cis-aks-v170-5-5-2

name	cis-aks-v170-5.5.2
description	Use Azure RBAC for Kubernetes Authorization (Manual)
category	cis-aks
version	1.7.0
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["cis","aks","kubernetes","azure","authentication","azure-rbac","authorization","identity"]
cis_id	5.5.2
cis_benchmark	CIS Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Benchmark v1.7.0
tech_stack	["kubernetes","azure","aks"]
cwe_ids	[]
chains_with	[]
prerequisites	[]
severity_boost	{}

5.5.2 Use Azure RBAC for Kubernetes Authorization (Manual)

Profile Applicability

• Level 2

Description

Azure RBAC for Kubernetes Authorization allows unified management and access control across Azure resources and AKS clusters. This feature enables Azure role assignments to directly control access to Kubernetes resources, providing a single pane of glass for managing both Azure and Kubernetes permissions.

Rationale

Using Azure RBAC for Kubernetes Authorization centralizes authorization management and provides consistent role-based access control across both Azure and Kubernetes resources. This reduces the complexity of managing separate RBAC systems and ensures that the principle of least privilege is enforced uniformly.

Audit

Verify that Azure RBAC for Kubernetes Authorization is enabled on the AKS cluster:

az aks show --name ${CLUSTER_NAME} --resource-group ${RESOURCE_GROUP} --query "aadProfile.enableAzureRbac"

The output should be true if Azure RBAC for Kubernetes Authorization is enabled.

Remediation

Enable Azure RBAC for Kubernetes Authorization on the AKS cluster:

az aks update --name ${CLUSTER_NAME} --resource-group ${RESOURCE_GROUP} --enable-azure-rbac

For new clusters:

az aks create \
  --resource-group ${RESOURCE_GROUP} \
  --name ${CLUSTER_NAME} \
  --enable-aad \
  --enable-azure-rbac

References

1. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/manage-azure-rbac
2. https://docs.microsoft.com/security/benchmark/azure/security-controls-v2-privileged-access#pa-7-follow-just-enough-administration-least-privilege-principle

CIS Controls

Controls Version	Control	IG 1	IG 2	IG 3
v8	5.6 Centralize Account Management		x	x