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Interactive Explainer

Istio Authorization Policies

Deny-by-default network access control at the service level using Istio AuthorizationPolicy resources.

🎯Key Takeaways
Default: allow all. First AuthorizationPolicy: deny-by-default
Action: ALLOW, DENY, or AUDIT
Combine with RequestAuthentication for JWT-based access

Istio Authorization Policies

Deny-by-default network access control at the service level using Istio AuthorizationPolicy resources.

~1 min read
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What you'll learn
  • Default: allow all. First AuthorizationPolicy: deny-by-default
  • Action: ALLOW, DENY, or AUDIT
  • Combine with RequestAuthentication for JWT-based access

Authorization Policy Overview

AuthorizationPolicy is like a firewall at the service level. By default, Istio allows all traffic. Adding any AuthorizationPolicy enables deny-by-default for that workload. Policies can allow/deny by source, namespace, path, method, or header.

Key takeaways

  • Default: allow all. First AuthorizationPolicy: deny-by-default
  • Action: ALLOW, DENY, or AUDIT
  • Combine with RequestAuthentication for JWT-based access

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