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zt_wl_027 — Virtual Machine Scale Set does not use managed identity

Summary

Severity: High · Pillar: Workload · Chain role: ENABLER

Description

VMSS instances without a managed identity must authenticate to other Azure services using either (a) embedded secrets in VM extensions, or (b) a static service principal whose credentials need rotating. Managed identity removes both problems: the instance metadata service delivers a fresh token per instance per session. Every VMSS that calls Azure APIs should have SystemAssigned identity.

Mapping

Framework Control / Reference
NIST 800-53 IA-5(1), IA-3
NIST 800-207 Tenet 6 - All resource authentication is dynamic and strictly enforced
CIS Azure
MITRE ATT&CK Technique T1552
MITRE ATT&CK Tactic Credential Access
Zero-Trust Tenet Tenet 6
Framework tags nist-800-207, argus-zt

Source

Rule defined at policies/azure/zt/workload/zt_wl_027.rego.

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