Check ID: aks_network_policy_enabled
Provider: Azure
Service: aks
Severity: MEDIUM
Categories: trust-boundaries, cluster-security
Resource type: microsoft.containerservice/managedclusters

What this check verifies

AKS clusters enforce Kubernetes network policies so that pod-to-pod traffic is governed by explicit ingress and egress rules. The finding evaluates whether a cluster has network policy enforcement enabled to support fine-grained, label-based segmentation between workloads.

Risk

Without network policy, pods can talk to any pod:
  • Easy lateral movement after a pod compromise
  • Unrestricted access to backend services and data
  • Covert exfiltration/C2 via East-West traffic
This harms confidentiality and integrity and amplifies the blast radius of runtime exploits.

Recommendation

Enable network policy enforcement and apply least privilege segmentation.
  • Start with a deny-all baseline, allow only required flows
  • Define both ingress and egress policies
  • Use consistent labels/namespaces
  • Layer with defense in depth (RBAC, node isolation, private networking) for zero-trust East-West control.

Remediation

az aks update —resource-group <RESOURCE_GROUP> —name <CLUSTER_NAME> —network-policy calico

References

Where this check fires

This check runs on every scheduled scan against your Azure account. Findings appear at Cloud Security → Findings filterable by Check ID = aks_network_policy_enabled. To re-evaluate after a fix, hit Run now on the account’s schedule under Cloud Security → Schedules — the next scan re-checks this control and marks the finding fixed or keeps it persistent.
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