What's the issue?
The extended protection configuration enables a set of security enhancements designed to help protect SQL Server from man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, especially those that exploit authentication relay or spoofing vulnerabilities.
Why is this a problem?
Channel binding tokens (CBTs) are required during authentication when "extended protection" is enabled, which may cause authentication failure with older clients that do not support CBTs.
What should you do about this?
Extended protection works best when coupled with TLS encryption and Windows Authentication. Review if you are able to use the extended protection features to relay attacks and avoid session hijacking via spoofed endpoints.
Vulnerability
Category
What do the Vulnerability Levels mean?
0 - Information only. This is stuff you should know about your instances like version and service account used, but if you don't know it…well, now you do.
1 - High vulnerability requiring action. These are the issues that could most likely lead to your company being front page news for all the wrong reasons. If your instances have any results at this level then we recommend cancelling that 3-martini lunch and instead huddling with your team to figure out when to address these issues.
2 - High vulnerability to review. These include settings and assigned permissions you should review soon, if not immediately. These findings may not necessarily indicate a clear vulnerability, but we've found unexpected vulnerabilities in these categories at many, many clients.
3 - Potential vulnerability to review. These are configurations or assigned permissions you may be using that could lead to problems for users. Or maybe they're just required for your applications. Either way, we recommend reviewing these to make sure these are correct.
4 – Low vulnerability with recommended action. These are typically security inconsistencies that should be addressed. They aren't likely to cause problems, but you should clean up the mess.