Ensure MID Server Users Have Appropriate Access Levels

reference brazil Updated Sep 10, 2026 2 min read sc-ensure-mid-server-users-have-appropriate-access-levels.md
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Verify that your MID Server user accounts does not have more the necessary granted permissions.

Granting the MID Server user account admin-level privileges (such as admin, security_admin or discovery_admin) presents a significant security vulnerability that violates the principle of least privilege and dramatically expands the attack surface.

Administrators sometimes grant elevated permissions to quickly resolve connectivity issues or enable new integrations, then do not remove those permissions afterward. The result is a service account with far more access than necessary to perform its legitimate functions of facilitating communication between the ServiceNow instance and external systems within your network.

Review the User Roles [sys_user_has_role] table for MID Server users and confirm that the following roles are not assigned:

Text
access_analyzer_admin, activity_admin, actsub_admin, admin, advisor_admin, agent_security_admin, ai_user_admin, aig_admin,ais_admin, all_high_security_admin, aisa_admin, alm_admin, analytics_categories_admin, analytics_filter_admin, analytics_task_admin,announcement_admin, antivirus_admin, app_engine_admin, app_metadata_admin, app_template_admin, approval_admin, assessment_admin,assignment_rule_admin, asset_admin, auth_factors_admin, backup_restore_admin, business_process_admin, business_rule_admin, canvas_admin,catalog_admin, catalog_lookup_admin, certification_admin, change_admin, chart_admin, chat_admin, chat_analytics_admin, chat_survey_admin,client_script_admin, clone_admin, clone_profile_admin, cmdb_consumer_admin, cmdb_dedup_admin, cmdb_import_admin, cmdb_inst_admin,cmdb_ms_admin, cmdb_payload_admin, connection_admin, content_admin, core_ui_analytics_admin, cors_rule_admin, credential_admin,currency_admin, currency_instance_admin, currency_instance_report_admin, customer_admin, data_classification_admin, data_destruction_admin,data_manager_admin, data_policy_admin, decision_table_admin, df_connection_admin, discovery_admin, ecmdb_admin, email_access_notification_admin,email_account_admin, email_client_admin, embedded_help_admin, evam_admin, export_set_admin, external_app_install_admin, fal_service_admin,financial_mgmt_admin, form_admin, formula_admin, function_field_admin, graphql_schema_admin, guided_tour_admin, health_log_admin, hp_publisher_admin,iam_security_admin, iar_admin, image_admin, import_admin, inbound_integration_metering_admin, integration_action_admin, inventory_admin, itil_admin,itom_admin, kafka_admin, kafka_namespace_admin, knowledge_admin, live_feed_admin, megaphone_admin, metadata_admin, mi_admin, ml_admin,mobile_analytics_admin, mobile_metadata_report_admin, ms_perm_no_extextend_admin, nlq_admin, nlu_admin

More information

Attribute

Description

Configuration name

sys_user_has_role.table, mid_server_user.role

Configuration type

User Roles (/sys_user_has_role.do)

Data type

User Roles [sys_user_has_role] record

Recommended value

mid_server, and additional custom roles that may vary based on customer integrations

Default value

mid_server

Fallback value

N/A

Category

Access control

Security risk

  • Severity score: 5.7
  • CVSS rating: Medium
  • Security risk details:

Granting the MID Server user account admin-level privileges represents a significant security vulnerability that violates the principle of least privilege and dramatically expands the attack surface. The MID Server acts as a bridge between trusted internal networks and the ServiceNow instance, processing credentials, executing discovery probes, and handling sensitive configuration data.

If a MID Server user account with excessive privileges is compromised, an attacker gains a powerful foothold with the ability to read, modify, or delete critical data across the entire ServiceNow instance. This could enable data exfiltration of sensitive CMDB information, manipulation of incident records, unauthorized access to customer data, or even privilege escalation to compromise additional systems.

Functional impact

MID Server is expected to run as intended without admin-level privileges.

Dependencies and prerequisites

None

**Parent Topic:**[Access control](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/instance-security-hardening-settings/sc-access-control.md)
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