Microsoft SQL Server Information Scanner

Attempts to determine configuration and version information for Microsoft SQL Server instances.

SQL Server credentials required: No (will not benefit from mssql.username & mssql.password). Run criteria:

• Host script: Will always run.
• Port script: N/A

NOTE: Unlike previous versions, this script will NOT attempt to log in to SQL Server instances. Blank passwords can be checked using the ms-sql-empty-password script. E.g.: nmap -sn --script ms-sql-empty-password --script-args mssql.instance-all <host>

The script uses two means of getting version information for SQL Server instances:

• Querying the SQL Server Browser service, which runs by default on UDP port

1434 on servers that have SQL Server 2000 or later installed. However, this service may be disabled without affecting the functionality of the instances. Additionally, it provides imprecise version information.

• Sending a probe to the instance, causing the instance to respond with

information including the exact version number. This is the same method that Nmap uses for service versioning; however, this script can also do the same for instances accessible via Windows named pipes, and can target all of the instances listed by the SQL Server Browser service.

In the event that the script can connect to the SQL Server Browser service (UDP 1434) but is unable to connect directly to the instance to obtain more accurate version information (because ports are blocked or the mssql.scanned-ports-only argument has been used), the script will rely only upon the version number provided by the SQL Server Browser/Monitor, which has the following limitations:

• For SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 7.0 instances, the RTM version number is

always given, regardless of any service packs or patches installed.

• For SQL Server 2005 and later, the version number will reflect the service

pack installed, but the script will not be able to tell whether patches have been installed.

Where possible, the script will determine major version numbers, service pack levels and whether patches have been installed. However, in cases where particular determinations can not be made, the script will report only what can be confirmed.

NOTE: Communication with instances via named pipes depends on the smb library. To communicate with (and possibly to discover) instances via named pipes, the host must have at least one SMB port (e.g. TCP 445) that was scanned and found to be open. Additionally, named pipe connections may require Windows authentication to connect to the Windows host (via SMB) in addition to the authentication required to connect to the SQL Server instances itself. See the documentation and arguments for the smb library for more information.

NOTE: By default, the ms-sql-* scripts may attempt to connect to and communicate with ports that were not included in the port list for the Nmap scan. This can be disabled using the mssql.scanned-ports-only script argument.