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Disable HTTP application routing add-on#

Security · Azure Kubernetes Service · Rule · 2021_12 · Important

Disable HTTP application routing add-on in AKS clusters.

Description#

The HTTP application routing add-on is designed to quickly expose HTTP endpoints to the public internet. This may be helpful in some limited scenarios, but should not be used in production.

When exposing application endpoints consider using an ingress controller that supports:

  • Security filtering behind web application firewall (WAF).
  • Encryption in transit over TLS.
  • Multiple replicas.

Azure provides a production ready ingress controller Application Gateway Ingress Controller (AGIC).

HTTP application routing add-on (preview) for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) will be retired on 03 March 2025.

Recommendation#

Consider disabling the HTTP application routing add-on in your AKS cluster. Also consider using Application Gateway Ingress Controller (AGIC) instead to protect application endpoints.

Examples#

Configure with Azure template#

To deploy AKS clusters that pass this rule:

  • Set Properties.addonProfiles.httpApplicationRouting.enabled to false.

For example:

Azure Template snippet
{
    "type": "Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters",
    "apiVersion": "2021-07-01",
    "name": "[parameters('clusterName')]",
    "location": "[parameters('location')]",
    "identity": {
        "type": "UserAssigned",
        "userAssignedIdentities": {
            "[format('{0}', resourceId('Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities', parameters('identityName')))]": {}
        }
    },
    "properties": {
        "kubernetesVersion": "[parameters('kubernetesVersion')]",
        "enableRBAC": true,
        "dnsPrefix": "[parameters('dnsPrefix')]",
        "agentPoolProfiles": "[variables('allPools')]",
        "aadProfile": {
            "managed": true,
            "enableAzureRBAC": true,
            "adminGroupObjectIDs": "[parameters('clusterAdmins')]",
            "tenantID": "[subscription().tenantId]"
        },
        "networkProfile": {
            "networkPlugin": "azure",
            "networkPolicy": "azure",
            "loadBalancerSku": "standard",
            "serviceCidr": "[variables('serviceCidr')]",
            "dnsServiceIP": "[variables('dnsServiceIP')]",
            "dockerBridgeCidr": "[variables('dockerBridgeCidr')]"
        },
        "autoUpgradeProfile": {
            "upgradeChannel": "stable"
        },
        "addonProfiles": {
            "httpApplicationRouting": {
                "enabled": false
            },
            "azurepolicy": {
                "enabled": true,
                "config": {
                    "version": "v2"
                }
            },
            "omsagent": {
                "enabled": true,
                "config": {
                    "logAnalyticsWorkspaceResourceID": "[parameters('workspaceId')]"
                }
            },
            "kubeDashboard": {
                "enabled": false
            },
            "azureKeyvaultSecretsProvider": {
                "enabled": true,
                "config": {
                    "enableSecretRotation": "true"
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "tags": "[parameters('tags')]",
    "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities', parameters('identityName'))]"
    ]
}

Configure with Bicep#

To deploy AKS clusters that pass this rule:

  • Set Properties.addonProfiles.httpApplicationRouting.enabled to false.

For example:

Azure Bicep snippet
resource cluster 'Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters@2021-07-01' = {
  location: location
  name: clusterName
  identity: {
    type: 'UserAssigned'
    userAssignedIdentities: {
      '${identity.id}': {}
    }
  }
  properties: {
    kubernetesVersion: kubernetesVersion
    enableRBAC: true
    dnsPrefix: dnsPrefix
    agentPoolProfiles: allPools
    aadProfile: {
      managed: true
      enableAzureRBAC: true
      adminGroupObjectIDs: clusterAdmins
      tenantID: subscription().tenantId
    }
    networkProfile: {
      networkPlugin: 'azure'
      networkPolicy: 'azure'
      loadBalancerSku: 'standard'
      serviceCidr: serviceCidr
      dnsServiceIP: dnsServiceIP
      dockerBridgeCidr: dockerBridgeCidr
    }
    autoUpgradeProfile: {
      upgradeChannel: 'stable'
    }
    addonProfiles: {
      httpApplicationRouting: {
        enabled: false
      }
      azurepolicy: {
        enabled: true
        config: {
          version: 'v2'
        }
      }
      omsagent: {
        enabled: true
        config: {
          logAnalyticsWorkspaceResourceID: workspaceId
        }
      }
      kubeDashboard: {
        enabled: false
      }
      azureKeyvaultSecretsProvider: {
        enabled: true
        config: {
          enableSecretRotation: 'true'
        }
      }
    }
  }
  tags: tags
}

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