Application Gateway should have WAF enabled

High Azure General appgw-waf

Applies to

Microsoft.Network/applicationGateways

What CGPulse checks

A resource passes this rule when webApplicationFirewall.enabled must equal true. Anything else is reported as a finding with the evaluated property value attached as evidence.

How to fix it

Enable WAF to block common web attacks like SQL injection and XSS. In Azure Portal: Application Gateway > Web application firewall > enable WAF (requires WAF_v2 SKU). See: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/web-application-firewall/ag/ag-overview

CLI

az network application-gateway waf-config set --gateway-name "{name}" -g "{rg}" --enabled true --firewall-mode Prevention --rule-set-version 3.2

Bicep

// TODO: Start with Detection mode to monitor before switching to Prevention

resource appGw 'Microsoft.Network/applicationGateways@2023-11-01' existing = {{
  name: '{name}'
}}
// Note: WAF requires sku.name = 'WAF_v2'. If currently Standard_v2, update the SKU first

Terraform

# WAF requires WAF_v2 SKU - may increase costs
resource "azurerm_application_gateway" "{name}" {
  name                = "{name}"
  resource_group_name = "{rg}"
  location            = var.location
  sku {
    name = "WAF_v2"
    tier = "WAF_v2"
  }
  waf_configuration {
    enabled          = true
    firewall_mode    = "Prevention"
    rule_set_version = "3.2"
  }
  # Configure gateway_ip_configuration, frontend, backend, etc.
}

Compliance frameworks

Vendor documentation

Is your environment compliant with this rule?

CGPulse checks it — and 621 others — against your Azure and AWS accounts with read-only access.

Run a free scan