,'ABCDEF')
GO
GRANT EXEC ON dbo.MyProcedure TO NoPrivUser; GO
-- Now log into your database server as NoPrivUser and run the following.
use dbadb go
EXEC dbo.MyProcedure
(1 row(s) affected)
Now try to select from the new table while logged on as NoPrivuser.
You will get the following:
select * from MyTable go
Msg 229, Level 14, State 5, Line 1 The SELECT permission was denied on the object 'MyTable', database 'DBAdb', schema 'dbo'.
That is expected since you only ran the procedure under the security context of Owner while logged on as NoPrivUser.
NoPrivUser as no rights to actually read the table. Just to execute the procedure which creates and inserts the rows.
With the EXECUTE AS clause the stored procedure is run under the context of the object owner. This code successfully creates dbo.MyTable and rows are inserted successfully. In this example, the user "NoPrivUser" has absolutey no granted rights to modify the table, or read or modify any of the data in this table.
It only takes on the rights needed to complete this specific task coded WITHIN the context of this procedure.
This method of creating stored procedures that can perform tasks that require elevated security rights without permanently assigning those rights come be very useful.

I've found that the most dangerous aspect of the db_owner role is that if you issue a deny on a permissions, then the members of the role can grant it back to themselves. I've just started reading about this and I'm testing this
Create role db_ControlDatabase
grant control to db_ControlDatabase
deny backup database to db_ControleDatabase
alter role db_ControlDatabase add member TestUser
So far, I've found that the subject TestUser has permissions without being able to add or remove members of the fixed database roles. You should be able to deny whatever you need at this point like backup certificate, backup master key, etc.
Here is a list of permissions that can be denied or granted:

Related

How to GRANT permissions to users in a stored procedure SQL Server

I want to grant exec permission to a user. This code returns no errors but then when I see the user properties I don't see the permission granted.
GRANT EXECUTE TO #USERNAME
The GRANT statement needs both an object and a principal. You only have a principal.
What do you want to allow the user to do - execute a single Stored Procedure or all stored procedures? The object would define that. For example if your stored procedure was named MySchema.MyProc then you would apply the permissions like:
GRANT EXECUTE ON MySchema.MyProc TO MyUser
To allow the user to execute any stored procedure in the MySchema schema then it becomes:
GRANT EXECUTE ON SCHEMA::MySchema TO MyUser
While testing your scenario, I also don't see the the permission reflected in the SSMS at the user level. However, here are three ways in which I can see the permission (I called my user foo because I pity the foo):
Impersonating the user and looking at database permissions:
execute as user = 'foo';
select *
from sys.fn_my_permissions(null, 'database');
go
revert
go
Interrogating the permissions table directly:
select *
from sys.database_permissions
where grantee_principal_id = user_id('foo');
Note - the way in which you're granting permissions grants it to anything (both now and the future) which can have that permission applied. That is, all stored procedures, functions, etc in the database. If that's not what you meant to do (i.e. you only meant to grant permission to one stored procedure), then you need to specify it in the GRANT statement. I only mention this because what you're doing technically works but in my experience is more the exception than the rule.
you need to grant permissions in the database where stored procedure were created, in sql server this option is located in db login --> right click --> new

SQL Server roles and permissions

I really need some advice about adding roles at the server level and apply some permissions that will be applicable to each database on my server.
Basically I need to two roles read only and read write.
The read will have permissions to select and see any object
The write will have permissions to select/insert/delete and execute any object
I want to create a server role, then a login associated to this role (which can be a AD group) and after that for each database create a user that will inherits all permissions from the server role.
So on each database, I will have each user that belongs to the server role created, the problem is to clearly define the permissions, is not straight forward in my opinion.
What I can see, I cannot assign read or write to a role and then use it on each db, on the contrary on the General tab of the server role I have a bunch of permissions that is not clear which one to use for this purpose.
Maybe I'm doing it wrong but I want to have something at the server level and not define the same role on each db for that purpose. I'm using SQL server 2014.
The short answer is you can't.
Generally, server-level permissions are not propagated down to individual objects within databases. The only exception is a sysadmin role, which I would strongly encourage you not to use for this purpose, as you would essentially give up the control of the entire server instance to every member of it.
As a kind of a shorthand, you can use built-in database roles to save yourself a bit of trouble. For read-only access, a membership in db_datareader role is usually enough, unless you have stored procedures that return datasets which this role is supposed to be able to execute. There is also a similar role for modification, db_datawriter, but it doesn't cover the execute permission. So you will have to create a custom role for that:
create role [DataChanger] authorization [dbo];
go
alter role [db_datareader] add member [DataChanger];
go
alter role [db_datawriter] add member [DataChanger];
go
grant execute to [DataChanger];
go
-- Now you can add your members. Here is a reader
create user [Domain\MyUser1] from login [Domain\MyUser1];
go
alter role [db_datareader] add member [Domain\MyUser1];
go
-- Writer
create user [Domain\MyUser2] from login [Domain\MyUser2];
go
alter role [DataChanger] add member [Domain\MyUser2];
go
These permissions will automatically pick up newly created objects, without you having to explicitly add new permissions after every schema modification.
You will have to do this in the context of every user database that you want to manage in this way. You can probably create a SQL Agent job which will run periodically and introduce these changes in any user databases which don't have them already (for example, if a database has been restored from earlier backup, or brought from another server, or a new one was created). Also, since you can't loop through databases in static code, you will need to wrap it into a dynamic SQL and loop through sys.databases, or maybe via an undocumented sp_MSforeachdb system stored procedure. Oh, and don't forget to remove all these go statements from dynamic code, as they are not part of SQL, and are only recognised by SSMS and sqlcmd.
P.S. All that being said, I hope you are not going to manage any production databases in this manner. I don't even know where to start on how insecure this approach is.

stored procedure permissions and execute

I have a SQL user that I gave explicit Execute permission for a specific stored procedure. This stored procedure contains a truncate statement. The user is unable to execute that procedure and receives the error:
Cannot find the object TableName because it does not exist or you do not have permissions.
If I alter the stored procedure to use Delete instead of truncate the user can execute the procedure.
What do I need to do to allow the user to execute this stored procedure, without giving the user more access than necessary?
From MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms177570.aspx
"The minimum permission required is ALTER on table_name. TRUNCATE TABLE permissions default to the table owner, members of the sysadmin fixed server role, and the db_owner and db_ddladmin fixed database roles, and are not transferable. However, you can incorporate the TRUNCATE TABLE statement within a module, such as a stored procedure, and grant appropriate permissions to the module using the EXECUTE AS clause. For more information, see Using EXECUTE AS to Create Custom Permission Sets."
You can try this:
create procedure SpName
with execute as owner
as
truncate table TableName
go
Then assign permission to user
grant execute on TruncTable to User
truncate table Setting permission on objects like stored procedures can be accomplished with:
GRANT EXECUTE ON <schema>.<object> to <user>;
However, you may also want to grant security rights at both the login and user level. You will want to determine and grant ONLY the necessary rights for the objects that require access (such as execution). Consider use of the EXECUTE AS capability which enables impersonation of another user to validate permissions that are required to execute the code WITHOUT having to grant all of the necessary rights to all of the underlying objects (e.g. tables). EXECUTE AS can be added to stored procedures, functions, triggers, etc.
Add to the code as follows right within the Stored Procedure:
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.MyProcedure WITH EXECUTE AS OWNER
In this case you are impersonating the owner of the module being called. You can also impersonate SELF, OR the user creating or altering the module OR... imperonate CALLER , which will enable to module to take on the permissionsof the current user, OR... impersonate OWNER, which will take on the permission of the owner of the procedure being called OR... impersonate 'user_name', which will impersonate a specific user OR... impersonate 'login_name' with will impersonate a specific login.
MOST of the time, you will only need to grant EXECUTE rights to stored procs and then rights are granted to all objects referenced within the stored proc.
In this way, you DO NO need to give implicit rights (example: to update data or call additional procs). Ownership chaining handles this for you. This is especially helpful for dynamic sql or if you need to create elevated security tasks such as CREATE TABLE. EXECUTE AS is a handy tool to consider for these.
This example may help clarify all of this:
Create a user called NoPrivUser with public access to a database (e.g. dbadb):
USE [master];
GO
CREATE LOGIN [NoPrivUser] WITH PASSWORD=N'ABC5%', DEFAULT_DATABASE=[dbadb],
CHECK_EXPIRATION=ON, CHECK_POLICY=ON;
GO
USE [DBAdb];
GO
CREATE USER [NoPrivUser] FOR LOGIN [NoPrivUser];
GO
NOTE: CREATOR OR OWNER OF THIS PROCEDURE WILL REQUIRE CREATE TABLE RIGHTS within the target database.
use DBAdb
go
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.MyProcedure
WITH EXECUTE AS OWNER
truncate table MyTable
GO
GRANT EXEC ON dbo.MyProcedure TO NoPrivUser;
GO
-- Now log into your database server as NoPrivUser and run the following.
With the EXECUTE AS clause the stored procedure is run under the context of the object owner. This code successfully creates dbo.MyTable and rows are inserted successfully. In this example, the user NoPrivUser has absolutey no granted rights to modify the table, or read or modify any of the data in this table.
It only takes on the rights needed to complete this specific task coded WITHIN the context of this procedure.
This method of creating stored procedures that can perform tasks that require elevated security rights without permanently assigning those rights come be very useful.

The EXECUTE permission was denied on the object 'xxxxxxx', database 'zzzzzzz', schema 'dbo'

I'm having problems executing a function.
Here's what I did:
Create a function using SQL Server Management Studio. It was successfully created.
I then tried executing the newly created function and here's what I get:
The EXECUTE permission was denied on
the object 'xxxxxxx', database
'zzzzzzz', schema 'dbo'.
Sounds like you need to grant the execute permission to the user (or a group that they a part of) for the stored procedure in question.
For example, you could grant access thus:
USE zzzzzzz;
GRANT EXEC ON dbo.xxxxxxx TO PUBLIC
Best solution that i found is create a new database role i.e.
CREATE ROLE db_executor;
and then grant that role exec permission.
GRANT EXECUTE TO db_executor;
Now when you go to the properties of the user and go to User Mapping and select the database where you have added new role,now new role will be visible in the Database role membership for: section
For more detail read full article
In SQL Server Management Studio, go to security->schema->dbo:
Double-click dbo, select the Permissions page, then click the "View database permissions" link in blue:
Select the user for whom you want to change permissions, and look for the "Execute" permission under the "explicit" tab:
Choose the appropriate permission by checking the appropriate box.
you need to run something like this
GRANT Execute ON [dbo].fnc_whatEver TO [domain\user]
This will work if you are trying to Grant permission to Users or roles.
Using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio:
Go to: Databases
Right click on dbo.my_database
Choose: Properties
On the left side panel, click on: Permissions
Select the User or Role and in the Name Panel
Find Execute in in permissions and checkmark: Grant,With Grant, or Deny
Giving such permission can be dangerous, especially if your web application uses that same username.
Now the web user (and the whole world wide web) also has the permission to create and drop objects within your database. Think SQL Injection!
I recommend granting Execute privileges only to the specific user on the given object as follows:
grant execute on storedProcedureNameNoquotes to myusernameNoquotes
Now the user myusernameNoquotes can execute procedure storedProcedureNameNoquotes without other unnecessary permissions to your valuable data.
You don't have the right to execute it, although you have enough permissions to create it.
For more information, see GRANT Object Permissions (Transact-SQL)
If you have issues like the question ask above regarding the exception thrown when the solution is executed, the problem is permission, not properly granted to the users of that group to access the database/stored procedure. All you need do is to do something like what i have below, replacing mine with your database name, stored procedures (function)and the type of permission or role or who you are granting the access to.
USE [StableEmployee]
GO
GRANT EXEC ON dbo.GetAllEmployees TO PUBLIC
/****** Object: StoredProcedure [dbo].[GetAllEmployees] Script Date: 01/27/2016 16:27:27 ******/
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
ALTER procedure [dbo].[GetAllEmployees]
as
Begin
Select EmployeeId, Name, Gender, City, DepartmentId
From tblEmployee
End
here is how to give permission for one user not public,
Direct Query:
Use MyDatabase
Grant execute on [dbo].[My-procedures-name] to [IIS APPPOOL\my-iis-pool]
Go
You can give everybody execute permission:
GRANT Execute on [dbo].your_object to [public]
"Public" is the default database role that all users are a member of.
If you make this user especial for a specific database, then maybe you do not set it as db_owner in "user mapping" of properties
I have faced the same problem and I solved as give db_owner permission too to the Database user.
The general answer is to grant execute permission as explained above. But that doesn't work if the schema owner of SP is different to underlying objects.
Check schema owners by:
select name, USER_NAME(s.principal_id) AS Schema_Owner from sys.schemas s
To change the owner of an schema you can:
ALTER AUTHORIZATION ON SCHEMA::YOUR_SCHEMA TO YOUR_USER;
Examples:
ALTER AUTHORIZATION ON SCHEMA::Claim TO dbo
ALTER AUTHORIZATION ON SCHEMA::datix TO user1;
Finally if within your SP you are truncating a table or changing structure you may want to add WITH EXECUTE AS OWNER in your SP:
ALTER procedure [myProcedure]
WITH EXECUTE AS OWNER
as
truncate table etl.temp
If you only need to grant a single function then (only db admin can do it):
Open Management studio
Find function/procedure you want to grant in Object Eplorer (dbname-Programmability-[Functions/Stored Procedures]-...)
Right click on function or procedure name and open Properties
In Properties select Permissions, add user (or schema) you want and Grant him Execute permission.
I believe this is most secure way how to do it because you only grant to user execution of this function. Nothing else!
I think you have to select the object you want to grant access to, then right-click, and select properties. Select permission on the modal window that will be displayed then click on Search, on the newly revealed window, select browse, select the user you want to grant access and click on ok. it will display for you a list of permission and the grant status, and then you can choose to grant or deny
This shows that you don't have access to perform any action on the specified database table. To enable this, Go to Security -> Schema and check.
you'd better off modifying server roles, which was designed for security privileges. add sysadmin server role to your user. for better security you may have your custom server roles. but this approach will give you what you want for now.
Object Explorer -> Server -> Security -> Logins
Right click on your desired user
Go to Server Roles on left hand side
Make sure sysadmin is checked
Hit OK and restart your SQL server
Good luck

What database user permissions are needed?

FYI: SQL Server 2005
I have a database user account (user_web) that has the ability to connect to and run queries and stored procedures in my database. Specifically, I have given the user the db_datareader and db_datawriter roles as well as granted them execute permission on the specific stored procedures it needs to be able to run.
In one of the stored procedures, I need to disable a trigger then re-enable it after some specific edits are done. When I attempt to run that stored procedure with the user I get the following error:
Cannot find the object "TableName" because it does not exist or you do not have permissions.
TableName is the table where I am attempting to disable and enable the trigger. My question is what is the least amount of permissions I can give to my user account that will allow it to successfully run the stored procedure.
The user will "at a minimum" require ALTER permissions on the table in question. See: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms182706.aspx
Rather than grant the user ALTER permissions on the table, which could be a security issue, I'd have that particular stored procedure run as a different user that does have those permissions. Use the EXECUTE AS syntax to accomplish this.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188354.aspx

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