Minimal secure configuration

Your web application should run with the smallest set of rights and permissions required for the application to function correctly. For example, a web application should NOT have access anywhere outside of the web application space. If attackers happen to find a flaw in the web application, at least they will not gain access to sensitive information stored on the server (for example the SAM database, where user passwords are stored).

You should explicitly ensure that:

IIS runs under a custom low-rights user account.
The IIS application pool runs under a correctly configured user account. We recommend creating a custom user account with minimum rights. See Specify an Identity for an Application Pool (IIS 7).
The SQL Server Services run under separate low-rights Windows or Local user accounts. See Configure Windows Service Accounts and Permissions.
Unsafe SQL functions, like xp_cmdshell(), are not enabled.

Minimal Kentico requirements

Below you can find the minimal configurations for SQL and IIS user accounts required to work correctly with Kentico.

Minimal configuration for SQL user accounts

Instead of assigning SQL users to the db_owner database-level role, we recommend setting permissions according to the operations that the user account must perform:

Operations	Required permissions
Actions related to browsing on the live website	Alter table or schema, Connect, Delete, Execute, Insert, Select, Update
Managing of Forms, Page types, Custom tables or Module classes Note: When using the MVC development model, this set of permissions is also required for the DB user of your MVC live site application if you wish to use certain features, such as the Form builder.	Alter schema, Connect, Create table, Create view, Delete, Execute, Insert, Select, Update
Working with the Database objects application Only required for the DB user of the Kentico administration application when using the MVC development model.	Connect, Create procedure, Delete, Execute, Insert, References, Select, Update
Creating a database Only required for the DB user of the Kentico administration application when using the MVC development model.	Alter, Connect, Delete, Execute, Insert, References, Select, Update

To limit the permissions for an SQL user, you have to first create a new SQL login in SQL Management Studio, map it to the database and then assign the permissions for this login. For information about creating logins in SQL Management Studio, see Create a Login.

Minimal configuration for IIS user accounts

The account must have Read, Write, Modify permissions for the website directory.