Assign secrets only to specific web app created in Azure. For Example: I have created one azure web app with MSI, created key vault with secrets for that app and I have given access to that app to get secrets. Now I have created another azure wep app with MSI, for this also I have created secrets and given key vault access. Now both the app can able to get secrets. But problem is, both app can access both secrets. I need to create app specific secrets. How to do in key vault ?
Create two Key Vaults.
You can't limit which secrets the app can access,
so having two vaults is the only way to isolate them.
You can check out pricing for Key Vault from here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/key-vault/.
Billing for secrets is based on the amount of operations, so while two vaults won't use them as efficiently, the cost should not jump up in significant amounts.
Related
I have developed an Azure Function using visual Studio 2019. now when i deployed the Azure Function inside Azure >> all the settings (which contain some sensitive info) inside the local.settings.json, will be added inside the ""Azure Configuration" >> "App settings"". And as indicated by the page message that those values are stored encrypted, as follow:-
so does this mean that there is no need to take extra steps to secure the sensitive info inside the App setting by using Azure Key Vault ? as those are already secured?
They are secure, but users with permissions to the recourse can potentially access them with a role such as e.g. Contributor. Using a Key Vault would allow you to define access controls more precisely.
As example; Should somebody whose sole responsibility is to manage the resource have access to the secrets?
Also Key Vault allows for some other scenario's like being able to manage secrets centrally or share them across multiple resources (e.g. App Services across multiple regions). And maybe one that's often overlooked; monitoring. E.g. being able to tell 'who' accessed what key at what time.
Edit: link for adding key vault references to your app settings
It is considered a best practice to store any secrets your application might need in a Key Vault. This way, if someone has access to the application that needs to use these secrets in the Azure portal, they would still not have access to the actual secret.
Centralizing storage of application secrets in Azure Key Vault allows you to control their distribution. Key Vault greatly reduces the chances that secrets may be accidentally leaked. When application developers use Key Vault, they no longer need to store security information in their application. Not having to store security information in applications eliminates the need to make this information part of the code. For example, an application may need to connect to a database. Instead of storing the connection string in the app's code, you can store it securely in Key Vault.
Your applications can securely access the information they need by using URIs. These URIs allow the applications to retrieve specific versions of a secret. There's no need to write custom code to protect any of the secret information stored in Key Vault.
Source: About Azure Key Vault - Why use Azure Key Vault? - Centralize application secrets
TL;DR
Do you need to use Key Vault currently? Maybe not, although still depending on how many other people have access to the Subscription / Resource Group / Function App.
Would I advise you to put your secrets in Key Vault? Yes. Especially by doing so now will get you used to working with Key Vault and get you prepared for the future.
EDIT:
For referencing secrets from Key Vault, have a look at Key Vault references. This enables your application to get the secrets from Key Vault without the need for any code change!
For documentation on how to, please see Use Key Vault references for App Service and Azure Functions.
EDIT 2:
even if we store them inside Azure key vault they can be viewed
Yes, but then only if someone has the correct role assignment. If the secret is in Application Settings, anyone with access to the Function App inside of the Azure portal can also see the secrets.
I'm developing a function app that connects to AWS SDK via access key and secret key.
Right now I'm storing them in the Application Settings as straight values.
Is there any sense for me to store them in Key Vault and put the references to them in Application Settings?
On Azure website its says about Application Settings that "These settings are stored encrypted", so will it be much more secure to store them in Key Vault?
Is it a security concern to store access keys as straight values in Application Settings?
AFAIK,
You can store the Confidential Settings like Access Keys, Connection Settings in 3 Places in the Azure Functions Cloud Development.
They are:
Azure Functions > Configuration Blade > Application Settings
Azure Key Vault
Azure App Configuration
Yes! The stored settings in both Configuration Blade and Key Vault are encrypted which means encrypted when the app is idle and decrypted when the app starts. Also, encryption and decryption keys changes regularly which prevents from Security threats.
Azure Key Vault:
Assume you have stored the Service Bus connection string in the Key Vault. That you want to retrieve in the Function App through Application Settings but here in the app setting you can define as:
"connection": #Microsoft.KeyVault(SecretUri=https://myvault.vault.azure.net/secrets/RootManageSharedAccessKey_SERVICEBUS/)
This KeyVault URI cannot be accessed by any other user until they are assigned with System or User Assigned Managed Identity Permission.
Azure App Configuration:
To manage application settings centrally, another best service is Azure App Configuration which complements Azure Key Vault.
You can store the Application Settings, Access Keys, Confidential Certificate Passwords in App Configuration Store and can retrieve using client library provided by Microsoft to your application. For Connecting methods to your application for different languages/frameworks, refer here and to use Azure App Configuration in Azure Functions, visit this Microsoft Doc.
Is there any point in using Azure Key Vault over App Configuration?
Yes, yes, I know - they are complimentary, key vault for secrets, app config for... well, app config.
But, considering they are both encrypted, basically for someone to see either a secret or a config value they'd have to have access to your azure portal (this is a low-level bad guy scenario).
The ONLY difference I see is that you can control permissions differently between the vault and config but apart from that if someone unauthorized has access to your portal you've got bigger problems.
So - why? and please only good and real arguments no "because you should" or "because person X said so", what benefits would I reap with key vault that I don't have with app config?
I appreciate your question. I'd re-phrase it to this:
Q) How are are Key Vault and App Configuration designed differently supporting different purposes? And where can I find a clear comparison table of features and benefits?
I also appreciate your aside:
please only good and real arguments no "because you should" or
"because person X said so", what benefits would I reap with key vault
that I don't have with app config?
Here is what I found to understand benefits as a contrast:
Article 1: What is Azure App Configuration?
App Configuration complements Azure Key Vault, which is used to store application secrets. App Configuration makes it easier to implement the following scenarios:
Centralize management and distribution of hierarchical configuration data for different environments and geographies
Dynamically change application settings without the need to redeploy or restart an application
Control feature availability in real-time
Article 2 : Key management with Key Vault
Key management with Key Vault
Without proper protection and management of the keys, encryption is rendered useless. Key Vault is the Microsoft-recommended solution for managing and controlling access to encryption keys used by cloud services. Permissions to access keys can be assigned to services or to users through Azure Active Directory accounts.
Key Vault relieves organizations of the need to configure, patch, and maintain hardware security modules (HSMs) and key management software. When you use Key Vault, you maintain control. Microsoft never sees your keys, and applications don’t have direct access to them. You can also import or generate keys in HSMs.
Article 3: Azure Key Vault recovery management with soft delete and purge protection
Soft delete and purge protection are two different key vault recovery features.
I think you should not neglect the fact that someone that have the configuration of your App Service can see the secrets. A developer of your company could have access a production App Service for bug investigation but it should not mean he has access to production secrets. The fact of having a single employee's laptop (with access to Azure Portal) hacked should not necessarily mean "access to every secret of your application".
But appart from (as you already know the above), what differences I see:
Better governance and acess monitoring : you have logs to see who try to access each secret, when and how, something you cannot do in an App Service
Better secret management: all secrets stored in one place, you only modify them in key vault once instead of on each app service configuration when some secrets are shared in (used by) multiple app services
Some advanced mechanism like recovery management and purge protection
Better development experience : when debugging an app, if your user has access to the keyvault he can just run the app that will load secrets from keyvault into configuration instead of manually copying secrets from azure app settings locally
1-Data stored in Azure Key Vault is encrypted (App Configuration is not)
2-If a person is associated with Contributor role, he/she can see the configurations in your App Configuration, on Key Vault, only allowed Principals.
3-You can rotate secrets stored in Azure Key Vault, and there won't be any downtime in your app (unless you're caching it on your App Service and need to restart it, in order to refresh the cache)
4-Azure Key Vault is the Microsoft recommended service to store Secrets, Keys and Certificates
I am trying to grant permissions to my Web App/API type application in Azure directory to use Azure Key Vault.
When I Required Permissions> Add API Access > Select an API, then there I can't find Azure Key Vault. I remember it was there before but not now. Where I can find it?
Image:
https://ibb.co/dswdXq
Behavior shown in your image - Azure Key Vault missing from "Select an API" blade
I have seen the behavior your image shows for a new Azure subscription, only when there were no Key Vaults so far in the Azure subscription linked to that Azure Active Directory.
Once you create a new Key Vault (you don't even need to add any keys), "Azure Key Vault" shows up while adding permissions to your app registrations in Azure AD (same steps as your image). At least, that's how it worked in my case.
Special case worth mention
You can create multiple Azure AD's in your Azure subscription and register your applications in any of them. Azure Key Vault although works in a special way and is linked to only one Azure AD, this is the Azure AD that your Azure subscription trusts (Azure Subscription also trusts only one Azure AD). So you could also run into the behavior shown in your image if you're registering application in a different Azure AD than the one your Azure subscription trusts.
Granting permissions to your Web App/API to use Key Vault
In most cases it's not even required to do the steps you're showing in your image, just for a web application to be able to access key vault since that is controlled by Azure Key Vault access policies. #junnas has already explained this part very well so you can refer to that.
You can go to your Key Vault -> Access Policies -> Add, and create a new policy for the app.
Select the app as the principal, and give it the access you want.
You don't need to touch the Authorized application option.
You should then be able to acquire tokens for Key Vault using the client id and secret (or certificate).
Key Vault does not require that you assign it to an app, unless you wanted to do delegated access.
In fact any app can acquire a token for any API that exists as a service principal in your tenant (and Key Vault does).
Of course the token itself won't contain any permissions, but Key Vault has their own access management (access policies).
Our application doesn't use keyvault until now. We are thinking of using Azure KeyVault to enforce security for keys, secrets and certificates. I read microsoft documentation on this Link. It's not clear that Azure KeyVault works with identity providers other than Azure AD. Because we are not using Azure AD but we are using Azure app service and storage account. we also want to implement key rotation with 1 hour expiry.
My questions are
Should the web app be registered with Azure AD to use KeyVault ?
While creating an azure keyvault i didn't see any option about key rotation. Am i looking in the wrong place?
Any sample code would be helpful.
When you create a key vault in an Azure subscription, it is automatically associated with the subscription's Azure Active Directory tenant. All callers (users and applications) must be registered in this tenant to access this key vault. That means to access the keys and secrets stored inside the key vault, the requesting applications have to be added in Azure active directory and it also needs to have permissions to read keys and secrets in azure key vault.
Related tutorials below are for your reference :
Get started with Azure Key Vault
How to set up Key Vault with end to end key rotation and auditing -
This walks through how to set up key rotation and auditing with Azure
Key Vault.
Azure Key Vault Developer's Guide
Use Azure Key Vault from a Web Application