SQL Server

Detects SQL Server patterns. This pattern is based on a Microsoft Purview built-in sensitive information type. Users already running Purview may prefer to enable the built-in SIT directly, or use this version as a starting point for customisation.

Type

regex

Engine

universal

Confidence

high

Confidence justification

High confidence: structurally constrained pattern with corroborative keyword support reduces false positive rates significantly. Added context gating and exclusion rules improve precision and reduce incidental matches.

Detection quality

Topic partial

Jurisdictions

global

Regulations

Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)

Frameworks

CIS Controls, ISO 27001, NIST CSF, PCI-DSS, SOC 2

Data categories

credentials, security

Scope

specific

Risk rating

8

Platform compatibility

Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Compatible, Netskope: Unsupported

Pattern

Server=[^;]+;Database=[^;]+;(?:User\s+Id|Uid)=[^;]+;(?:Password|Pwd)=[^;]+

Corroborative evidence keywords

api key, api_key, apikey, access key, secret key, private key, auth token, authorization, access token, bearer, conn str, connection string, connectionstring, cookie, credential, database, host, [object Object], oauth, passphrase (+33 more)

Proximity: 300 characters

Should match

• Server=myserver;Database=mydb;User Id=admin;Password=pass123 — SQL Server connection string
• Server=localhost;Database=test;Uid=sa;Pwd=secret — SQL Server with short field names
• Server=db.example.com;Database=prod;User Id=app;Password=s3cure! — Production SQL Server string
• Data Source=sql01;Initial Catalog=app;User Id=sa;Password=S3cr3t!; — ADO.NET Data Source form with password — any-order (Snaffler KeepCSharpDbConnStringsRed)
• Password=MyP@ss;Initial Catalog=hr;Data Source=db02.corp.local; — ADO.NET Password-first any-order form
• Data Source=sql01.corp.internal\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=HumanResources;Integrated Security=False;MultipleActiveResultSets=True;Connect Timeout=30;Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=False;ApplicationIntent=ReadWrite;MultiSubnetFailover=False;Password=MyLongS3cretPwd!; — Long ADO.NET string with many intermediate parameters between Data Source and Password (Snaffler parity — gap >200 chars)

Should not match

• host=myserver;dbname=mydb;user=admin — PostgreSQL-style connection string — no Server= or Password= keywords; no regex match
• Server=myserver;Database=mydb;User Id=admin — Missing Password/Pwd parameter
• Server=myserver;User Id=admin;Password=pass123 — Missing Database parameter
• Data Source=sql01;Integrated Security=SSPI; — ADO.NET Data Source without a Password= field — Windows Integrated Security only
• jdbc:sqlserver://myserver;databaseName=mydb;integratedSecurity=true — JDBC URL form — no Password= key present
• template example placeholder record identifier — Template/sample context should be excluded even when anchor words are present

Known false positives

• Authentication-related terminology in software documentation, security training materials, or system architecture descriptions without actual credentials. Mitigation: Require proximity to credential-specific patterns (API keys, connection strings, tokens) rather than general security terminology.
• Code snippets and configuration examples containing credential-related keywords or placeholder values in developer documentation. Mitigation: Check for common placeholder patterns (example.com, localhost, 0000) and documentation file types to reduce false positives from technical writing.

References

• SQL Server connection string entity definition - Microsoft Learn

Collections

• Database Connection Strings