Cosmos DB should disable local authentication

Applies to

• Microsoft.DocumentDB/databaseAccounts

What CGPulse checks

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

How to fix it

Disable local authentication and require Azure AD for scoped, auditable access. In Azure Portal: Cosmos DB > Settings > disable local authentication. See: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cosmos-db/how-to-setup-rbac

Careful: Disabling local auth breaks ALL apps using connection strings or keys. Verify all apps use Entra ID auth first

CLI

az cosmosdb update --ids "{id}" --disable-key-based-metadata-write-access true

Terraform

resource "azurerm_cosmosdb_account" "{name}" {
  name                = "{name}"
  resource_group_name = "{rg}"
  location            = var.location
  offer_type          = "Standard"
  kind                = "GlobalDocumentDB"
  local_authentication_disabled = true
  consistency_policy {
    consistency_level = "Session"
  }
  geo_location {
    location          = var.location
    failover_priority = 0
  }
}

Compliance frameworks

• Cloud Security BaselineIM-1
• Cloud Security: Azure Foundations
• Critical Security Controls v85.3
• GDPR: Data Protection Controls
• HIPAA: Health Information Protection164.312(a)(1)
• ISO 27001: Information SecurityA.9.4.2
• NIST 800-53: Cloud Security ControlsIA-2
• PCI DSS v4.08.3.1

Related Azure rules

• Action Group should be enabled
• Activity Log Alert should be enabled
• AKS cluster logs should be sent to Log Analytics
• AKS cluster must enable RBAC
• AKS cluster must enable RBAC
• AKS cluster should be a private cluster
• AKS cluster should disable local accounts
• AKS cluster should enable Azure RBAC for Kubernetes