SQL Azure version

Question

Hi everybody,

I'm here about SQL Azure version, in facts after Pentests realized in our company, the Sql server version is a critical problem because support has end date since 2019-07-09 but extension date in 2024.

When we create a new SQL server on Azure Services, no version are available for changes...

Regarding the @@version command, last version from Aug 10 2022 is still 12.0.2000.8 :

Does that mean, SQL Azure servers are automatically updated to the lastest stable version, in our case no Service pack added since many years?

Does exists differences between SqlServer version and Azure Sql version ?

Reading this topic, we can read > Azure SQL Database is based on the latest stable version of the Microsoft SQL Server database engine.

So what could be our response to the pentester and finally to our customer.

Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

Azure SQL Database has its version number that is not related to SQL Server version numbers. However it runs the latest features and updates that run the latest version of SQL Server. Read below excerpt from this docmentation.

Azure SQL Database is always running on the latest stable version of the SQL Server database engine and patched OS with 99.99% availability

i would say Azure SQL has updates and features on preview that are not yet available on SQL Server latest version. So Azure SQL is always ahead of SQL Server latest version. Thus if you Azure SQL is running on version 12 and your SQL Server 2019 (for example) is running version v15 that does not mean Azure SQL is outdated. Is is the other way around, Azure SQL is always ahead of the latest SQL Server version/cumulative update available.

To know the version of Azure SQL and at what compatibility level is running compared with the SQL Server on-premise, use the following 3 queries:

 SELECT @@version as version;  
  
 SELECT serverproperty('ProductVersion') as [version],serverproperty('Edition') as [edition];  
  
 SELECT name, compatibility_level FROM sys.databases;  

Answer 2

The reported @@VERSION information for Azure SQL Database does not accurately reflect the database engine version. Below is the excerpt from the @@VERSION documentation.

We are aware of an issue where the product version reported by @@VERSION is incorrect for Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance and Azure Synapse Analytics.

Given Azure SQL Database is "greenfield", your response to the pentester and customer should be the below statement from the documentation. Continuous patching and improvements, including security fixes, are one of the major advantages of the Azure SQL Database platform.

The version of the SQL Server database engine run by Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance and Azure Synapse Analytics is always ahead of the on-premises version of SQL Server, and includes the latest security fixes. This means that the patch level is always on par with or ahead of the on-premises version of SQL Server, and that the latest features available in SQL Server are available in these services.

Answer 3

Hi, thanks to you for your responses... About Azure Sql version and not related version does it exists a microsoft article about it?

Thank you.